Archive for Subscription Website Publishing

We talk a lot about the Online Magazine Index – OMI – that’s a fairly accurate measure of a publisher’s Internet savvy. In subscription website publishing, you should easily have more unique visitors to your website than you have print subscribers.

If you’re not driving more Internet traffic than you are selling paid subscriptions, something’s desperately … Continue

As Don likes to say, your magazine is not a website. And your website is not your magazine.

In fact, your subscription website isn’t even a website. It’s actually three websites: A portal, a magazine and a store. And the Mequoda Method, which is utilized by successful niche publishers both large and small, calls for deploying … Continue

When a visitor arrives at your website landing page, you have about five seconds to make a good impression and capture her attention. If you don’t succeed immediately, she is likely to click away and you’re apt to lose her forever.

Your landing page needs to be a fast, effective messenger.

With a quick glance, visitors to … Continue

Coming up with the right topic for a successful subscription website is usually the biggest stumbling block for those wanting to get into this business.

Choosing your site topic is a serious issue, as the topic you choose pretty much dictates your chances of success with a subscription website. However, more serious than the topic of … Continue

How big is the Martha Stewart brand? The formal name, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, pretty much says it all. And Googling the name for news of the company in the media world delivers stunning results.

Page 1 of Google results delivered nine listings from the website itself, and the usual listing from Wikipedia. One the second … Continue

As long as you’re selling to humans, you can’t go wrong with classic strategies – The more I write about the future of magazines and subscription marketing, the more I realize what a sea change the Internet has created for the magazine industry. When I learned the trade, I was learning what the publishing generation … Continue

The New Yorker shows that it’s not only the wave of the future, but can also remedy the sins of the past. Take a trip with me today to the Big Apple, home of The New Yorker magazine. This venerable publication, like everyone else in the industry, has struggled in the Internet era with declining … Continue

Online newsletters are the secret you’ve been searching for

If you’re looking for an easy answer to online publishing success, stop reading. We don’t have one.

We know dozens of publishers who have made online publishing a large part of their revenue stream.
… Continue

Digital editions are where we’re all headed

Print publications are dying a slow but inevitable death. We notice it almost every day – in fact, it’s so much a part of our current culture, that last December, the Onion satirized the trend: Dunbar Family Forced to Discontinue Print Edition of Christmas Newsletter, ran the headline. “Amid … Continue

Misunderstanding Membership Website information architecture

Misunderstanding the characteristics and attributes of a membership website compared to, say, a subscriber-access-only magazine or newsletter retail subscription website is a common misunderstanding when publishers are launching a paid-access-only website.

A Membership Website is an online medium—a destination—in and of itself.

It may be structured as a “pure-play” site, which does not … Continue

While many magazine publishers struggle to find the right subscription marketing strategy, The Economist demonstrates its regard for long-term subscriber relationships.

The simplest subscription website pricing strategy is Universal Access and The Economist uses it well.

I’ve spent hours, and several hundred dollars, buying digital magazines. I’ve bounced around between my iPad, Kindle Fire, and the World … Continue

Membership websites are hot for 2013

All the sudden in 2013 I found myself hip-deep in subscription and membership websites.

Perhaps it’s the tablet market evolving, the publishing market maturing, the continuing problems of advertising models or the renewed interest in the renewable revenue of continuity websites. … Continue

Six membership site ideas all digital publishers must follow

How to make a membership website is a topic many publishers struggle with. Membership and subscription websites can be hugely successful in generating revenue for publishers with evergreen and updated content.

However, understanding how to make a membership website is often overlooked during the planning process. Let’s take … Continue

For every publisher who dreams of creating a subscription website, choosing the right subscription management software can be a daunting task.

When we decided to turn our webinar program into a subscription product, I was faced with the same choice that every subscription website publisher must make: which subscription management software offers the right mix of … Continue

What are the attributes of a blockbuster subscription website?

Every now and then, I’m asked to facilitate the creation of a new subscription website. While a subscription website is the thing we’ll build, a premium content subscription is the thing we’ll sell, or perhaps even more importantly, what the customer will buy.

Deconstructing the phrase “premium … Continue

3 Subscription Pricing Strategies that Work

While the challenge of choosing the right subscription and single copy pricing strategy is not new to magazine publishers, it’s virgin territory for most subscription website publishers and many publishers exploring the digital newsstand landscape. Even magazine publishers are faced with new economic realities. The marginal cost of delivering a … Continue

These aspects will help your subscription website grow an audience and remain relevant to those consumers

Although there are different types of subscription websites, certain components belong in each of the separate archetypes to assure the correct result from the subscription website.

Now that subscription websites are turning into the core of online publishing companies, it’s important … Continue

The debate could be waged that either a portal or an email newsletter is more important than the other. And evidence could be presented for both sides. What’s really important to realize though, is that portals and email newsletters work together to build stronger relationships. There is harmony between the two. … Continue

3 Tips for Choosing the Best Website Name for your Media Company, blog, Portal or Subscription Website

Over the past decade or so, I’ve had the privilege and downright fun of getting to help name a few hundred websites. Most of the names I’ve helped generate have been for portals and blogs like Bible History Daily, … Continue

Three ways to generate free subscribers

The digital subscription is an interesting audience development tool. It can be used to build an email marketing file, and it can help develop free and paid subscribers. There are three subscription website archetypes that particularly target free subscribers,

In many circles, blogging is still misunderstood by many. However, as more … Continue

Your blog or portal is central in building an audience. The amount of content provided in these locations equates to the amount of landing pages that can bring in audience members. The search engine optimization used on each of these pages and posts dictates the visibility behind them.

Multiplatform publishing has become the name of the … Continue

The subscription website is the ultimate tool for digital publishers

After years of selling subscriptions for print products, digital publishers realized that subscription websites could be the digital counterpart. In today’s world, where tablet publishing is quickly gaining popularity, presenting content in an interactive digital format provides a new opportunity for publishers.

Any media company with frequently … Continue

A reverse paywall would reward your most loyal readers

John Paton emerged from running the regional Journal-Register newspapers to become the CEO of the enormous MediaNews Group—and he does not like paywalls. He wants audience and more audience—thinking that once that comes, monetization will follow. In a speech last month, he urged the media industry to … Continue

Subscription websites have never been more valuable as digital evolves

Digital may be the direction publishers are heading, but a plan is required. It’s pretty clear that digital magazine publishers need a strategy. Making digital replica editions of magazine may be acceptable for a period of time, but it is enough to sustain a digital publication?

The … Continue

Apps Give Companies Another Paywall Option

Just a month ago, the publisher of Britain’s largest-selling regional newspaper, the Express & Star, altered its online payment strategy by “removing its website paywall in favour of encouraging readers to purchase iPad and iPhone apps.” The apps, which give users pdf versions of the papers, cost £1.49 ($2.35) … Continue

Special Reports Highlight New SIPA Website

The new SIPA website houses a treasure trove of information on the industry. One of the best sections is the Resources where the Specialized Information Publishers Foundation Library sits. That’s where you’ll find the just-released Memorandum From Counsel, the Independent Publishers Legal Handbook, MarketingSherpa’s 2010 Social Media Marketing Benchmark … Continue

In a time when publishers have a lot of opportunity to build their subscriber file, it’s worth knowing what their audience deems valuable.

If Digital Natives are in your target audience, our Digital Native Survey shares a lot of information on the media consumption habits of Digital Natives. … Continue

If you are not utilizing some form of paid marketing, you are limiting the size of your online business. Google Adwords pay-per-click campaigns, affiliate marketing partnerships, retailer partnerships and banner campaigns all help to sell your products for a percentage of the revenue. … Continue

Publishers need to embrace organic marketing methods for audience development purposes. Utilizing only premium models is a mistake that isolates the single biggest channels for adding new subscribers to your database like search engine optimization and social media marketing.

It’s important to understand that in a content-driven world you need at least one of two … Continue

Legacy magazine publishers are not paying close attention to whether their business is sponsor-driven or commerce driven. They are then going online with a completely different model.

In doing so, publishers disregard the historical print business model. If a publisher monetized his magazine assets in the past by selling advertising, it’s highly likely that the … Continue

There are a number of proven strategies for success being used by online publishers.

One such strategy involves the use of a subscription website, for publishers with an excess of content who want to generate renewable revenue. With growth in the tablet and smartphone industries, subscription websites and apps are becoming to prove even more profitable … Continue

Niche businesses need additional channels to acquire large enough market share to succeed.

Beyond building an audience through search and website traffic, it’s important to generate retail partners like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Partnerships are how online businesses are able to open new channels to build upon the market share they need to grow. … Continue

People often overestimate their market. They do this by looking at the number of nuclear engines, bakers or weekend woodworkers and assume they can get a higher penetration than they’ve seen.

Look at the market, profession or hobby and pay close attention to the penetration levels of mature products in the two-five year range. … Continue

Every website is going to have its own dynamic in terms of pricing. Let’s take the premium reference content model for instance. There is a typical inclination to decide upon a particular price due to the fact that you’re bringing archives online. The decision to charge more due to an archive of content is a … Continue

Providing too little content to your audience is a major issue, especially if you purport to have a comprehensive collection of informative content.

For instance, if you’re looking to launch a reference model, and you do not have enough content, it’s a deadly sin. A reference website – which is often organized in an encyclopedia-like … Continue

Having too much content typically means you’re utilizing too many content models in one interface

The club model is the most prone to this problem. The blog, portal, forum, magazine, reference or periodical model do not have the problem of too much content as long as the site architecture allows the user to navigate and find … Continue

Choosing the wrong format for your membership website involves mislabeling your membership website and deciding to build it based off customer relationships instead of making it content-based.

The sheer number of content model choices – which totals nine through six premium models and three affinity models – dramatically increases the chances of choosing the wrong … Continue

Discover the membership website content model that fits your content best

In our new Membership Website Strategy free report, you will discover the nine deadly membership website mistakes and the nine membership website content models, including six premium and three affinity models. Premium membership website content models require registration and payment to access all of the … Continue

To provide the content your audience expects, there has to be compatibility

How do you envision the perfect digital magazine experience?

To start, imagine how the perfect digital magazine readers would engage with their favorite content. Would they start with the latest issue on their tablet device? Perhaps carefully noting the detailed photography and video content … Continue

Being subscriber-centric puts a focus on your level of direct interaction

What makes your customer relationships unique? Is it that your content successfully brings value to your audience so they can do more and live better?

Publishers have ample opportunity to reach the right people in the digital age – they just need to take the … Continue

Research into the investing market shows how major financial institutions are creating direct relationships with website visitors

While compiling the Mequoda 500 study – a detailed look at the content models of the most trafficked US websites – we took a deeper look at the top investing websites. We set out to highlight and compare the … Continue

Discover the nine deadly membership website mistakes when you download this new free report from Mequoda Group

Download your free copy of Membership Website Strategy: 9 Deadly Membership Website Mistakes & How to Avoid Them now

The membership website can be a lucrative addition to online publishers’ arsenal if they have the ability to create a premium … Continue

Why product, price, and offer have never been more important

The rush to create and sell digital information products is leaving a lot of money on the table. While I believe every publisher should be partnering with Apple, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Zinio to sell digital magazines, newsletters, and books, the opportunity is much larger.

The … Continue

Appease your audience with enhanced usability

Users of subscription websites should be able to easily access the content they subscribe to. This expectation is a key component for maintaining a successful subscription website that retains its audience base.

For our Gold Member clients, we’ve developed the Mequoda Auto Login plug-in.

The Mequoda Auto Login plug-in allows a … Continue

Design and functionality need to work together on your website

If you are bringing digital magazines, and other digital products to your online business, you will need to align your systems capabilities with your business models and goals.

Take the emergence of digital magazines for instance. How will you provide these products to your audience? Will they … Continue

The tablet era continues to make waves in content consumption

Since the release of the iPad in 2010, publishers envisioned a new world where they content could live digitally.

There were hopes of tying editorial content with brilliant multimedia and interactive social elements.

New editions should be sent directly to the tablet when ready, so a subscription model … Continue

Literary perfectionist Gustav Flaubert once said “our ignorance of history makes us slander our own times”. He was right on the money here and not just in his never-ending quest to find “le mot juste” (“the right word”) in a sentence. Finding the perfect word, he believed, would lead to the Nirvana of written quality. … Continue

Step-by-step approach helps executives go from business idea to website launch and execution

Unlike our former bootcamp program that conceptualized content marketing, our new Mequoda System Strategy Bootcamp details specific actions for launching or relaunching an online business.

During this step-by-step seminar, publishers and CEOs absorb hands-on information that directly aids in the process of designing and … Continue

3 software options for building an open content subscription website

It’s not an online editor’s job to tell you how to create a website…but I do consider it my job to provide you with as much relevant information on that topic as I can.

At the Mequoda Summit East 2011, the Mequoda System Strategy Workshop introduced the … Continue

Apple Eases Back on In-App Subscriptions

SIPAlert Daily has been following the ongoing saga over Apple’s decision a few months ago to keep 30% of the revenue from new subscriptions and media purchases made in an iPhone or iPad application through its App store. Last week I wrote about The Financial Times introducing a mobile Web … Continue