I just finished producing a freemium telesummit for one of my clients. Freemium telesummits are ones where the attendee gains access to all the live sessions with just their email address.
I know, I know, I can hear you now….
“But Leesa, don’t you frown upon the freemium telesummit model?”
Yes, I do and my client had to really twist my arm to produce his third telesummit using the freemium model.
But I’m glad I did…
Because I was able to experience firsthand the differences between premium vs. freemium telesummits.
Now, this doesn’t change my view of hosting freemium virtual events, but I do believe that there are some wonderful benefits to hosting a freemium one. So, here are the disadvantages and advantages of hosting a telesummit based on the freemium model.
Advantages of the Freemium Model
The Freemium Model Encourages a Higher Level of Access on the Live Calls
My client only offered the live session for free which ended up being a REALLY smart idea. If the attendee missed it and wanted to access the replay, they had to invest in the package that contained the recordings.
There were no 24-hour or 48-hour access to the replay. You had to be there to listen and if you missed it, invest in the recordings.
When I checked my client’s numbers in InstantTeleseminar, he had 10x the number of people listening in via the phone or webcast compared to the premium telesummit we hosted in 2010 and 2011. Ten times! I was SHOCKED at what I saw.
With that many people listening to the live session, it results in a higher percentage of attendees taking action on offers the speakers or the host make. One speaker emailed us to say how delighted he was to see a bump in subscribers to his list after making an offer during the live session.
My recommendation: If hosting a freemium telesummit, offer free access to the live sessions only. Save the recordings for the package that people need to invest in.
The Freemium Model Removes Money as a Barrier to Participation
Money can sometimes dissaude someone from participating. We all know that. There are many excuses why someone just won’t pay for education or training. The freemium model removes the barrier to participation and gives the attendee access without putting limits on their enthusiasm.
In fact, I believe this loving move – to offer access to the live sessions at no cost – does more to encourage the attendee to take decisive action on any offers the host makes. They’re not in a penny pinching place. They get valuable content for free and thus, can make the upgrade to whichever offer meets their budget.
However, for this free access, email is not enough. I firmly believe that if you’re going to give away all this great content at no cost, the attendee must give you more than just their first name and email address. There has to be some effort on their part.
My recommendation: Gather, not just an email address, but mailing address too. Or, take the opportunity to have attendees fill out a survey for a coupon that’ll give them free access. But email and first name are just not enough in my book.
The Freemium Model Helps Attendees Commit to a Higher Level of Investment
The psychology of a telesummit attendee is to get information and results fast. They will listen to the free sessions and if there’s an opportunity to work directly with host, they’ll jump at it.
This is the pyramid model that Kendall Summerhawk encourages her students to use. You get them on your list with a free offer, typically an invitation to talk to you through a breakthrough or discovery session, then you invite them to invest in a high-level coaching day. If for every 10 conversations, 3 say yes, this means that your coaching day is priced well. If more than 4 say yes, it’s priced too low.
My recommendation: With the freemium model, you’ll have a captive audience who want results fast. Don’t be tempted to offer them just access to the recordings. Invite them to sign up for a breakthrough or discovery session, then move them into a coaching day with you.
Disadvantages of the Freemium Model
The Freemium Model Brought Out Brokeback Entrepreneurs
I wrote about the Brokeback Entrepreneur a few years ago and this term applies to some of the people we met during my client’s freemium telesummit.
My team and I dealt with a higher number of tickets compared to years past. The first day of a telesummit is the busiest, but I found we were more busy than normal. And the type of tickets we got were from people who were ANGRY that they missed the free session, wanted us to make the recording available, then “stormed” away when we shared that they could get the recording if they invested in the package.
I’ve learned that when people get angry about not getting access to the FREE offer that you’ve pretty much insulted the god in their life. It means that even if you bend over backwards to appease the person’s anger with an extra, unadvertised offer, they’ll pretty much spit in your face in the form of demanding more.
Getting emails that say “you don’t know what your mission is, do you” all because they had tech issues accessing the free session doesn’t make us feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
My recommendation: Put together a list of FAQs so you’re clear right up front what your boundaries are. Share that link in every email sent to attendees.
The Freemium Model Increases Costs
Due to the high number of people accessing the page to get the handouts and call-in details, there were some server outages. With the premium model, we never had this problem since the numbers were lower. Only those who paid got access to the handouts and call-in details. With the freemium model, my client encouraged those who signed up to share the call schedule page with people in their office, so we really couldn’t anticipate our numbers.
The good news is that the intermittent outages only happened when the first session was set to begin each day. And as there were no complaints from attendees, my team and I were slapping each other on the back that the outages were not noticable.
Also, we experienced higher than normal access to the video that’s on my client’s front page. I hosted it through AudioAcrobat because it has a prettier interface compared to YouTube, but after getting an email stating that I was over my allotted bandwidth (which means a higher bill), my team moved the video over to YouTube.
My recommendation: Free is not really free, so make sure your server can handle your newfound popularity and that you’ve budgeted for any increases in the use of online tools.
The Freemium Model Produces Smaller Conversion Numbers
What’s very attractive about the freemium model is that it can build your list fast. I’ve seen people add up to 10,000 people to their list in just a matter of days. But there are 2 issues:
- The conversion from free to your recording package is low. It ends up being as low as 2%. Hence, you need a high level of sign-ups in order to break into 5-figures on admissions alone.
- The unsubscribe rate will be higher. Most people who sign up for a free giveaway will unsubscribe as soon as you send your first non-telesummit ezine. I’ve heard one internet marketer state that you’ll lose 70% of your list within 13-months. He’s not that far off. I participated in a free giveaway in April 2011. Nearly a year later, only 50% remain on the list. Some email services will penalize you if you lose too many subscribers in a 30-day period. One of my Certified Virtual Event Managers who participated in a giveaway got emails from her email delivery service stating that losing too many email subscribers may get her classified as a spammer and they’ll close her account if the trend continued.
My recommendation: Just be aware that you’ll have a higher than normal unsubscribes. If you’ll fall apart seeing that many people leave your list, either don’t use the freemium model or send those unsubscribe notices to an email you never check.
Final Thoughts
I still much prefer the premium model, one where people pay for access to the live sessions and the recordings. However, there are some compelling reasons why one could use the freemium model, however, consider both the advantages and disadvantages before hosting your next or first telesummit for free.
Having hosted 5 freemium telesummits I can vouch for the unsubscribe rate. I haven’t hosted one in 2 years but at that time the conversion rate for the product was about 6%, some speaker offers converted even higher. If you’re riding the apex of a hot theme, the conversion can be quite sweet. Love the idea of free access to the LIVE interview with no replay. Will definitely consider that for an upcoming event.
After supporting a number of clients through their free telesummits — all came to me after spending money somewhere else to learn how to do this — I can attest to the demanding nature of those who sign up for free events. One telesummit host received an email from a woman who signed up who demanded the entire speaker schedule or she wasn’t going to make time to listen to any of the calls. From my perspective, just knowing that charging for the event prevents people like this from coming into my business, that is enough of a reason for me to use the paid model. I’m all for customer support and have no problem going the extra mile for a customer — but when that customer doesn’t even realize they are asking for special treatment and then doesn’t appreciate your effort, it just isn’t worth it.
Lesa, this happened to me on one of my telesummits where the topic was (ironically enough) conscious business. It’s best to unsubscribe those folks, they’ve got lots to learn and unless they’re paying you to teach them it’s a huge investment of your energy. Agreed.
You make great points, Leesa! I have always heard that when you give away anything for free you only get more people who want only free stuff! So, what do you think about price? Would you offer a price that is low enough to get a broad group with lots of numbers? Or would you offer the TeleSummit at the regular price?
Here are my thoughts….I’ve heard that once people spend ANY amount of money with you, they are more likely to spend more. So I was thinking asking $27 – $37 for the LIVE Broadcast with a 24-hour grace period to listen to missed calls. (Whenever I sign up for a TS thinking I”m going to watch the freebies in the next 48 hours, I never seem to be able to do it and end up buying anyway!) Also, 24 hours gives them a chance to listen, but not so long that they don’t need to buy.
So once they buy the $27/$37 ticket to the live event, I would think they would be more likely to spend $97 or $197 on an upgraded Silver or Gold package. What are your thoughts on pricing? Thanks!
My thoughts on pricing? I created an entire program on pricing that you may be interested in. Because when it comes to pricing, it all depends on who you’re targeting and the type of topic you’re going to cover. So, if you take those 2 things into consideration, you’ll be able to price your telesummit the right way.
Lisa & Leesa
I agree with you in regards to having “peace” about hosting a virtual event and not only do I want to have peace I want my clients to be put at ease as well. I see the pros but do not feel they outweigh the ultimate outcome when hosting a freemium telesummit. Not impressed. LOL
Hi Leesa, this is brilliant! In setting up my “Freemium” event, I am debating what to do regarding live vs a several hour window, to listen in the calls. My audience comes from all over the globe with a varied work schedule. I know that the shorter the window, the higher the upgrades, however deciding how long of a window is my current quandary.
Leesa,
I was compelled to read each and every word, it was like I was hanging on your every word. Amazing, the pros and cons of each module. I must say though I am still a huge fan of the premium. I love the insight you gave, I’m glad I was able to see it on both side of the summit.
Hi Leesa,
As always, you’ve given us very valuable insights into this topic. And for me, your timing was spot on as I have something similar in the works and have been on the fence about which way to go… Now I have a much clearer idea of my ultimate goal and which model is a better fit.
Thank you!
~ A
Alicia, I’m soooooo glad to have helped. I can’t wait to see your own interview series come to light. And along with the Telesummit Pricing Secrets program, you should get a well-rounded picture that’ll help you make a final decision.
When I first started offering teleclasses, this is exactly the model I used. My list exploded pretty quickly, and my first teleseminar series was held using the same model: listen live for free, but pay for extended access.
We did five figures in a single day for that event, but about half of that went back out in affiliate payments to the speakers. And the dropoff from my list was about 15% – not too bad, since it was a highly targeted niche, but here’s the other part of the story…
Last fall, I migrated that list to a new service (and didn’t need to re-opt people in). Since that time, less than half of those folks have opened an email (I send about one per week), which means in six months, those folks haven’t read a thing I’ve written – which makes the “dropoff” rate much higher than 15%, if they’re not even reading the thing.
And that’s the challenge with unpaid events. They give you a junk email address to get access, and then they disown you, or file you in a filter where they don’t see your emails. So you brag about the numbers on your list, only to realize your net list size is about half of what you think it is.
I’ve yet to do a series built on the premium model, but I’ve got one in the works, and I like the fewer headaches it sounds like I’ll be experiencing!
I’m attracted to the free model because of the list building potential, but to me, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. Junk emails, a heightened consumption of resources and losing a majority of your list in just one year are all things that make me nervous about hosting a free telesummit.
I think the only thing that can justify the free telesummit model is to move people into a high-income mastermind group or coaching program during the telesummit. If you get at least 10 people signed up at a $5000 program, that should more than make up for the disadvantages I listed above.
But like you, I’m looking for peace when I host these things. And like you, I prefer less headaches, that’s for sure.
Leesa, you’re such a wise adviser. I appreciate you. This was a long article, and I read every word because I needed to hear you sound off on this in more detail.
Thank you!
~Donna
Awesome! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Donna Maria. Are you thinking of hosting a telesummit?