Posted in Membership Website Tips	May 14, 2008

Adapt to changing subscription models

- Continually rebalance mix of paid and free

In 2008, publishers are still debating the balance between free and paid content. Because the concept is so cyclical, it’s important for publishers to continually examine their strategy. Unfortunately, there’s no right answer, there is no best business model.

John Boris, VP Marketing Zagat Survey said they revisit their business model on a quarterly, or sometimes monthly basis. The questions to keep asking are: what’s the traffic looking like on the ad-supported side? What’s the subscription revenue looking like on the membership side? The goal is to continue to test and improve both sides of the business.

- Sell service as well as content

For the premium content you offer online, you must also sell the value of service that you provide. Especially if you have lots of competition – you must think about ways to frame your marketing message. Think about the time and effort you might be saving your customer.

Inman News, a subscription-based real estate publisher, was facing heavy competition from free online news sites. So they went from being a premium news site to becoming a premium social network focused on real estate industry. They made the news portion free and created a social network that has a premium level. Learn more about that case study.

In what way can you create features that best meet the needs of your customers and keep you competitive?

- Exploit your niches

One primary requirement for a paid membership site is to have a very narrow niche – it must be content that your customers can’t find anywhere else. Niches can be very profitable. One of the sessions was presented by TheLadders.com, which is a profitable membership site for the $100K professional looking for the $100K job. Work those niches!

TAKE-AWAY #2: Make 2.0 Work for You

TAKE-AWAY #3: Optimize your marketing mix

TAKE-AWAY #4: Defend against economic downturn