Comments on: Paywalls: shall we try to make them more attractive than the Berlin Wall?

By: Tom Whitwell

Tom Whitwell — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:52:31 +0000

Thanks for your kind words about the Crossword Club.

As you can imagine, this is something we've been thinking about a little bit recently...

By: links for 2009-12-02

links for 2009-12-02 — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:58:07 +0000

[...] Paywalls: shall we try to make them more attractive than the Berlin Wall? » malcolm coles Kevin: Malcolm Coles has an excellent review of how to make a better paywalls or pitches to get audiences to pay for content. My big take away is that sites need to clearly and positively state what premium content or added value audiences will get in paying for content. (tags: newspapers journalism online paywalls paidcontent) [...]

By: Print-digital paid content debates require reality

Print-digital paid content debates require reality — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:57:28 +0000

[...] and paying and what to charge are unknowns, but with a flexible system with graduated fees and clear benefits, this is a much more sophisticated model than some of the absolutist, binary solutions being thrown [...]

By: Chie

Chie — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:53:59 +0000

Fantastic post, Malcolm. Loving the comparisons. You couldn't have been clearer and more illustrative. You could definitely put YOUR blog behind a paywall, and I'd still pay for it (even though you'd offer me a free subscription, of course...;)). I think the problem is publishers are not used to the concept of selling online content so they have a lot to learn and need to develop their marketing techniques first. They've got to do their homework, read posts like this, think what works, what doesn't, make sure the content behind the paywall is good and unique enough to want to pay for. You're right when you say local news is easier to sell than national as there are fewer sources for it...which makes me wonder if perhaps hyperlocal news sites, which the nationals woudn't include and the locals would not have room for, could in future even become paywall-worthy. Surely there are some hyperlocal geeks around? Or what if the locals bought content from hyperlocals and offered that as an added benefit for paid subscriptions? Food for thought.