June 24, 2013
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A Plan to Keep Xanga Free
A Plan for Xanga to be Both Free AND Well Funded
*Show your support with a Rec*
This idea should appeal to just about everyone…
Anyone familiar with my blogs knows I mostly write about trading and business news. It’s not the most exciting stuff in the world, but it’s an area I’m interested in and focused on. So when Xanga announced they were having revenue problems and launched a pledge drive for their survival, it got me thinking on what could be done to solve the problem from a business perspective.
Looking at the information provided from @TheXangaTeam and passed on to @edlives, the main problems are as follows:
1) Not enough ad revenue coming in to support operations
2) Ad revenue is now an unstable source of income
The proposed solution is to end the free blogging model, and charge all users $48/year to cover expenses and in return @TheXangaTeam will be upgrading to a more modern platform with minimal advertising, if any.
I was thinking if there was any way “free blogging” could be saved while still solving their financial and income stability problem. The solution I came up with does that and also doesn’t interfere with their current operations so they can still proceed with the pledge drive and upgrade plans. The best part is it doesn’t require anything more than their current resources- they already have what they need to implement this.
Here’s what Xanga currently has:
1) A member base of about 30 million – the bulk of them now inactive.
2) Millions of associated abandoned blogs.
3) A much smaller remaining but loyal and active community.
The current plan is to erase/remove all those blogs and just keep those of current premium and paying members. I believe there is a MUCH better use for those old blogs….
Why not charge people an annual fee of a buck or two to maintain their blogs online? The majority of people hold great sentimental value to their blogs and most would prefer to keep them available online rather than just download them. People form attachments and blogs are no exception. The longer they’ve blogged here, the greater the developed attachment.
People who balk at paying $48/year to blog would likely be okay with paying a $1 or $2 annual fee to maintain their blog presence. I know I would!
Let’s look at the potential income-
Out of the 30 million blogs currently out there:
As a very conservative estimate, lets say that only 5% want to keep their blogs online
5% = 1.5 million blogs = $1.5 million in stable ad-free income yearly using a $1 fee
Let’s get even more conservative, lets say only 2% of members are interested in maintaining their blogs:
2% = 600,000 blogs = $600,000 in annual income at $1. That’s 10X the current pledge drive amount that would be consistent income year after year!
And these are just ultra conservative estimates, think of how much could be earned if the amount of interested people is higher.
That should be more than enough to at a minimum maintain the current tier based free model with paying members getting a higher level of features. You could even consider just using a free model entirely with this extra income.
The potential return here is reason enough not to proceed with deleting the old blogs – it would be eliminating a golden opportunity to profit from Xanga’s past blogging dominance.
One way to easily start implementing this now is to offer the “reward” of blog transfer to the new version for all who contribute at the $1 level and above.
Since only three weeks are left of the pledge drive, that may not be enough time to reach all the members, perhaps an extended time limit could be used before erasing any blogs. At a minimum, a private direct message should be immediately sent out from @TheXangaTeam to all the members with this offer.Going forward if this is implemented, you could charge $2 for non active bloggers and a discounted rate like $1 for active bloggers. You could also charge a $1 fee to start a new blog membership, which should take care of the bulk of the spammers.
The beauty of this plan is you can implement this now without doing any drastic changes. Free blogging could still be suspended but people would still want to keep whatever they’ve blogged to date online. It would also help retain the community as a whole since users would have a reason to return with their old blogs intact if free blogging was restored.
With the extra income, you could also fund volunteer efforts to get more people to join the xanga community via more social events or online activities.
I don’t see any drawbacks with this plan and it presents Xanga with an opportunity to capitalize on its huge membership base and all those dormant blogs.
I hope @TheXangaTeam with members @john, @eugenia, @marc, @bob, etc… give this plan some serious consideration, as I believe it presents a fairly simple solution to retaining as well as growing the current community.
Comments (54)
It spares the Xanga Team the time and money to rebuild from scratch. But their Doomsday announcement did significant harm to themselves as a lot of Xangans have put one or both feet out the door already.
excellent Thinking !
Yet another good idea that I’m surprise I have not heard. I will bring this idea up on tonight’s radio show too to see what my guests think, but I hope that could be an option given to Xanga users.
I honestly think you have a start here. At least something worth serious consideration and further discussion.
Indeed, I hope the higher-ups are appreciating this entry. Bless you. Save our blogs!
By the way, how do I download my blog?
@coolmonkey - Hopefully the prospects of both a free and modernized xanga will serve as a draw for those who already left or plan to leave.@Blue_Moon1 - Thanks!@Roadlesstaken - @edlives - I think it’s a simple but elegant solution that can make everyone happy – the proverbial win-win! @nowayout001 - Thanks! to download: http://www.xanga.com/private/archives.aspx Once you click the update button, it can take a few hours to process- then you can download.
Great idea!
It’s an interesting idea — I wonder, though, if $1 or $2 would be sufficient to pay for the server space taken up by blogs that are never accessed. Certainly worth discussing.
I do wonder if it’s too late for this plan to work, if implement, at all. It’s a brilliant idea, if a bit risky.
@SoullFire - Can I click Update now and then wait until Wednesday to download it?
Although I think it’s too late and about $3 or $4 short ($5 seems a fair amount to charge), I’m happy to add a recommendation if that will help.
All that calculating makes my head spin, but you seem to know what you’re saying. REC’ed
That is a terrific idea – I hope they listen
@ElusiveWords - Thanks!@slmret - I think it’s definitely worth bringing into the discussion. I bet that $1/$2 income would be way more than they are currently generating with ad revenue. @emily_shannon - Since they can continue on their current plan, it’s really risk free to include it. =)
@nowayout001 - Sure, that would work. @twoberry - Thanks! I’m optimistic that if they are open minded and truly willing to work with the community, this may still be a feasible solution that works for all. Let’s hope it’s not too late.
@MzKeekz - Sorry about that- needed the numbers to prove my points, haha. =) Thanks!@BoulderChristina - That makes two of us! =)
It’s a good plan, and one I’d be on board with. The question is, why didn’t they think of it to begin with?
@Cagey - Thanks- this is why they should have approached the community with their problem sooner. Sometimes the simplest solutions can easily be overlooked. Meanwhile, I see the “Xanga Algorithms” are “doing their thing” again. My post has been up for a few hours with over a 100 views and 17 comments, and it hasn’t even made the Top Blogs list- but “selfie thinspo/sex” postswith as little as 21 vieews and 3 comments outrank mine. No bias there….it’s all in the algorithm…right. Haha. @coolmonkey - I see there seems to be more “shady” business going on with the “Top Blogs Algorithm”. You were the first rec, and with all the views/comments later, it still hasn’t even made the Top Blogs list. Meanwhile, folks with selfies that have next to no views are comments are hanging in those slots for hours on end.
Wow. That’s intriguing! I hope they consider it.
I was going to say “this won’t work” but after reading it through, I think it might work. I mean, it’s a better chance at raising more cash since quantity is what counts here.
If you take this idea and run with it, there’s another equally obvious step that should have been adopted: upselling to Lifetime members on the new Xanga, instead of terminating their benefits. To wit, if you have Lifetime now, you can continue to blog on Xanga 2.0, but only with the current features and none of the whiz-bang new stuff that we are told is in the works; to get the whiz-bang new stuff, you have to make another payment of some kind. This is nothing but an extension of what’s proposed here, which is itself just an instance of tiers of service. That does mean that the implementation of the whiz-bang new stuff has to be planned to account for tiers. But considering that active Lifetimers (1) have already paid and (2) are known to be comitted users, they’re prime targets to be upsold; instead, they’ve been driven away by being thrown in with the masses, as if their current relationships had never existed at all, with the result that now they might as well not have.
Sounds like a great idea. Maybe they should consider http://www.kickstarter.com to raise funds.
@SoullFire - I’ve already settled onto Blogster. I will miss my Xangan friends and subscribers, who won’t be on the same blogging/social media sites as each other and my wallpapers. I’ve been using Xanga for 1/2 year and joined because paying was optional. Once they get done ousting us free users, I’ll be done using this site.
can roadlesstaken stop advertising his radio show in every fricken comment i’ve read so far? annoying as hell. anyways, good idea but personally i’d rather PT fade into oblivion haha
It’s definitely creative thinking, and I’ll rec just in case it could work, but to be honest it’s not practical.I’ll explain, so long as you understand that I’m not being a downer. Take what I’m about to say, and use it to tweak your plan, if you will. That’s the intent of this. The problem: The majority of these “30 million” blogs that are abandoned are just that…abandoned. Who knows how many of them were people who started a blog one day, and forgot about it the very next day? I know that I started a Xanga because my (then) wife had one, and we were going to use it to keep in touch while she went overseas for an assignment. I didn’t even look at it the second day. (I came back, divorced, a year later which is when I really started blogging).Of these “30 million,” how many of them are simply spam blogs?Of these “30 million” how many of them are from people who were here back in the beginning, while they were teeny-boppers, and now don’t even remember Xanga exists, let alone would give a flip if their blog was about to be erased? How many of them would even know that they were sent a message to save it, as not everyone has email updates activated?It’s just not a very practical number. But then you do cut it down to one or two percent of this random 30 million… Okay, of those, let’s say 1.5 million. Ask these same questions. The number of people who would actually pay $1 to save their archives gets down into the thousands, at best. Especially when they realize they can archive and transfer to a free blog in a matter of minutes. The people who’ve abandoned their blogs most likely don’t care any more. It’s just how it is. There needs to be some better hook to get them, and since the realistic number (granted, in my evaluation) is only in the thousands, the amount needs to go up… which brings us back to square one.Find a better hook.
In reading this, this makes sense. I hope one thing when they do charge people to be here they do not have to see the ads. Because some of the ads are not becoming of what I believe as a Religious person. And I hate to say this but over in Blogster I had no ads and no fees. So some serious consideration needs to be give to this fine idea. Because even a dollar with all the people here will keep this a float. And they would not need to charge 48 dollars for a blog site. Because personally I will not pay 48 dollars to be here. I paid 25 for the no ad site and that was enough.Fine idea. Bro. Doc
@RealistMe - You may have never been on my site here in Xanga, but I am also on Blogster. Here is my address there. http://www.blogster.com/brotherdocs come by and say hi if you wish. Bro. Doc
@BroDoc - Oh okay. Will do.
@WrappedinWishes2 - Me too.
By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask you- I see you changed your username…what was the motivation? =)@beowulf222 - Yeah, I think the power of leveraging their massive user base could yield significant profits using only small sums. @n_e_i_l - Agree- the lifetime membership issue wasn’t handled very well and angered many people. This plan gives them an opportunity to correct that.@SherylM - Thanks. Is Kickstarter better than what they’re using, Crowdhoster? https://xanga.crowdhoster.com/relaunch-xanga@RealistMe - Makes sense. You’re fairly new so it makes it easier to relocate. =)
@SoullFire - My page actually.
It was just time.
@petitetokio - If he mentions it on the radio I guess it’s “mutual advertisment”, haha. Still waiting for your “Best of” posts. @Ghillies_guide - You have valid concerns but let’s look at the numbers again. Out of the 30 million, I agree that a good percentage could be spam. Let’s say 50% is spam- of those created these days, that certainly looks like the case. That would leave 15 million real users. That sounds plausible since back in the day circa 2004/2005, there were truly a ton of folks on the system, and far less spammers. Reaching out to past users who have long abandoned their blogs won’t be easy for sure, but they could help their cause mightily with some decent advertising. When Xanga first made the announcement of their crisis, net volume here picked up quite a bit with past users returning to revisit their old blogs. Many of them were sad to see their blogs would no longer be there for them to go back to and reflect on. And most people are lazy and rather not go through the hassle of trying to relocate their blogs somewhere else.People form attachments with what they create – @roadlesstaken was saying he’d though he’d be able to show his kids online what he blogged about one day. His feelings are shared by many.I think it beats their current plan of “death by attrition” by having a much smaller base “counted in a few 100′s rather than 1000′s and many of those folks likely aren’t frequent bloggers. It’s likely to feel like a neutron bomb went off come the “grand reopening”, if they get their funding. I figured it was worth a short at true longevity, but the true downer is I think “Xanga” is already letting me know what they think about the plan since it appears they aren’t going to let it appear in Top Blogs regardless of the higher number of recs and views.
@BroDoc - Yeah, trying to sell a $48 sub when many people don’t need all the extra “bells and whistles” seems to be a very tough way to go. Most folks I know would rather leave than stay and pay.
I think it is possible if Xanga really trys to get in touched with those inactive users, who have mostly disappeared.
@SoullFire - Yeah, exactly. Have you been on Xanga for a long time?
@RealistMe - Yep, years. =)
@SoullFire - That means you have a major bond to Xanga. I think I would probably be in the same situation, if I were a Xangan for years, too. I feel really bad about those, who have been on Xanga for years. Most are heading over to WordPress even though some have no clue how to work the site. Since I deactivated my WordPress account as soon as I created it weeks ago, I won’t be around that many Xangans. Luckily, there are a few Xangans on my Blogster friends list.
@josephjose - I think it’s definitely possible. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
=)
I think this is a great idea.
I honestly feel like ideas like this are why TheXangaTeam should have come to us, the community, long before they did. We are a valuable resource, and as a think tank, I’ve seen more creativity and viability from users than from TheTeam themselves.I’ve long had a problem with secretive “but we’re working behind the scenes” bullshit that is never defined and always comes up short.Great idea. *rec’d*
@SoullFire - I don’t know if it’s better, but Kristen Bell was able to raise over $5M to be able to make a Veronica Mars movie.
I have three blogs on Xanga that I actually care about. I have one or two others that were for no good purpose and I’m not sure if I even remember their names. This is the only one that I paid for Lifetime Premium on. I cannot justify $48/year to keep it active when I had a hard time making the decision to pay $100 for LIFE. I would pay a couple bucks though. For all three of the blogging accounts that I’ve used. I hate all this because I feel like I already paid my dues. I didn’t have to buy Lifetime Premium, but I did, because I support Xanga and liked the features. It seemed worth it. I’ve only actually had it for a few years, so it turned out to be a bit of a waste and it makes me angry. I paid and I feel like my money was squandered, even if it was just truly not enough.I don’t know if there’s a solution. I hate moving. I’d keep my stuff here if I could. All three of my blogs are separate and distinct and they should stay that way. I just really don’t like this whole thing. I’m on board with any solution that they’ll accept and that seems feasible. I’ve not been “active” on Xanga as far as posting, but I guarantee you I read my subscriptions update emails every day. I will miss it very much.
Also, one of those blogs was created when I was in high school (which is why I don’t use it anymore, I needed a fresh start). I was here in the height of Xanga. I graduated from high school in 2006 after being on Xanga for several years. I then created this account when I had to cut ties with some toxic people from back then. This is the one I’ve had through college. I created another one essentially as a journal for my relationship, purely for myself for later reflection. I’ve seen Xanga at it’s best and certainly at its worst. One of my real life friends was right there with me for the ride and has about four blogs herself. She introduced me to Xanga and she has expressed her sadness to me as well. I don’t want to see it go.
The only thing with that is i’m active but not everyday. I wouldn’t mind paying 5 or 10 bucks to keep Xanga running. But like I said I don’t have the time of day to be on here every day. I’m on here maybe once a week at most sometimes other times I am on maybe once a month. But if it would keep Xanga up and running I would pay a small amount.
holy crap. you have a brain.
I’m pretty sure they just don’t give a shit.
Great Idea! REC THIS BLOG!I am paying $48 to blog, but I’d pay another $1.00 to have all my blogs transferred the first time when Xanga 2.0 launches, since that is not currently in the works for regular users/free users. It is just so time consuming to individually transfer them all. I know premium members are getting them transfered but regular ones, like me, cannot. So, there might be a little more oney as well. And you know, if we got the money ahead of time doing something like what you suggested and I just suggested, then they could focus on getting stuff done for the move instead of fundraising.I LIKE IT!I still dont know why they haven’t e-mailed everyone (what? just premium members?) or Xanga messaged everyone… but I think you have a great idea!
@firetyger - Thanks. It takes advantage of an unused resource. =)@PrincessPowers - Exactly, if they had used the community as a brain collective, I’m sure they would have been flooded with great solutions that would likely be far less controversial than what it currently being planned. Thanks!
@SherylM - Wow, that’s an impressive sum! Xanga could also be making better use of it’s own member base.@MarksBeneathTheSkin - Yeah, our blogs carry our past emotions and memories, and provide a great snapshot on what was going on in our lives at different time periods. Having in downloaded on a local drive just isn’t the same. I hope they are open to considering this solution which makes it easier for everyone to preserve their blogs. @xXtsukikkoXx - I think a lot of folks feel the same way about being willing to contribute a small amount to keep their blogs, and all those folks would add up quickly in helping Xanga pay their bills.
@consignedhearts111 - Haha. =) See,…I can do more than just think about trading. @VNlilMAN - Their lack of apparent pro-activeness does seem VERY odd, but if they didn’t care whatsoever, I’m guessing they wouldn’t have started a pledge drive. But you’re right, the things they are focusing on or care about may not be a direct match with the communities concerns. @Doubledb - Thanks! I know a lot of people would easily pay a buck or two for the convenience of having their blogs moved automatically. You have a good point that I’ve also been wondering on the lack of a global message. In fact I find it a bit troubling.
Sorry your numbers are way off. There’s absolutely no way you’d come even close to converting 2% of 30 million. Hell even the best ecommerce sites only have a 3% conversion rate out of their active users. You’re talking about more like .03% conversion if anything. And my guess is that Xanga only has about 50k – 100k active users now based on the web traffic. You’d literally end up with a very very small handful of people, trust me on this one. Let’s not forget that it costs money to send emails, it’s about $1k per 100k emails so sending 30M emails would cost approximately $30k, and that’s no joke either, not to mention most of those emails go to spam or inactive accounts. Yes I run websites for a living.
@Yosho - Since Xanga has their own private messaging system, that could be their first low/no cost avenue of contact. To date they still haven’t even used it to tell folks the site may be closing.Now the stats you’re using – aren’t they for direct internet/email marketing? I agree those methods have a very low percentage of response but this wouldn’t be a typical advertising outreach scenario. Xanga isn’t really selling a “product” per say, but would be giving users a change not to lose what they already have created. It’s going to affect people’s aversion to loss which is a different dynamic than getting someone to try or buy something new. Many people don’t want to see their blogs erased/removed from being online. They could also employ more effective “viral type” or advertising to be more effective. Just about every active Xangan than been online for a few years knows former Xangans who have left the site. Those folks in turn, know others. Employing the community to help track down and motivate folks to join the cause is likely to have a much higher return that just 3% of those reached.
haha. of course you can. but should you? jk.I was more referring to the fact that you came up with a viable solution and it’s not even really a priority to you… pathetic of them..
there are too many free and better sites out there for people to pay. these silly little minis are just about the only thing that makes xanga different lol.
Thanks for the information, I’ve downloaded the Archives
I hope for your plan. I will admit I have trust issues, and so I don’t trust much that the people from xanga say . I’ll believe when I see, but your plan has merit…. that’s where the trust issues come in, I’m not sure I believe everything supposedly from xanga so far. Best of luck, you have my recomendation.