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I have a B2C subscription site for digital nomads called Nomad List (https://nomadlist.com https://nomadlist.com) with about 5,000 paid members. The main site

I have a B2C subscription site for digital nomads called Nomad List (https://nomadlist.com https://nomadlist.com) with about 5,000 paid members. The main site was always free and that became kind of a lead generation / acquisition funnel to have people sign up and become paid members. What they pay for is a chat group and forum (and some extra apps I made for digital nomads, like a trip planner on http://NomadTrips.co http://NomadTrips.co). The price now is $75/year. I simply started by adding little features (like a chat), I charged $5 one-time first, because I was getting a lot of spammers. Even with $5, people kept joining. So I kept raising it, to $25, then $50, then $65, and then in April this year I made it annual and recurring. Sign ups have remained the same and even grow. Meanwhile the main site that's free (https://nomadlist.com https://nomadlist.com) keeps being covered in mainstream press like Time, Times and HuffPo. I don't do any PR or marketing. So my CAC=$0. It also ranks very well in search as it's linked to by so many other sites. Also not actively worked on that, it just happened because people liked my site. I've tried FB ads last month but only saw 4 conversions. So I think organic acquisition works best for me. Which means: Make a cool site, add paid features, make it recurring. Win. This is B2C though, so probably quite different!

icinnamon 10y ago
That's really cool-- congratulations. I noticed ads on your site as well. How does ad revenue compare to recurring subscription revenue?
- pieterhg 10y ago
  Ads are about 25% of revenue, so pretty small compared to people actually paying.
drumttocs8 10y ago
I've really enjoyed browsing nomadlist.com- great work. Haven't had a reason to pay- I guess I'm really just looking for inspiration- but I realize it fits a lot of people's needs. I did notice recently that in the signup page, you took away the options to list various details about yourself, such as career, etc, and instead just have username and then paywall. What drove this decision? Is it for building email lists, or does this process drive higher conversion- or something else?
- pieterhg 10y ago
  Thanks! Ahh I think I know what you mean. I switched from a Typeform sign up form to an actual landing page with Stripe. The reason was that Typeform didn't support recurring revenue and I wanted to move there. I think the only thing I asked more was which industry you worked in. I might add more social profile thingies to Nomad List later so people can get to know each other better though! Thanks for the trip :) And you're right the paywall should be BEFORE asking people for email etc. It's not a dark pattern (although it seems like it), the problem is if people click "Pay with PayPal", I need to have their email beforehand due to PayPal's stupid IPN API.
  - aytekin 10y ago
    JotForm supports recurring payments, both for Stripe and PayPal. Let me know if you need any help.
pritambarhate 10y ago
Thanks for sharing!
shostack 10y ago
Mind if I ask what your FB test was like? Most people who "test" on FB don't wait till results are statistically significant, particularly with conversion data. Beyond that, you typically need to test at a loss initially, get data, and then optimize to profitability as you dial in your targeting and test new creative (which you absolutely need to do given how quickly banner blindness sets in on FB). Also, have you tried paid search? And if you don't already have one I'd consider an affiliate program. Gives bloggers another incentive to write about you, and you have a very "PR-friendly" business concept.
- pieterhg 10y ago
  I literally have no idea. I have someone who does it for me. But 4 conversions seems very low. Do you have any experience setting it up? My Twitter is @levelsio
  - shostack 10y ago
    I do this for a living and used to help lead the biddable media group at one of the large search agencies. I'm not really on Twitter these days, but if you share more info here I might be able to give you a few bits of guidance (or dig for my email in my profile).
hobonumber1 10y ago
How do you source the data for your app? Is it all user-generated?
- pieterhg 10y ago
  It's now moderated by city editors and users can submit data too on the site.
LoSboccacc 10y ago
is this from the 12 startups in 12 months right? you're my personal hero (ok, tbh I lack a word between "like what you do" and "straight adoration" :D)
- pieterhg 10y ago
  Yes it was! It was the 6th one I think! Thanks you're my hero too :D

icinnamon 10y ago

That's really cool-- congratulations. I noticed ads on your site as well. How does ad revenue compare to recurring subscription revenue?

pieterhg 10y ago
Ads are about 25% of revenue, so pretty small compared to people actually paying.

drumttocs8 10y ago

I've really enjoyed browsing nomadlist.com- great work. Haven't had a reason to pay- I guess I'm really just looking for inspiration- but I realize it fits a lot of people's needs. I did notice recently that in the signup page, you took away the options to list various details about yourself, such as career, etc, and instead just have username and then paywall. What drove this decision? Is it for building email lists, or does this process drive higher conversion- or something else?

pieterhg 10y ago
Thanks! Ahh I think I know what you mean. I switched from a Typeform sign up form to an actual landing page with Stripe. The reason was that Typeform didn't support recurring revenue and I wanted to move there. I think the only thing I asked more was which industry you worked in. I might add more social profile thingies to Nomad List later so people can get to know each other better though! Thanks for the trip :) And you're right the paywall should be BEFORE asking people for email etc. It's not a dark pattern (although it seems like it), the problem is if people click "Pay with PayPal", I need to have their email beforehand due to PayPal's stupid IPN API.
- aytekin 10y ago
  JotForm supports recurring payments, both for Stripe and PayPal. Let me know if you need any help.

pritambarhate 10y ago

Thanks for sharing!

shostack 10y ago

Mind if I ask what your FB test was like? Most people who "test" on FB don't wait till results are statistically significant, particularly with conversion data. Beyond that, you typically need to test at a loss initially, get data, and then optimize to profitability as you dial in your targeting and test new creative (which you absolutely need to do given how quickly banner blindness sets in on FB). Also, have you tried paid search? And if you don't already have one I'd consider an affiliate program. Gives bloggers another incentive to write about you, and you have a very "PR-friendly" business concept.

pieterhg 10y ago
I literally have no idea. I have someone who does it for me. But 4 conversions seems very low. Do you have any experience setting it up? My Twitter is @levelsio
- shostack 10y ago
  I do this for a living and used to help lead the biddable media group at one of the large search agencies. I'm not really on Twitter these days, but if you share more info here I might be able to give you a few bits of guidance (or dig for my email in my profile).

hobonumber1 10y ago

How do you source the data for your app? Is it all user-generated?

pieterhg 10y ago
It's now moderated by city editors and users can submit data too on the site.

LoSboccacc 10y ago

is this from the 12 startups in 12 months right? you're my personal hero (ok, tbh I lack a word between "like what you do" and "straight adoration" :D)

pieterhg 10y ago
Yes it was! It was the 6th one I think! Thanks you're my hero too :D