News this week that The Times is going to start charging for content should come as no surprise. News Corp, the parent company of The Times, The Wall Street Journal etc, has talked about forcing people to pay for content for a long time. With falling advertising revenues, falling circulation numbers and a general shift in attitudes, it seems that the news dinosaurs are resorting back to methods they tried in the early days of the net.
Even discussing paying for content seems to wind people up on both sides of the divide.
The truth is, from most corners of the web is, people will pay for content, as long as it is unique and irreplaceable.
The star of the pay for content model is The Economist which has a large portion of its content free to read, with the more in depth articles and technical journals on a subscriber model. The key things that make The Economist content bankable is because it is unique, in depth, and a leader in its field.
The same can be said of any pay-TV model. People will pay to watch sports, or have in-depth news coverage if the content is unique and of top quality.
What is causing Newspapers and other old media to struggle is they are trying to be all things to all people. They are still running on the Cost-Per-Mille advertising model that means you have to reach as many people as possible. Pay for content media like Gaming Industry Weekly know they are reaching a select audience, but that is the idea. They even still sell advertising, but that too is ok because the advertisers want to reach a select audience too.
Where newspapers started to go wrong, was they refused to shift their advertising model when people started to spend more online. Why would an advertiser want to spend thousands of dollars reaching thousands of people that are not interested in his product? With the pay per click model Google promoted, advertisers can now spend tens of dollars reaching the tens of people that will buy their product.
Again this, then comes back to branding, and the strength of a brand. You want your brand to become the most authoritative and trusted brand in your field, so that both suppliers and customers are willing to buy from you. You need to make your brand unique and targetted.
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Other Interesting Blogs on Pay For Content;
Shirky: What “people must pay for content” really means – Boing Boing
This observation about complexity is perfectly nice but it doesn’t say anything about whether people will pay for content. If you believe the argument– and that’s only if you believe it- you’ll believe that people won’t want complex …Digital Media Consumption Increases – But Few Are Willing to Pay …
Even though more newspapers are putting their content behind pay walls, the number of consumers who paid nothing for accessing online news actually increased over the last few months. Sponsor People Spend More Time with Digital Media.Why You Need To Utilize An Article Writing Service
This choice makes sure that you will not be obligated to pay for content that you just cannot make use of. Nevertheless, you are not permitted to call for corrections brought about by unclear directions; for example, if you need a …Digital Media Consumption Increases – But Few Are Willing to Pay …
Even though more newspapers are putting their content behind pay walls, the number of consumers who paid nothing for accessing online news actually increased over the last few months. Sponsor …
– ReferencesContent is Dead: Long Live the Mighty Page Rank | Search Engine …
Try to come up with unique and incredible content or news that will make people want to link to your site (if they know how), and then pay per click your way into the hearts of these earnest and admiring visitors. …
http://www.mediaverso.com/ – More results from MediaVersoRolling Stone website now has a pay wall
The big news is that the service now features a pay wall restricting access to most of the content to web users. Users wanting to access the content on the service would be required to pay a a $3.95 monthly fee. …
http://techwhack.com/Will American Airlines make travel agents, corporations pay for …
The Business Travel Coalition is circulating a letter attacking a rumored American Airlines plan to charge travel agencies, GDSs and corporations for content.
http://www.tnooz.com/ – More results from TnoozCash for Blogging MRR Ebooks – Internet Marketing MRR Ebooks
There are sites that will pay you upfront, pay you a percentage of the revenue that your content makes, and sites that will hire you to write or blog for them. If you’re in a financial bind, or need emergency cash, writing for these …
http://www.theplrstore.com/elearnspace › Audiences don’t pay for content
A vast amount of content is free, thanks, in particular, to radio and TV. Even when I pay for content (such as I do on iTunes for downloading a song or a TV program), I’m paying not for the content itself but for the convenience of …