First off, my thoughts go out to those in the news/media industry. They’re blurry-eyed and dazed from a 1-2 punch from the internet and the economy. A lot of sharp and thoughtful people are looking for work or changing careers because of… well, a lot of reasons.
I work for one of the largest media outlets in the US (albeit a sub-sub-sub company) and I know there are a lot of great minds dealing with the subject, but I thought I would toss in my 2 cents.
I love The Wall Street Journal. I’ve always considered it a publication worth paying for. I know they have taken a lot of heat because they have locked away pieces of content that’s been reserved for paying customers. I’m not here to debate whether or not that pay-to-play is the future of the internet (37 Signals seems to be doing just fine with a pay-to-play model). What I want to offer up is a different approach to the established subscription model.
I’m not going to dive into what I think is wrong with the age-old model of media subscription. Instead, here is an idea that might be worth kicking around.
News the iStockphoto.com way – but less complicated.
Option one: Give me unlimited access status. Charge me a monthly fee or even annual. Give me a discount for doing so.
Option two: Let me buy news credits in quantities of 10, 20, 30, etc. Each “locked” news story is 1 credit. The more credits I buy, the cheeper the price-per-credit becomes.
Option two explained
iTunes pioneered the “buy only what you want” way of doing business online. I think one of the driving success factors behind that is because the experience is controlled in iTunes. Each micro transaction is pretty seamless – which would be harder to pull off when consuming news. Do I really want to hit my VISA or Pay-Pal every time I want to read a news story? Maybe?
BUT, if I could set myself an allowance, or buy credits, I could still be in control of the news I was willing to pay for! I could see my available credits and choose whether or not the news item I’m about to click on is worth the money. I am in control!
While I’m there buying news, be sure to keep track of the news I’ve purchased so I can refer to it later. Oh, and make sure it’s easy for me to gift a story to someone too!
Once I’ve used up my credits, make it easy (like iTunes and iStock) to get more.
Take it a step further
What if I could buy an unlimited subscription across news networks? OR what if I could buy credits I could use across news networks? I have 50 Fox credits and can use them on Fox News, Fox Business, Fox Sports, etc. (maybe even local news?)
I would pay to get quality news, and I think there are a lot of people that would be willing to do the same. The threshold has to be low; both with commitment and cost.
Kick it around.
News I Would Pay For
First off, my thoughts go out to those in the news/media industry. They’re blurry-eyed and dazed from a 1-2 punch from the internet and the economy. A lot of sharp and thoughtful people are looking for work or changing careers because of… well, a lot of reasons.
I work for one of the largest media outlets in the US (albeit a sub-sub-sub company) and I know there are a lot of great minds dealing with the subject, but I thought I would toss in my 2 cents.
I love The Wall Street Journal. I’ve always considered it a publication worth paying for. I know they have taken a lot of heat because they have locked away pieces of content that’s been reserved for paying customers. I’m not here to debate whether or not that pay-to-play is the future of the internet (37 Signals seems to be doing just fine with a pay-to-play model). What I want to offer up is a different approach to the established subscription model.
I’m not going to dive into what I think is wrong with the age-old model of media subscription. Instead, here is an idea that might be worth kicking around.
News the iStockphoto.com way – but less complicated.
Option one: Give me unlimited access status. Charge me a monthly fee or even annual. Give me a discount for doing so.
Option two: Let me buy news credits in quantities of 10, 20, 30, etc. Each “locked” news story is 1 credit. The more credits I buy, the cheeper the price-per-credit becomes.
Option two explained
iTunes pioneered the “buy only what you want” way of doing business online. I think one of the driving success factors behind that is because the experience is controlled in iTunes. Each micro transaction is pretty seamless – which would be harder to pull off when consuming news. Do I really want to hit my VISA or Pay-Pal every time I want to read a news story? Maybe?
BUT, if I could set myself an allowance, or buy credits, I could still be in control of the news I was willing to pay for! I could see my available credits and choose whether or not the news item I’m about to click on is worth the money. I am in control!
While I’m there buying news, be sure to keep track of the news I’ve purchased so I can refer to it later. Oh, and make sure it’s easy for me to gift a story to someone too!
Once I’ve used up my credits, make it easy (like iTunes and iStock) to get more.
Take it a step further
What if I could buy an unlimited subscription across news networks? OR what if I could buy credits I could use across news networks? I have 50 Fox credits and can use them on Fox News, Fox Business, Fox Sports, etc. (maybe even local news?)
I would pay to get quality news, and I think there are a lot of people that would be willing to do the same. The threshold has to be low; both with commitment and cost.
Kick it around.