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Thoughts on InfoGoRound
May 27, 2005
Update: Bryan from InfoGoRound has posted a comment below, noting that InfoGoRound has now changed it's opt-out fee to a much more affordable $67. I'm swimming in content myself, so I haven't joined, but with this reasonable opt-out fee, it's definitely quite tempting.
I came across InfoGoRound the other day (I think it was through an email list I’m subscribed to). I checked it out, and it sounded pretty good. Basically, it’s a content-type of membership site. For $24.95 a month, you have access to hundreds of articles, with more added daily. You’re allowed to reuse these articles anyway you want.
The really interesting thing about this site, though, is that you get a rebate of the $24.95 a month membership simply by writing and submitting one of your own articles each month. With this concept, there’s a huge potential to build a large database of articles for members’ use, that’s for sure.
So I kind of tucked the site away in the back of my mind, one of those “got to think about this one more” things.
Today I stumbled onto this thread at the Warrior Forum. Someone mentioned an “opt-out fee” if you terminate your membership. Here’s the clause from the Content Usage Rules:
Optional One-Time License Fee. If you cancel your membership but want to continue to use previously downloaded content, you can pay a one-time license fee of $297.00. This fee allows you to continue use of previously downloaded content as if you were a current IGR member. Your license remains subject to the previous Article-Content Usage Rules.
While the owner replied in the Warrior Forum, I was still not sure what was meant by “continue to use previously downloaded content”. So I emailed InfoGoRound. They got back to me very quickly.
So here’s the scoop. The rules definitely mean that if you quit, you won’t be allowed to use the content you downloaded while a member. This includes any articles you have already put online – “continuing to use” includes both the use of, and the display of content. But you can pay the $297 licensing fee at that time and keep the right to use all of the articles.
It’s definitely an interesting concept. And the opt-out fee will probably help in terms of keeping members in the site once they’ve joined. I don’t think it’s for me, though. I like the idea of writing an article of month and getting a rebate on my membership, but on the other hand, the opt-out fee doesn’t really appeal to me.
I’d be interested to hear any of your thoughts on this idea.
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Posted by BJ at 12:11 AM in Content | Permalink
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Comments
Thanks for your comments on InfoGoRound.com.
The idea is to think of InfoGoRound.com in the same way you would your web hosting account or merchant account. When you can get your membership for FREE by writing and submitting just one short article per month, and the return for that is many thousands of dollars worth of private label content - who'd want to quit??
Content is JUST as important to a successful online business as web hosting or a merchant account. In fact, you can run a successful business *without* a merchant account and even *without* web hosting, but try running a business without content! This blog wouldn't exist without content. Web-sites wouldn't exist without content. Newsletters wouldn't exist without content. (You get the idea.)
So we don't expect many members to cancel. Again, why would they?? IGR doesn't have to cost you a dime and promises thousands worth of fresh new content each month. As far as the opt out fee, there's a very simple reason for that: It's to prevent a person from signing up 1 day, downloading a bunch of content, and cancelling the next day. So it's to prevent abuse, which is in the best intersets of both members and IGR itself. Anyone running a service similar in nature would have such a policy in place for obvious reasons.
Posted by: Bryan | May 30, 2005 10:34:17 PM
Hi, Bryan,
Thanks for your comments. I think that the concept behind InfoGoRound is great. But here is my take on it: like you said, you can get great content and really all it takes is writing one short article a month. Why would you want to quit?
So the concern about people signing up for one day, downloading all the articles and then quitting seems kind of unfounded. If InfoGoRound has 1000 members, then each month there will be a 1000 new articles. Why would anyone want to join for one day and then quit, when they could just write a 400 word article each month and get 1000 new articles a month?
Since the concept is such a good one, and anyone running websites would want to stay in and get access to each month's new articles, it seems to me there are only a few reasons why anyone would quit. One reason might be if they found that the articles available simply didn't match the theme of their site. Another reason would be for reasons of family emergency, illness, unforeseen events. In the first case, it would be simply a hassle to go through all of your sites and remove the articles you've used, since you've probably only used a few. (Doable, but still a hassle). But in the second case, the termination clause could impose a real hardship, depending on the circumstances.
But I still think you have a great concept going there, and I think you have the potential to grow huge. I just tend to err on the side of caution. If my web business was "at the next level", and I knew that paying an opt-out fee would be a financial breeze, I would definitely be joining. :)
Posted by: BJ | May 30, 2005 11:05:53 PM
I agree completely with Bryan.If you are at all serious about marketing you need articles.Period.So I,m about to join.And to pay only $297 to retain content is more than fair.A press release distributed to the media will cost you $350-$500.Again if you are seriously marketing,you are already writing 1 article monthly yourself anyway;or you should be.
Ivon T Hughes
Posted by: ivon t hughes | Jul 18, 2005 11:26:35 AM
You definitely need content if you're at all serious about internet marketing. But internet marketing is also a business like any other business, so it's important to know the fine print before you get into anything.
Like I said, I think InfoGoRound is a great concept. Without a doubt, it is probably working fantastically for lots of people right now.
When I'm in a position to think nothing of paying $500 for a professionally written press release (assuming I'd need it), something like InfoGoRound will definitely be on my list. But for me, joining means keeping in mind the opt-in fee (which, by the way, I would say is probably good consideration for the value of the articles you get to download).
That's just me. Other people will think differently. But the main thing is, whether you go into something or not, it's important to know all the facts and fine print first. Then you can make good decisions based on your own personal and professional circumstances.
Posted by: BJ | Jul 18, 2005 2:55:12 PM
UPDATE: The "opt out fee" (for those that wish to continue using
IGR content after cancelling (the ongoing license) is now just $67! Members agree this is an incredibly reasonable fee. Though, we
have VERY high retention rates as you can imagine, because of the value and amount of content we offer on a monthly basis. The vast majority using our service want to *continue* using it as active members - especially when you can get everything for free via the Patent Pending Cash for Content program!
Posted by: Bryan | Oct 27, 2005 2:15:34 AM
I am currently shopping around for a PLR site to join, and this one does look very tempting, especially now with the lower opt-out fee (there's no way I would have joined before considering that I'm not 'there' yet) but one thing that I haven't found in reviews for this site is information on the quality of articles. I've tried membership sites out where I had to completely re-write the articles because they were so poorly written, and joined others where I was completely happy with the content. If anyone can fill me in, I'd love to know if it's really quality content.
Posted by: Jenn | Dec 21, 2006 6:27:19 PM
I was thinking of joining IGR. I've learned to check out reviews on any product I am considering. I was happy to find some honest reviews here.
Frankly, it seems to me that a couple of the responses above are not honest. People do not usually give good reviews and the posts immediately following Bryan's comment just seem planted.
My problem with IGR is that I can't look under the hood to see how well the articles are written. I've been burned much too often to take a chance.
Posted by: greg | May 23, 2008 9:21:37 AM
