Membership Drive for ScreenCastsOnline

I've been a bit lax recently and not really been pushing for new signups to ScreenCastsOnline, other than including a short promo in the free version of the show.

The bottom line is that although I'm still attracting new members, the membership numbers have started to plateau slightly. In itself, this isn't a bad thing as the numbers are such that ScreenCastsOnline is now a sustainable business but obviously, I really need to keep pushing to drive the membership numbers upwards.

In addition, I really need to focus on keeping existing members and make sure that ScreenCastsOnline is a valuable resource and that renewing membership becomes a no brainer.

Of course, the best way to do this is to keep producing quality shows which match the majority of members needs both in scope and relevance. Not an easy task (pleasing everyone at the same time) but I figure I've got the balance just about right. I try and focus on the Mac, OSX, Apple software and free applications on the Members show, which the free show being supported by sponsorship hence focussing more on third party or free applications.

So this month (and possibly next) I'll be introducing some incentives to hopefully make those people sitting on the fence to make the leap and sign up as a ScreenCastsOnline member. Such incentives include:

Special Discount Code

As of the 17th June, I've decided to offer a special 15% discount off all new members joining from today to the end of June. That brings the cost of a full six months membership down from $49 USD to an amazing $41.65 USD (OK - enough of the marketing speak!)

The discount code is live from today and is SCOJUNE

The full membership includes:

• The next 26 weeks worth of brand new episodes of ScreenCastsOnline tutorials
• Delivered every Friday either via special members feeds in iTunes or you can access them directly from the members website
• Multiple Formats including 720-HD (1280x720), 720-HD Overscan (1280x720), 540-HD (960x540) and iPod (640x360)
• All recent and future members shows are "chapterised" so you can jump to different parts of the tutorial
• All members shows are DRM and Ad free (except for sponsored shows obviously!)
• No automatic renewal - It's up to you if you want to carry on your membership at the end of the first six months
• Low renewal costs - get another six months worth of shows for just $25

Plus

As a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member, you get immediate access to the existing ScreenCastsOnline archive of over 150+ HD tutorials available for immediate download.

• Over 150+ video tutorials in HH and iPod format, ideal for viewing on your Mac, iPod or Apple TV
• Access to special members RSS feeds to retrieve the tutorials via iTunes, Miro or even view them directly from the members website
• No DRM - any tutorials you download are yours to keep, even if you don't renew

These 150+ tutorials cover all sorts of Mac related topics. To see a list of all the currently available shows, just visit this page:

ScreenCastsOnline Archive List

You can click on the links in the list to read the show notes for each tutorial but you'll need to be a member to access most of the content.

To sign up for a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! membership, just visit:

ScreenCastsOnline Extra! Page

Special Prize Draw

Any new members plus any current members renewing in June or July (I'll apply this retrospectively for any one joining or renewing since June 1st) will be entered into a free prize draw. The prizes are:

First Prize

• 1GB iPod Shuffle ($49 value)
• 5 Year ScreenCastsOnline Charter Membership ($199 value)
• Full Set of ScreenCastsOnline DVDs ($30 value)
• A new ScreenCastsOnline Archive DVD each year for 5 years ($65 value)
• ScreenCastsOnline BaseBall Cap ($14 value)

Second & Third Prize

• Full Set of ScreenCastsOnline DVDs ($30 value)
• ScreenCastsOnline BaseBall Cap ($14 value)

The first prize is worth $347 USD in total and you won't have to worry about renewing your ScreenCastsOnline membership for another five years!

Daring Fireball Sponsorship

Another initiative is that I've arranged to sponsor John Gruber and his excellent "Daring Fireball" website for a week at the end of June.

As one of the best read (and most respected) Mac sites, I figured it would be a great way to get the ScreenCastsOnline brand out there in front of lots of people and besides, I'd like to support John in his efforts as he's another individual relying on sponsorship and membership subscriptions.

ScreenCastsOnline Affiliates

As you can see, I'm pushing this pretty hard so hopefully there should be a good take up of the membership over the next month or so.

Now might be a good time to take advantage of the ScreenCastsOnline Affiliate Scheme and try promoting ScreenCastsOnline yourself?

Basically, if you sign up as a ScreenCastsOnline affiliate, you'll get a special affiliate link that you can publish on your blog or website. If people click through to the ScreenCastsOnline site through the link and then subsequently sign up as members, I'll send you a PayPal for commission once you hit $50 - it's pretty simple!

You can check out the full details of the affiliate scheme over on:

ScreenCastsOnline Affiliates Page

So that's the special membership drive for June, here's hoping it works!

Comments

[MHillyer]

Do you advertise SCO much in other media outlets?

Other podcasts - google adSense?

if not - have you looked into going those routes?