I was on YouTube and came across a video of a speaker and coach doing a presentation on social media. The speaker was talking about her success with her membership site - specifically about how much money it was bringing in every month.
What really got my attention was when she said something along the lines of: I haven't updated that site with any new content in ages, but yet and still, I'm getting paid off of it.
Hhmmm...am I the only one who thinks this is down right wrong and unethical? You are knowingly and admitting on camera to the entire world that basically, you're a thief. Or do you believe the burden falls on the subscriber to pay more attention to what they're being charged and to cancel?
I'm not up to speed on FTC rules and regulations in this area. Personally, I believe people who engage in deceptive practices such as these should be fined and required to refund their members.
Would you file a formal complaint if this happened to you? Would you demand your money back? How would you handle this?
Photo credit: @muntz
Another gr8 post Donna. However, I have to disagree - to some extent, anyway. If the membership site owner conveys that he/she will add "New" content for the subscribers each Month and neglects to do so, then it is absolutely wrong. However, there is a fair amount of subject areas online that are 'evergreen' so to speak.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, Jimmy D. Brown of www.jimmybrown.com creator of Membernaire and a few other membership sites runs sites that have evergreen content on a fixed term membership basis. For instance, he has/had and affiliate membership e-course that lasted 12 Months for each member all about earning affiliate income. From what I understand, he never added any new content there either. But the content is 'new' for each 'new' member signing on who wants to learn about affiliate marketing.
Basically, each membership program is different and each consumer needs to read the fine print, read the offer and see if it is a good fit for him/her. And make sure that you are getting what you signed up and are paying for. In most cases, the money is refundable. So that is an option as well.
Thanks for sharing your honest opinion, Stephanie, and for bringing up the fact certain sites don't regularly update with new content. Those types of sites aren't the problem, especially when there's full disclosure.
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