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FWIW, I really enjoyed the KickStarter series (although I just finished up, got a bit behind). May re-sub at some point, right now I had enough trouble due to

FWIW, I really enjoyed the KickStarter series (although I just finished up, got a bit behind). May re-sub at some point, right now I had enough trouble due to other projects to even finish the KS series.

jdlshore 13y ago
Thanks! Your experience is pretty common, actually. I email everyone who cancels and ask them for feedback, and the vast majority say they liked the show but didn't have time to watch any more. That's probably the main thing I'll try to figure out when I start looking at improving my churn rate. (Although I have no idea where to begin. Any ideas?)
- silverlake 13y ago
  > Although I have no idea where to begin. Any ideas? No one has figured it out. Gamification, prizes, group work, classes w/ deadlines, charge by use rather than subscription. It's really a problem of commitment, whether it's learning or dieting or anything. We have 90% completion rates for courses for our corporate clients because employees are required to finish it. Without some external pressure it's hard to get people to do anything.
  - jdlshore 13y ago
    Interestingly, a lot of those techniques are extrinsic motivators, which studies have found to actually reduce self-motivation. (A classic book on the subject is Alfie Kohn's "Punished by Rewards."[1] Dan Pink's TED talk[2] is a entertaining overview of the same concepts.) That's not to say that I have any answers. But when I tackle the problem, I'll probably focus on intrinsic motivators (love of the material, sense of challenge, joy of solving problems, sense of mastery, etc.) rather than extrinsic motivators (badges, prizes, employer threats). [1] http://www.alfiekohn.org/books/pbr.htm http://www.alfiekohn.org/books/pbr.htm [2] http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.html http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.html
- LocalPCGuy 13y ago
  It may help to introduce a few different levels. Like offer your distilled videos (which are less frequent, I believe) for price X, and all videos for price Y. Experiment with offering to let people watch you record the videos live as well, that would be a fairly unique experience, although no idea how well it would work in practice (no "I'll research this offline, brb", but you could reach out to those watching interactively as well). Good luck, I got a ton of info on testing out of the KS series, and recommend your site whenever someone asks me about JS testing.
- danaw 13y ago
  Allowing a user to suspend their subscription may cause them to not full on cancel. Then you can ping them in a few months to remind them you exist. Possibly offer a discount for a month or two as a reward for reactivating.

jdlshore 13y ago

Thanks! Your experience is pretty common, actually. I email everyone who cancels and ask them for feedback, and the vast majority say they liked the show but didn't have time to watch any more. That's probably the main thing I'll try to figure out when I start looking at improving my churn rate. (Although I have no idea where to begin. Any ideas?)

silverlake 13y ago
> Although I have no idea where to begin. Any ideas? No one has figured it out. Gamification, prizes, group work, classes w/ deadlines, charge by use rather than subscription. It's really a problem of commitment, whether it's learning or dieting or anything. We have 90% completion rates for courses for our corporate clients because employees are required to finish it. Without some external pressure it's hard to get people to do anything.
- jdlshore 13y ago
  Interestingly, a lot of those techniques are extrinsic motivators, which studies have found to actually reduce self-motivation. (A classic book on the subject is Alfie Kohn's "Punished by Rewards."[1] Dan Pink's TED talk[2] is a entertaining overview of the same concepts.) That's not to say that I have any answers. But when I tackle the problem, I'll probably focus on intrinsic motivators (love of the material, sense of challenge, joy of solving problems, sense of mastery, etc.) rather than extrinsic motivators (badges, prizes, employer threats). [1] http://www.alfiekohn.org/books/pbr.htm http://www.alfiekohn.org/books/pbr.htm [2] http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.html http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.html
LocalPCGuy 13y ago
It may help to introduce a few different levels. Like offer your distilled videos (which are less frequent, I believe) for price X, and all videos for price Y. Experiment with offering to let people watch you record the videos live as well, that would be a fairly unique experience, although no idea how well it would work in practice (no "I'll research this offline, brb", but you could reach out to those watching interactively as well). Good luck, I got a ton of info on testing out of the KS series, and recommend your site whenever someone asks me about JS testing.
danaw 13y ago
Allowing a user to suspend their subscription may cause them to not full on cancel. Then you can ping them in a few months to remind them you exist. Possibly offer a discount for a month or two as a reward for reactivating.