Category Archive: 'B2B Subscription Sites'

Compare Your Profits and Spending to Folio:’s 234 Survey Respondents

Date: May 9, 2012 Topic: B2B Subscription Sites, Technology for Subscription Sites Tags: , , , , ,

Folio: recently released its B-to-B CEO survey results, chock full of data and stats from 234 B2B publishers. For your convenience, here are the most interesting stats that subscription site execs will want to know:

  • Both small (<$5M) and large ($5M+) B2B publishers rely mainly on print advertising for revenues.
  • However, when comparing online content, events, data sales, and print content, both large and small publishers said online content and events were the most profitable areas for them (see chart below).
  • At the same time, 36% of smaller publishers and 11% of larger publishers reported zero revenue from online content (perhaps they need to start reading Subscription Site Insider?)
  • Most publishers across the board plan to invest more heavily in online/e-media content in 2012, with employees being their biggest investment.
Profitable Areas for B2B Publications (©Folio:)
Technology Investments

The Folio report also had some interesting data on technology investments for other digital publishers who might be wondering how much they should be spending on technology.

While there was a wide spread in the data (see chart 10 below), it turns out that, among small publishers, 27% spent $10,000-$20,000 on technology, 35% spent less than $10,000, and 22% didn’t invest at all. More interestingly, of these technology investments, 35% invested most in computers, hardware, and software. Only 16% prioritized their websites, and 8% spent the majority of the technology budget on content management systems (Chart 11 below).

Among large publishers, the picture is a little different, with 26% of them spending $100,000 to $249,000 on technology. An additional 18% spent $250,000 to $499,000. They also seemed to diversify their areas of IT investment, with 24% investing most in computers, hardware and software, 18% prioritizing their websites, and 23% spending their tech dollars on content management systems.

$$ Invested in Technology (©Folio:)

Largest Area of Tech Investments (©Folio:)

M&A Outlook

The one other gem of information in the Folio: report was this: Small publishers are luke warm to mergers and acquisitions, with only 7% planning on buying another company and 9% hoping to be bought.

Large publishers, on the other hand, are on the hunt for mergers and acquisitions, with 30% looking to acquire another company. Only 1% expect to be acquired.

Posted by MinalB21
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Nearly $38M in Subscription Revenues for LinkedIn

Date: May 7, 2012 Topic: B2B Subscription Sites, Revenues Tags: ,

Recent Q1 reports indicate that LinkedIn saw a 91% increase in premium subscriptions last year, leading to $37.9 million in revenues for the first quarter.

This figure, of course, does not account for all of the company’s revenues as LinkedIn has a hybrid subscription-advertising model. Advertising brought in $48 million, accounting for 26% of the company’s total revenues. Yet, the 91% growth in subscriptions noted above is promising, as subscriptions now take up 20% of the revenue pie. Interestingly, the company’s biggest revenue generators are its B2B offerings — Hiring Solutions and Marketing Solutions — which generate 54% and 26% of total revenue in the first quarter, respectively.

The company is also employing some smart subscription benefits to increase retention. After finding that 22% of traffic in March came from mobile devices, LinkedIn introduced an iPad app. CEO Jeff Weiner said, “we believe we can create more value by enabling our paying customers and subscribers to get access to those products and services regardless of where they are.”

Furthermore, the recent acquisition of SlideShare for $119 million indicates that LinkedIn knows it must highlight its online features. While some professional networks would seek to make exporting contacts or printed directories an added benefit or upsell, LinkedIn is strategically planting retention seeds by making its online offerings more engaging and unique to anything offline.

For the full year, LinkedIn forecasts revenue of $880 million to $900 million. Adjusted net income is estimated to range from $170 million to $175 million.

Posted by MinalB21
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Academic Journals Enter The Fray on ‘Fair Use’ & User-Generated Content

Date: February 8, 2012 Topic: B2B Subscription Sites, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , ,

Unlike most online publications, academic journals have almost always been exclusively behind a pawall. Sometimes that paywall was propped up by universities and research institutions, making the content free to students and researchers (or bundled in your tuition plan, depending how you look at it). But they have been able to weather the “free ride” storm better than most print publications.

That may be changing as a number of notable academics are calling for an “Academic Spring.” Their gripes are many, but center on the current trend of publishers charging for user-generated content. As The Economist states:

Academics, who live in a culture which values the free and easy movement of information (and who edit and referee papers for nothing) have long been uncomfortable bedfellows with commercial publishing companies, which want to maximise profits by charging for access to that information, and who control many (although not all) of the most prestigious scientific journals.

I suspect the ethics of charging for user-generated content is only going to become a bigger debate, especially with Facebook’s recent IPO and YouTube’s flirtation with charging for subscription channels.

In what seems a poorly-planned defensive move, scientific journals now want to get paid for anytime an article is included in a patent application. While we usually applaud creative revenue streams, this one really does go against the idea of fair use — that is, to disseminate ideas to the public. More importantly, if it becomes  financially prohibitive for anyone to note the ideas in your publication, you will likely cease to be a publication of note. With an mean average of two readers per article (that’s a lifetime score!), academic publications should see citations and references as good word-of-mouth marketing, not a copyright infringement or potential revenue stream.

Posted by MinalB21
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How CreditRiskMonitor.com’s Internet Subscription Revenues Rose 9%

Date: November 14, 2011 Topic: B2B Subscription Sites, Revenues Tags:

CreditRiskMonitor, an information service for corporate credit professionals, just reported a 9% year-over-year increase in online subscription revenues, when comparing 3rd quarter 2011 to 2010. Interestingly, this increase was *despite* a major shift in their marketplace which would normally lead to decreased revenues.

It seems that during the depths of the recession in 2008-2009, the company’s information service was most often an “impulse buy” for credit pros who desperately needed to figure out credit-worthiness in a shifting world. But, as the economy stabilized in 2010, CreditRiskMonitor’s subscription sales slowed….

What to do? The company shifted its marketing messaging and retrained its sales reps to promote a benefit better suited for a stabler-but-still-sucky economy — corporate cost control data. After repositioning, subscription sales began to rise again, and are expected to continue rising.

Great lesson: never assume your site’s unique sales proposition (USP) will remain the same over time. As your market shifts, your USP has to shift as well.

Posted by Anne Holland
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Case Study Lesson: Clever Email Campaign Your Subscription Site Can Adopt

Date: September 8, 2011 Topic: Attracting Traffic, B2B Subscription Sites, Conversions Tags: , ,

case-ebmedicine-smallOur latest Subscription Site Insider Case Study reveals how EBMedicine uses a clever email series to engage current and potential subscribers who are emergency medicine physicians and practitioners. But any subscription site can adopt this great marketing idea.

Once a month, the ““What’s Your Diagnosis?” challenge email email is sent with a patient presentation of symptoms but will stop short of a diagnosis, instead asking the audience of medical professionals to post their guess at the “What’s Your Diagnosis?” blog. Five winners are randomly chosen from the comments to receive a free copy of the latest issue of Emergency Medicine Practice.

The next week, a follow-up email includes the correct diagnosis and a list of the randomly chosen winners. Ivy says the “What’s Your Diagnosis?” email series is very popular with the EBMedicine audience. This is the kind of email engagement and marketing that almost any subscription site can try even with a simple trivia question that’s answered in the next email.

For this complete Case Study, join Subscription Site Insider now as a 10-day trial Member for just $1.

Posted by KathyMcCabe
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