Further reading... what do you think?

Great idea, go for it. I am all for making Biznik survive and thrive. And if this is might be one solution, it's worth a try!

Biznik provides the information and puts in the effort to research books and provide that information to members FREE.....why not take an affiliate commission via Amazon?

Makes sense to me. I want Biznik to be profitable and be a social media player for a long time to come.

Go for it!

If we are going to buy a business-focused book anyway, why not get it through the Biznik site and give you guys the affiliate commission? Makes sense to me. I think it's a great idea.

Many Biznikers are authors and have books listed on Amazon (I do). It would quite likely be the case that the books listed next to an article would not be your own but a competitor's. Why would I want that? I post the article and a competitor gets a sale and Biznik gets the commission? I think not!

Now if there is an option to have a person's own work displayed and Biznik gets the commission then I have no problem with that. Those that don't have any vested interest that's up to them.

The data feed from Amazon is a pretty blunt instrument, however it should not be particularly difficult programatically for a person who does have an Amazon product to provide the information and have it merged with Biznik's associate code.

I am in favor of any new ways to support Biznik and... Richard makes a good point. I too have a recommended reading list on my blog, with Amazon links and - in theory - income derived.

Still, my list and yours wouldn't be the same, and I wouldn't care - your audience is so much larger anyway - giving people choices is a good thing.

Also, having members rate books is good too. Not great, but good.

Dan,

I love your idea of having Biznik members rating and reviewing books that they found helpful. Hopefully they will tell us the why too! I enjoy third party recommendations over a sales pitch.

That could be a useful tool at a time there is information overload.

Thanks!

The main problem I see with this is exactly the same as the problem rating articles. Not enough people actually do it and the system is open to abuse. It would very much depend which books were being rated but you can see that there could be pressure groups forming and encouraging specific books to be rated highly. Not saying it's a bad idea... just that it may be open to apathy and/or abuse!

I have to agree with Christine here, the rating system for articles is somewhat broken, and could see the book rating going in the same direction.

I am still for the trial period. I think if Biznik needs to find some revenue to continue to thrive as they have, then options need to be looked at. I admire Dan for asking this feedback from the community.

Also, I understand there are a lot of authors as members, and I can relate to the -- dare I say -- competition. But this isn't a perfect world, and there are probably not perfect solutions. It appears Dan has chosen some highly-rated, best seller biz books to feature. And we have to look at those as resources we may choose to buy or not buy. And the good news, if any of our books reach this plateau, they may also be featured.

Okay, I know I probably have just opened another can of worms : )

There is no free lunch. Biznik needs to be profitable in order to continue. Obviously it means you need a revenue stream. I don't think there is anything wrong with Biznik getting add or affiliate revenue.

I wasn't around a year ago so I don't know what failed but you might consider a way to let us advertise to each other. I would consider some sort of PPC add on this site. It wouldn't have to obtrusive or garrish.

2 cents worth... Hey, consider the economy and pick up both Lincolns, even if they are copper.

The bottom line here is revenue generation and it sounds as if this idea is a "give it a shot... what can it hurt?" adventure, with no real indicator that it will move the needle significantly.

One thing that we know as a viable source of cash flow is the involvement level of the membership. I think Biznik is a sleeping giant and Jack is still walking around town pulling the family milk cow on a rope.

Question: % wise, how much of the membership is ACTIVE on the site on a weekly basis or beyond the first week of having carved out a page? (most of these people had a promising spark and we as members who want to see the site thrive, have to find a way as a group to fan those flames better).

Question 2: % wise, how many of those members that ARE active fall into either of the two revenue generating categories? (we've got to get these people into active-paying status some way... some how)

Question 3: (three parter, sorry) What can be done to retain the highest % of top level members? What can be done to entice/tempt (okay, encourage) entry level members to move into the top level category? What can be done to snag NON-paying members to salivate over the possiblity of becoming a entry level paying member?

Surely with the amount of NASA-Level smarts that bounce around Biznikia on a daily basis, a clever marketing promotion can be contraptionalized that would kick a few small pebbles down the mountainside in hopes that scads would miss their buddies and follow.

I've got $15 more a month that says someone can come up with an offer that will jump me into supporting member status by Aug. 1st and give me a carrot to dangle in front of the non-paying members of my networking group.

Mark - that's easy. Google "Seattle area residential architect" and my Biznik profile comes up on the first page. That's out of hundreds of Seattle area residential architects with some sort of web presence.

That is absolutely worth 15$ a month.

Rick,

Thanks for that insight and I'm going to give it some sincere consideration.

In my case, most people who are searching for an Aflac representative will go directly to Aflac.com and meander thru the maze to find a contact.

Nonetheless, your point is solid value if it moves the member to or near the top of the Google-heap.

I still believe that there has to be a better business model than one where 4% of the users support the other 96%. I'm grateful to Dan for giving us the data as it gives us all something to think about. But the model is wrong. I don't know yet what the answer is but it has to be bigger than this. JMHO.

Hmmm... I don't wanna go all Beautiful Mind here, but 4% surprised me.

If we could find a way to move that from 4% to 5%, that would be a 20% increase in revenue (assuming that the same breakdown between levels followed pattern as membership increased)

And... and... and... I'm going to have to break open a fresh box of Fruit Loops and clear off the kitchen table to get these numbers to really add up, but I think that's only 310 people out of about 29K

Color me optomistic, but I think I can deliver 5 of those people for ya by the end of August.

I definitely want Biznik to be financially successful. I am a paying member and the first, obvious benefit is my web ranking going up, and then Biznik gives me 'excuse' to go out and meet people in person.

I am a bit surprised by the 4% too. Maybe something can be done to encourage members to upgrade. I remember an experience in World Wraps fast food: I was going to order a small drink but noticed that the middle one is so much bigger than the small size and only cost a little more, so I opted for the middle one.

Best, Jack

Every 'Free' based system is ultimately supported by advertising. Free members get used to it whether it's on tv or facebook. The exception is when it's supported by a wealthy individual or an opensource group.

So what about having selective advertising that only appears on basic membership accounts? Paying members still get all the benefits and advertising free access. Basic members get adverts!

What a great discussion here. I, too, would like to see the a larger paid membership base. Bob and I see incredible benefits to being supporting members and that status, coupled with active participation in the community (both online and events) has resulted in a nice increase in clients. If the free members could realize how their investment is going to pay off, more of them might make the move.

I am excited to hear that Dan and Lara are rolling out some new features for paid members. Perhaps they should also have some sort of campaign that has paid members actually talking specifically about what the benefits have been for them (social proof?). :)

One thing that keeping a free level does, though, is expand and enrich the community and provide opportunities to meet more biz owners, who become workshop attendees, who may end up hiring you down the road, or partnering with you on a project.

Another thing the free level does is lower the barrier to entry. I wouldn't have even considered joining were there a fee. I didn't upgrade my membership untill after a couple of weeks of gradually percieving the benefit.

I think 'Free' is great. But who is going to get upset by subtle advertising on the free accounts. Certainly not the paid members. And this is more than just a social networking site. It's a business networking site. Business people understand the economics of running a business.

All those entrepreneurs who are struggling to survive have a great resource here which won't be harmed by a few well placed ads. If that helps to grow the site and add financial stability, it's a win / win situation for everyone.

@Rick and @Judy: I surmise that the reason our paying member percentage is so consistent is because people have discovered the value of paying membership, rather than being told to upgrade.

There is some value to under-promising and over-delivering, but I agree that we need to do a better job of elucidating the benefits of paid membership, specifically to non-paying members, and specifically at the moment they are interacting with something that would demonstrate the benefits of paid membership.

Example: "I'm sorry, you cannot send another message for 24 hours because Basic level members are limited to 3 messages a day. Paying members do not have this limitation. Click here to upgrade now..."

All it takes is time... and programmers... and clear-headed design...