I have noticed over the last few months that for every one new model from the south there are fourteen from the north. Why is this Please discuss

For some reason this site seems to be more used by people from the North and upwards...

Manager

Maybe I can shed some light.

MadcowModels was originally quite heavily advertised on the "Gumtree" website - before they got quite strict on what gets advertised and largely preventing companies from advertising.

From these adverts on Gumtree, we always got a highest response from the Glasgow area, thus, we got the most amount of sign ups from the north of the country and so the site has gained popularity up North.

I also believe that other modeling sites don't cater too well for up north, so I guess that may influence the large amount of sign ups we get from that area.

Of course, we are aware that we get far more from the north than the south, so we've introduced various ways to attract more members from all over the country, such as "Refer a friend" ( www.madcowmodels.co.uk/index.php?content=refer ), sharing links on the bottom of profiles and we have official MadcowModels accounts on the three main social networking sites. We have a few more ideas and features in the pipeline to attract more members around the country, but we also appreciate any feedback and ideas that any of our members have too.


James

Great work so far James.. Its all a numbers game and the way this site is run I am sure it will be up there before long!

James, re your invite a friend membership initiative:

I cannot fathom how this works as it is aimed at the "free member" if it is an incentive that is. Free memebers attracting more free members does not pay the bills since after one month the benefit is lost. Why not have a scheme that incentivises non-paying members to move over to the life membership plan?

Manager

Quoting cerity from post 5

Hi Cerity,

Sure, well firstly its aimed at everyone.

It allows Free members to trial TopMembership.

It allows Premium members to trial TopMembership, as there are a few extra benefits such as being able to have an unlimited amount of photos in the gallery.

For TopMembers, its a free month where they don't have to fork out for the membership.


Many people who are free members upgrade (to either membership) to be able to upload more than 5 photos, send more than 5 messages, or read more than 5 castings a day - so, the paid memberships sell themselves in that respect.

I do like your idea about incentivising free members to upgrade to the Premium/Lifetime membership, though, Im not sure how they could be incentivised..
Maybe I should throw that back to everyone here then, what would incentivise you to upgrade to Lifetime?

James

Premium

Yeah, I'm going to jump in on this one,

I've got premium membership and am currently enjoying a month of top membership. Apart from the unlimited photos ability I can't really tell the difference.

I would however, recomend free members upgrade to lifetime as it's a really good deal compared with the other sites.

An incentive to upgrade to Lifetime membership is an income generator, whilst giving away one month's Topmembership retards your cashflow. I want you to get rich quick and to spend it on expanding MadCow.

Whatever you do the objective should be to expand with new members and secondly, exposure for existing members. Lifetime membership seems a good deal to me and I would welcome any incentive to get me off my but. A Premium member perhaps would miss the 1 month incentive. You know the numbers.

How about 15% off the Lifetime membership fee upon sign up of three new members ! Therafter, some exposure benefit for every three new members subsequently added!

Manager

Quoting @JoeQuinnPhoto from post 4

Great work so far James.. Its all a numbers game and the way this site is run I am sure it will be up there before long!

Thanks for the kind words, it still amazes me how quickly the site is growing.
I compiled some charts the other day, showing the sites growth over the past 18 months. I'll probably stick them up on the "About Us" page at some point, for the other "statistics buffs" like myself

Quoting @Lux Flash from post 7

Indeed I see what you mean, we are looking at ways to differentiate the 2 memberships slightly - but we want Premium/lifetime to always remain useable and not restricted too much.

Theres nothing worse in my opinion than being on a website and having flashing boxes telling you can't do this and that, so its a fine line in that respect.

I think we've got the mix about right between free members and paid members. A free account is still highly usable, not too restricted, but the incentives for a member to upgrade are still there.

Quoting cerity from post 8

whilst giving away one month's Topmembership retards your cashflow

A valid point, but we do get a good percentage of upgrades to either premium or topmember after a member has used up their free months TopMembership, so it does work in that respect, but I get what you're saying.

Quoting cerity from post 8

How about 15% off the Lifetime membership fee upon sign up of three new members !

Thats a good idea, I like that, of course a benefit would need to be there for existing Lifetime/Premium members - maybe in the form of additional exposure as you say, but theres room for development on that idea.


James

James, my main job involves specialising in marketing for new web projects. I'll gladly lend you some advice if you need any.

Manager

Oh thats pretty useful to know, sure, I'll message you via PM and pick your brains a bit

James