Saturday, January 14, 2012

HMMMM--Having A Hard Time With This

I received this email today from a PTC (paid to click) site that I belong to

I have been thinking about the lack of ads so far this year. As most of you know.In order for the sites to be sustainable and work for everyone all the way around, we need to see more members upgrading and purchasing ads... The money from upgrades/ads is what is used to pay members with so if we don't have ads then members don't get paid or have to wait for payouts. I would hate to see the sites close down/change in ti (sic) redeem for ad,s (sic) only site but that is what will happen if upgrades/ads aren't bought. It cost a lot to host a site and pay for 9 sites hosting also. With that in mind please consider buying upgrades/ads..even one per member goes a long way. I think that's all for this time so have a good day and happy clicking!!!

The sites are already NOT sustainable if they depend on upgrading and purchasing ads (future cash) to pay current members (past debt).

I received pretty much the same administrative message at several PTRE (paid to read email) sites (all of which are owned by the same person). This really frosts my ass as I already bought affiliate pages at all of these sites, and now am being pressured to buy upgrades and ads.

It seems that a lot of PTR owners and a lot of PTC owners just open up site(s) one after another (or buy already operating sites from other owners) with no real business plan.

Many of them not only rely on future cash to pay current debt but they also rely on cash from the 'new' site to pay current debt on other sites.

It costs $70.00 for the script that is used by most PTR sites--this includes script installation; it costs $20.00-%40.00 for a good PTC script--also includes script installation.

Domains can be registered for anywhere from $1.99 to $19.99 per year, and you can register the domain for more than one year at a time.

A design costs between $12.00 (Aurora PTC design) and $25.00--$75.00 (PTR design). There may be an additional cost if you don't have the tech skill to install your own design.

If you are talented, you can create and install your own designs.

Hosting prices are all over the map, $5.00 per month to $25.00 per month depending on a lot of factors including but not limited to the size of the site, what plugins you use, how much bandwidth you use, how much disk space you use.

So the cost for a basic PTR site without any games or added plugins is approximately $210.00 upfront (assuming the highest cost for domain registration, design, installation, first month of the highest cost for hosting)

The monthly cost (not including payouts to members, remember its called paid to READ for a reason) -- still assuming the highest cost for hosting -- would be $25.00 and of course you will need to renew the domain as necessary (every 1-3 years).

The plugins that can be added to the script range in price from $150.00 (paid-to-promote and ad manager plugins) to $12.00 (contest ptc plugin). Some plugins are freeware (free to use). None of these plugins are absolutely necessary in order to have a working site; some of them make it easier to run the site, and some make the site more attractive to members

PTC sites can be started up for even less money.

PTR and PTC sites generally do not have to be registered with governmental agencies (city, county, state, federal) to do business.

Does this business model work in the 'real' (offline) world?

Do people start offline businesses without having a business plan, even if its only in their head or written on the back of an envelope?

Do offline business owners invest minimal amounts of money upfront because they expect to have enough sales immediately--ie the day they open the doors--to pay their bills (rent for the building, utilities, salaries for their employees) for the business?

I am starting a jewelry business, working out of my home. Am I going to harass my (hopefully) future repeat customers to buy more of my goods because I've lost my job or have unexpected bills? Somehow, I imagine doing so would make my customers head for the hills

Even though I have probably $2000.00 or more in beads that can be used in my jewelry business they were purchased by somebody at some time in the past (ie they are not free). So far I have had to invest in findings, tools, a Dremel drill, a small table vise and a Ryoko drill.

Can you give me an example of a real offline business that can be started for $210.00?

Do offline business owners harass their customers to buy goods and services, and threaten them with closing the business if they don't buy?

Do the owners of offline businesses continue the harassment when the next 'emergency' (job loss for the owner for example) comes up?

No comments: