Casey Allen Wants To Know Why I’m Adding A Registration Process To Mixergy

This is part of the behind-the-scenes section of Mixergy, which I call etc.

Casey Allen noticed that I’m adding a registration process to Mixergy and emailed to ask why I’m doing it and what are the benefits of registering. I’ll answer publicly in case you’re curious too or have some suggestions for how I can improve.

What’s the registration about?

I’m experimenting with requiring registration for my older interviews, and for interviews where the guest felt that s/he revealed too much. (New interviews will NOT require it.)

If an interview is for “members only,” when you play it, it’ll ask you to register, and once you do, you’ll have instant access to the interview.

In the future, based on your feedback, I’ll add more benefits to membership.

It’ll reassure entrepreneurs who revealed too much

Some of the entrepreneurs that I interviewed on Mixergy told me that they revealed more than they expected in my interviews. (If you’re a long-time listener of my work, you’ve probably heard interviews that I had to edit for this reason.) They talked about their revenue numbers, their profits, the shady things they did when they first launched, etc.

A few have begged me to remove some of what they said. And I used to do it, but it’s too much work to edit out sections of past interviews now that I’m cranking out so many new ones. Plus, I don’t think it’s fair to my audience.

When I asked a few entrepreneurs who felt they revealed too much if they’d feel better if I hid their interviews from everyone except registered users, surprisingly, they said they would. (Go figure.) There’s something about having their private info just “hanging out there,” that made them feel uncomfortable. Requiring registration seemed reassuring.

It’ll help me grow my audience for future programs

Registration will let me use my past interviews as an incentive to get my audience to let me email them about my future interviews.

When a viewer registers, s/he’ll have instant access to my older interviews, and I’ll be able to email him/her about my future programs. Canceling these emails will be very easy and if it’s not, you can call me out on it. I’m accessible and always looking to improve.

This should help me increase my audience, which should make it easier for me to land bigger interviews.

It’ll help me experiment with a new revenue option

My past interviewees have told me that I should charge for some of my older interviews and special programs. I’ve talked for a year about the possibility, but haven’t tried it. The registration system I’m testing will give me the ability to try charging for my older work.

Will it work? I don’t know. But it’s worth testing. I have a few ideas about how to make it work. I’ll try them and let you know how they go.

How can I make membership more appealing?

I’ve gotten a lot of emails about this with suggestions and offers for help. It’s all new to me, so if I’m eager to hear as much as you’re willing to share. I hope you do what Casey did and tell me what you think.

[Photo via Chandler Roaches.]