registration info
First, thanks for the kind words and link to the site. We appreciate it. Second, sorry for the rather long post! Third, perhaps I can trim a little of the reg info on artistpro.com down a bit. I'll take another look today.
I want to make sure that every knows that, beside the contact info, which is only used if you select to allow the use, the other info collected is used in a cumulative manner only. Especially while we're launching, it's important that we get a good look at who's coming in.
Yeah, I suppose a lot of people will lie. Can't say I've never on any reg page. Surprisingly, most people seem to be telling the truth. We appreciate that. The most important info we're getting is the percentage of each magazine read. That's going to really help us plan proper ad campaigns to support the sponsors of the site that are coming on next month.
It may seem a tad intrusive at first glance, but by doing this we won't ever have to intrude on the member's wallet to allow us to keep developing more and more free courses. We want to keep these courses free to anyone who registers and answers the questions for us.
The unfortunate part about lying on these things is that if we got nothing but bad data, we'd not be able to keep getting companies willing to underwrite the creation of the training courses. It ain't cheap and frankly, its the book, video and directory business where we make our money. And not from the online sales, but through the big chains in the book and music industry selling our hard goods.
The sponsors coming on board literally make sure the site breaks even and completely underwrite the cost of paying talent like Bill Gibson for his writings, illustrations and sound files.
The registration process is what we "charge" to access the site. If you don't give us good info, you're enjoying the content without really paying. We'd rather you not come in and let us know why than have bad info. Bad info = no sponsors = no more site and no more study courses.
We've spent tens of thousands of dollars the last few months in both creating the study courses and gathering/verifying the directory information. Registered members have free online access to an $80 annual print directory, The Recording Industry Sourcebook.
We've also got a couple of heavy hitters like Al Schmitt and Glenn Meadows writing articles and hosting discussion boards. This all cost real money. I really think the value we're providing is worth the info we're asking for, but I'd still love to get your feedback.
So, if you want to email me with specific things that bother you on the reg form, I'll certainly review it and maybe even change some things. But please, don't give us bad data on purpose, it'll just bring what we hope to be a cool thing to an end.
Mike Lawson
artistpro.com
[Edited by artistpro on 12-16-2000 at 13:22]
