Eliminate monthly membership
I have been scouring the older blogs looking for good writing, and I'm noticing a phenomenon. There are a number of good writers who come, blog for a month and leave - but a month really isn't long enough to attract a readership and get integrated into the network, so I think they are giving up too soon.
I would recommend that you change it to 3 months, and then optional monthly, quarterly or annual after that. If someone can afford $5.95, they can afford $15 for 3 months - so it's not putting it out of reach of most people. Even as a teen babysitting, I could generally come up with $15 or $20.
For examples of what I'm referring to, see: <a target=_blank href="http://www.bloggingnetwork.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/Tamara99_dustygems/">Dusty Gems</a>
T99