Become a Member!
In the comments in the latest podcast post, there’s a general discussion about how often – and how insistently – we pitch our listeners on the joys of a Ricochet membership.
In other words, some of our listeners are, like, Dudes, come on.
We get it. Honestly.
Our policy and practice in this stuff is evolving, of course, and we hate to think we’re irritating our listeners with pitches, but like everybody else in the world, we’re just trying to keep the lights on and the trains running. Our free, flagship podcast has a couple of very fine sponsors – and they have to keep the lights on, too – but more importantly, it’s an opportunity for us to tell our listeners – the vast majority of whom are not members – just how great it would be if they’d join.
Our podcasts have almost 100,000 listeners. And I assure you, we’ve got fewer members. Alotfewer. If half of our listeners were members – heck, if 30% were – we’d be popping champagne and sponsoring meet-ups and launching a whole slew of new initiatives and building out the features on the site.
Okay, not complaining. Building a business and a brand takes time, and we knew when we started that what we were really trying to do, in order, was:
- Save the country.
- Build a vibrant community of smart and thoughtful center/right Americans who would have their voices heard in DC and elsewhere.
- Have fun and entertain ourselves and like minded people worldwide with civil, witty, meaningful conversations.
- Reach out to and connect with conservatives across the country – and the globe – who often feel isolated and alone.
- Make some sweet, sweet cash.
To do all of that, we’ve got to let people know that being a member of Ricochet is a great deal – you get access to terrific podcasts, the fun of joining in on some great conversations and the ability to start your own, you become a part of a growing and influential network of Americans who are deeply engaged in steering this country back in the right direction, and you take part in that rare thing on the internet: a civil conversation. Those are rare on the interwebs.
And at $3.67 per month -- less than a buck a week -- it's a fantastic deal. If you're a member, thanks. If you're not, please join. Right now.
You see, here’s what we’ve learned: when we ask people to become members, they do. When we stop in the middle of a podcast and talk about membership, memberships go up. Memberships go up.
So we’re in a bit of a pickle. We never want to irritate or annoy the members we have, and for whom we have enormous gratitude and respect. But we need more of them.
So please accept our apologies if the membership pitch during the podcast gets up your nose. Please know we’re not trying to be annoying. We’re just pushing our cart down the road, trying to catch a dime, trying to keep the enterprise running.
And just to be clear, of the items in the list above, the most important is the first one. We’re honored to be in the foxhole with all of you.
Oh, and hit the “Invite Friends” button, too.
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Comments:
Dec '10
Re: Become a Member!
I suspect most of us get that.
Now, for those of us not on ITunes, or cable, will there be another way to access S&S? I wouldn't mind paying for content, but ITunes does horrible things to my PC devices. Peace.
May '10
Re: Become a Member!
I'm in! BTW, I have no problems with the ads on the podcasts.
Feb '11
Re: Become a Member!
Same here.
Dec '10
Re: Become a Member!
Ditto... as long as James keeps up with the oh-so-subtle segues. No pressure.
Oct '10
Re: Become a Member!
Do whatever you need to do to make this enterprise successful and sustainable. The optimal amount of advertising is difficult to pinpoint, but my sense is that you are still on the left side of that curve.
May '12
Re: Become a Member!
You kiddin' me? The ads are the best part. I just fast forward through the rest.
Jan '11
Re: Become a Member!
Become a member and read the next installment of Hit the Road, Gringos!
Jul '10
Re: Become a Member!
Amen. We're lucky to get all these podcasts, especially the flagship 'cast, as a result of our financial support and the support of the sponsors. A commercial now and then is a small price to pay, especially if it grows the site and improves the Ricochet experience for all of us. By the way, I think Rob's pre-recorded pitch at the front of the other podcasts is an elegant solution: easy to zip through if you've heard it, lets non-members know all this great stuff ain't free.
Rob, I'm glad to know that the pitches are working. That simple fact can't be emphasized enough.
Apr '11
Re: Become a Member!
Never mind that I was duped into signing up as a member by the lure of the ill-starred Steyn-Goldberg-Long podcasts. The fact is, I am a member and glad of it. Keep up the pitches. You're running a business here. Do what you have to do. We're all adherents to the principles of a free market here.
Apr '12
Re: Become a Member!
Sign up and get Tabula Rasa's TV show and book reviews. I know I finally joined because of the whining about it is onky the cost of a caffe latte. Kidding, but I had no idea about the great members content. One suggestion, the side var with member posts must be appealing. How about a side bar for the book and movie posts, too? It would give an enticing glimpse at what is being missed.
Apr '12
Re: Become a Member!
Join Ricochet. It's better than writing your congressman!
Not that you can't do that too, if you want. But as KC recently pointed out, it's valuable to have a place where respectable, smart non-pundits can have their say. So many political websites just devolve into trash talk, which is why so many people stay away from online political sites. But you shouldn't have to be a talking head in order to, well, talk. Normal people can have good ideas too.
Be more than just a statistic!
Mar '11
Re: Become a Member!
I would be worried if the creators of this enterprise were not worried about long term sustainability. You're on the right track, perhaps you need a few tweaks Mr. Long yet other than that keep doing what you are doing. It's worked so far hasn't it?
May '10
Re: Become a Member!
Ricochet is a very important part of my day. Several times a day. I missed you guys while I was offline for four weeks. During my several loooong layovers in Asia I downloaded all the podcasts I missed, and you guys talked to me all the way home. Except when I fell asleep. And I have never thought there was too much membership pitching. Come on ya'll! This is not public TV. Now there's some seriously abusive membership pitching.
Sep '10
Re: Become a Member!
Yeah, the ads are OK by me too. Don't worry about it. The whiners need to get over it.
I downloaded to first Sullivan & Son on iTunes to watch on a flight Friday. Witty, fun, good cast. Congrats, Mr. Long. It helped make the flight go by (along with the help of a glass of wine).
Like many, I cut the cable some time ago. For folks who can't use iTunes, like CJRun, will S&S be coming to Netflix or other content-delivery modalities?
Oct '10
Re: Become a Member!
Please excuse me if I'm being too direct. I'm an engineer; it's what we do.
From listening to the podcasts over the last 6 weeks, my take is that Ricochet is facing a financial crisis. My diagnosis would be that subscriptions have reached a plateau somewhere below that of costs and that advertising and other incidental revenues are not closing the gap. Now, I have no inside information on this; this is just my instinct from having founded an S&P 500 company and been in that corner myself from time to time.
I would suggest that the Ricochet shareholders, or partners, or however they organise themselves, adopt “open book” management and no longer be cagey about the number of subscribers or the profit and loss statement. If they wish members to be part of the endeavour, why not open the books to them and let us see how we're doing, even if we don't have an equity stake in the venture?
And why not post these figures daily (subscribers) and monthly (P/L)? Surely you compute them, so why not share them with those who ultimately pay the bills?
Edited on July 30, 2012 at 12:54amSep '10
Re: Become a Member!
I think you should threaten the free loaders with larger and larger portions of the podcast rendered in Classical Latin by a British voice actor. And if that doesn't work: Attic Greek.
Ricochet: If you want to save Western Civilization you'd better be prepared to pay for it, one way or another.
Mar '11
Re: Become a Member!
Keep on advertising. Go for it. Do more if you think it will help.
Conservatives should generally be the ones cutting others engaged in new endeavours some slack, understanding that human perfection does not exist, so of course there will be experimentation and casting about.
Failure may in the end be the outcome anyway, but success will be even harder to achieve if we members start tying your hands.
Apr '12
Re: Become a Member!
Part of the ire isn't so much that you keep making ads-- although for a while it seemed like most of the podcast was constant ads-- as the way y'all were complaining about people who DID subscribe asking for a slight turn-down in "sign up!" pitches. (Especially when you're already in a video game style format. Highly simplified one, but it's free-to-hear and then you can buy the upgrade. No gold coins needed, although my Mastercard does have those coin symbols on the front.)
Think of it like taxes: at some point between 0% and 100%, there's a great number. Raising the rate will get more money for a while, but if you increase the rate too much, folks change their behavior.
If it's irritating the folks who cared enough to buy in, it's probably going to irritate people who are listening for free. (Not sure how you're counting subscribers, but I know my household tends to download at least three copies of the free podcast on different computers. Only one membership.)
May '10
Re: Become a Member!
Whatever it takes, gents, because I want you to succeed. But it's worth mentioning that I subscribe to great podcasts from Prager, Hewitt, and Bennett so I don't have to listen to the advertising. Here I pay-- and STILL have to listen to advertising. Simple solution seems to do what the Salem Radio hosts do-- provide a commercial free version of your podcast to paying customers and a commercial peppered version to the free riders. I wouldn't even mind the occasional "recruit your friends" pitch. If this has already been addressed, I apologize.
May '10
Re: Become a Member!
Western Chauvinist
Ditto... as long as James keeps up with the oh-so-subtle segues. No pressure. · 1 hour ago
I think it was Mary Poppins who said, "Just a spoonful of segue helps the advertisement go down."