sharing should be rewarded

January 18th, 2010 • posts i've written

NYmag.com reports that the Times is finally ready to throw up a pay wall on January 27th. They call it a metered system, where the first few posts are free to read before you’re asked to subscribe:

The Times has considered three types of pay strategies. One option was a more traditional pay wall along the lines of The Wall Street Journal, in which some parts of the site are free and some subscription-only. For example, editors and business-side executives discussed a premium version of Andrew Ross Sorkin’s DealBook section. Another option was the metered system. The third choice, an NPR-style membership model, was abandoned last fall, two sources explained. The thinking was that it would be too expensive and cumbersome to maintain because subscribers would have to receive privileges (think WNYC tote bags and travel mugs, access to Times events and seminars).

Can I suggest a fourth kind of pay system for publishers – one based around content being shared (since that’s the predominant way a person comes upon this type of content)?

Throw up a pay wall. Only your die-hard fans will pay. Readership will decline but you’ll gain some revenue (hopefully more than you’ve lost on your display ads). Offer incredible value for your subscribers before they realize just how many options they have for news consumption.

Then, make sharing free.

If a subscriber wants to link to a particularly insightful article, let them. Give them 100 free clicks – 100 friends/followers they can share that post with. Include their photo on the content page giving them total attribution for making that content available (“your friend Bud thought you’d dig this, let them know if you did/didn’t).

Make your top-sharers superstars on the site. They’re your new distribution system. Give them a discounted subscription based on how much of your content they consume and share – your top readers will become your top proselytizers.

If they can get any of their friends to subscribe, reward them. Tell them how much money you need to run a successful business; give them a goal, and be honest about your vulnerability. Paint a future and be honest, “we only get here with your help.”

Create an army not a tax base.

Related posts:

1. blippy and the over-simplification of sharing
2. how will the new york times pay wall work?
3. why charging for digital news baffles me

Tags: new york times, nytimes, paid content

Trackback URI.