When we started this community, the plan was to allow the first 40 members in FOR LIFE before making this a paid group. There is only one caveat - to keep your "free for life" membership, you have to periodically interact (post, comment, like etc.) as it would not be fair to the paying members if you are here but doing nothing.
The bonus of that is the more interactive you are, the more freebies it will open up for you (classes, live presentation, networking, etc.) You reach those higher levels by getting likes on your stuff and that opens up the ever-growing library of useful stuff!!!