Anyway, if it was possible, I would trial a free trial set up for your premium section and if you are worried about people downloading your content and abusing your tools, only make sample chapters available and limit usage of the tools. This way it stops people from leeching your quality content, but genuine possible clients are able to sample your wares. I am willing to bet your conversions would sky rocket. And as John says, the best way to sell your product is to show people they must have it.

Also I think your premium membership is a bit expensive and out of reach of people like me (home business whilst looking after first child). As much as I would love access to them, I just can’t justify the cost. Maybe you could think of a tiered membership system with different cost options? Gold, silver, bronze? Just a though.

Josh

I agree with the “download it all” problem with trial access to paid content, but I’ve been in several of those that managed to limit the consumption during the trial period, enough to deter piggishness anyway. Most take a credit card to enable the trial, and one even had an agreement that if you tripped the consumption limit, you’d convert to paid subscription. I actually enjoyed that one, because I was well aware that I was enjoying the content and more than happy to permit the charge to go ahead.

Anyway the point is, showroom visits sell a lot of cars, and luxury showroom experiences help sell a lot of luxury cars. The other point is, a good landing page addresses more than design issues (traffic quality, traffic sources, etc).

I’m Not a Premium Member - How Can I Author a Landing Page?

No problem! If you’re not a premium member and want access to the guides, tools, Q A and tips so you can effectively craft a landing page submission, simply email Rand Fishkin - Rand@SEOmoz.org. I’ll verify that you’re on the up-and-up (and not just trying to get a temporary membership) and grant you access for the week.

It’s on the submission page and mentioned in my post! :)

As for convincing folks of the value of premium membership - you’re right, we haven’t done a great job of it. Despite offering lots of cool tools, lengthy and (IMO) valuable guides, new tips every week, an online Q A service, and invites to events, we’re clearly not getting the message across as effectively as we should.

As for giving away free premium membership to everyone (or anyone) briefly, the fact is, you could go in and download all the content pieces (obviously not the tools, though you could get lots of data from those, too) in a couple hours. Granted, we add new content every day and a large piece of new content every 30-60 days, but it would still suck to have everyone get access for free to what a thousand people have already paid for…

Feel free to email me if you’ve got a good idea on this.