I have been doing some thinking lately about my website. I originally wanted to charge a membership fee for access to information. There is a alot of websites related to mine that provide some information for free. The only thing is alot of them just refer them to those companies because they earn referral income. However, mine provides legit companies that i have actually dealt with and consider them reputable. I was charging $10 with an option to be charged $5 if they complete a survey. I would not recieve as many customers as if it charge it for free obviously but would it be worth it to make it free and just collect the referral income? Just a little advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

It totally depends on the quality of content youare providing and the quantity of traffic you are getting...If you have a site with a contant of good quality content and have a decent traffic then you can charge but if any of them lacks then charging while sugn up can be a big mistake

If you are providing legit companies you need to advertise that as a main feature in your marketing to stop people from getting the info from elsewhere for free. Focus on what a visitor would gain from paying for your product over getting it somewhere else for free, and tell them about all the benefits of paying.

Well, its better to charge than using referral. You will not loose any users.