Category Archive: 'Hybrid Model'

Christian Science Monitor Makes Paywall Work With Analysis, Not Breaking News

Date: May 2, 2012 Topic: Hybrid Model, newspaper paywalls Tags: , , , , ,

Three years ago, the Christian Science Monitor decided to go “digital-first” and learn to swim in the new media environment. It’s a strategy that’s paid off as the paper abandoned its 5-day-a-week print paper for a weekly magazine (that’s now available on the iPad and eReaders) and Web content.

What the Monitor didn’t do was try to compete with breaking news television or Web aggregators like the Huffington Post. Instead, it stuck to its mission of providing contextual analysis and original, global content. It also decreased its use of multi-media platforms, including video (the site still has some video but now works with a production partner), and included polls and quizzes that tickle intellectuals.

By doing this, the Monitor has been able to grow its page views to 42 million a month (8 to 10 million are unique views). And both ad sales and content sales grew by 50% in the last year.

It’s a strong model that other news sites should look to. Most of us can’t be the New York Times and evolve into a large, multi-media news conglomerate in order to stay relevant. But we can play to our strengths, charging premium prices for signature content. And given that people often troll the Web for more in-depth analysis on their favorite subjects, it’s a great way to play to strength of online media without becoming a software company.

Posted by MinalB21
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F+W Media Combines Several Profitable Digital Ideas in Niche Ebook Subscription Site

Date: April 2, 2012 Topic: Hybrid Model, Subscription Business Model Tags: , ,

F+W Media recently launched it first eBook subscription site for enthusiasts — Artist’s Network eBooks Book Club.

The idea combines several profitable revenue streams in the digital space — niche marketing, subscription sales and eBooks that are platform neutral (i.e., available via a computer, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch or Android mobile device — no word yet on the Kindle or Nook versions). The first site offers beautiful, full-color eBooks for an annual subscription price of $199.

The site has some problems, including a slightly repetitive and forgettable name, and asking visitors to either scroll or click on a new page to enter an email address for free information. But the software, developed in partnership with Impelsys and its software iPublishCentral, seems pretty seamless and consumer-friendly.

This creative mash-up of profitable digital revenue streams seems poised to succeed, mainly because F+W Media has years of communicating directly with consumers about their interest in niche topics. Through market research and customer segmentation, the company is poised to offer its customers what they want without directing them to different platform vendors or external sites.

Seven additional eBook subscription sites dedicated to writing, design, firearms, woodworking, genealogy, craft, and romance fiction are planned.

Posted by MinalB21
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Lessons from iDate: The Rise of Mobile Apps and Offline Services

Date: February 28, 2012 Topic: Hybrid Model, Mobile Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Last week I attended iDate’s Startup Event, an intimate gathering at the Seaport Boston Hotel. Organized by Marc Lesnick and hosted by Mark Brooks, the event had a number of dating site marketers and owners sharing their expertise and predictions for the industry.

During an informal discussion, many agreed that dating sites gain more revenue from subscriptions than advertising. But Paul Folzone, CEO of elove, added perspective by speaking about how the real dating site dollars can be gained through offline services. By relying on personal matchmakers instead of impersonal algorithms, he has been able to charge more than 100 times the normal subscription rate per month.

Yet, offline and online services often work in tandem. Adam Towvim of Jumptap mentioned that 40% of logins for Match.com come through mobile devices. Furthermore, while “good” click-though rates for desktop ads hover around 0.1%, mobile ads are known to range between 0.2% and 1% — a nearly 10-fold increase in some instances. So, while subscription services can drive your revenues in the traditional online environment (especially if you offer additional offline matchmaking), advertising may be your best bet for gaining revenues through your mobile apps.

Posted by MinalB21
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Launch News: Slader.com Adopts Unique Subscription Model For Math Students

Date: December 6, 2011 Topic: Hybrid Model, Launches Tags: , , ,

Remember how your algebra text book had the answer to half your homework problems in the back? And remember how you came across a problem where, even with the answer in hand, you couldn’t figure out how to solve it?

Well, here comes Slader.com to the rescue. The site has compiled step-by-step answers to the problems in some of the most popular high school textbooks, according to All Things D.

But most interesting to Paywall Times readers will be their subscription model, which can be as low as $1 a month and has members (a mix of students and parents) spend “point” to see full solutions. Users pay for a block of points, subscribe for daily points, or buy “gold” that can be transferred to other members. The rationale for this is that their customers are both parents with credit cards, but also students themselves, who sometimes use pre-paid debit cards, sometimes transfer points to friends, or even use PayPal, according to All Things D.

I spent some time perusing their site, and the subscription models (especially the $1/month promise) seem a bit obtuse and hidden. Furthermore, the whole model seems like it may be a retention nightmare. But then again, playing into a gaming aspect of collecting points instead of focusing on a traditional subscription angle may be the best way to retain high school students. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens and how they scale their services.

Posted by MinalB21
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Behind the Metrics: Gauging the Impact of Hulu’s Paywall

Date: April 14, 2011 Topic: Hybrid Model, Subscription Business Model Tags: ,

Online video site Hulu has been losing viewers since implementing its subscription model in June 2010. Hulu had about 27.5 million unique viewers in March 2011, according to ComScore – a 31% drop in unique viewers from March 2010.

Sounds bad, right — more evidence that adding a paywall is a site killer? Except that one metric, whether it’s unique visits, pageviews, or video views, doesn’t tell the whole story.

In fact, Hulu’s revenues were up 90% in Q1 2011, according to a blog post by CEO Jason Kilar. Adding another revenue stream in the form of online subscriptions must have contributed to that growth.

And the site’s paywall hasn’t killed advertising revenues, either: Hulu was the top site on the Net for video ads viewed in March, also according to ComScore.

Obviously, I’m not privy to Hulu’s detailed financials so I don’t know the exact impact their subscription model is having on revenues, or whether the model will succeed in the long run. But I do know that it’s easy to latch onto one metric – like pageviews or site visits – and make broad conclusions about a site’s health or the viability of paywalls in general.

In reality, though, sites with a hybrid subscription/advertising model are always balancing the two revenue streams, and declines in one metric may be offset by improvements in others. You can’t get a complete picture just by looking at a single number.

Posted by Editor Sean Donahue
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