Comments on: The Biggest Myth About Online Publishing http://www.associationinc.com/385 The business of associations Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:16:53 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Who Moved My Business Model? http://www.associationinc.com/385/comment-page-1#comment-428 Who Moved My Business Model? Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:46:15 +0000 http://www.associationinc.com/?p=385#comment-428 [...] second website is Cook’s Illustrated (I’ve talked about them before in a post about successful paid online content). Actually, it’s a network of websites — this privately-owned company publishes two [...] [...] second website is Cook’s Illustrated (I’ve talked about them before in a post about successful paid online content). Actually, it’s a network of websites — this privately-owned company publishes two [...]

]]> By: Scott Oser (Scott Oser Associates) http://www.associationinc.com/385/comment-page-1#comment-427 Scott Oser (Scott Oser Associates) Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:23:49 +0000 http://www.associationinc.com/?p=385#comment-427 Hi Sarah, I totally understand that you want to use your content and expertise to generate revenue. I also believe that there is a market for paid online content. There is a lot to consider when selling your online content: 1. Who are you selling it to? Members? Non-members (general public and people in your industry that just aren't members)? Members at a discount? Non-members at "full price? Members for free? 2. Do members get to see the content before non-members? 3. Do members get free acess to all of the content and non-members only get tastes until they pay? 4. How will putting content online impact the usefulness/wantedness of your print publication? If your print publication becomes less read and that means losing advertisers how does that impact the association? 5. Are you going to sell articles? Reports? An online version of your print pub/journal? All of these? 6. Are you going to have institutional pricing? Can institutions buy packages of reports? Site licenses? How are you going to price those and monitor use? 7. If you start selling more content online and make it easier for your customers to get information without being a member will that make it more likely that member numbers decrease? 8. Do you have the staff resources to get everything you want to sell up online? 9. Is your back-end truly set up to allow you to put up and sell content relatively easily? I am sure I could come up with other questions for you to think about when developing your strategy for selling content. Personally I think you need to give some serious thought to the needs of your market (members, non-members, the general public, etc) and use that as a guide to what you should focus on first. Scott Hi Sarah,

I totally understand that you want to use your content and expertise to generate revenue. I also believe that there is a market for paid online content. There is a lot to consider when selling your online content:

1. Who are you selling it to? Members? Non-members (general public and people in your industry that just aren’t members)? Members at a discount? Non-members at “full price? Members for free?
2. Do members get to see the content before non-members?
3. Do members get free acess to all of the content and non-members only get tastes until they pay?
4. How will putting content online impact the usefulness/wantedness of your print publication? If your print publication becomes less read and that means losing advertisers how does that impact the association?
5. Are you going to sell articles? Reports? An online version of your print pub/journal? All of these?
6. Are you going to have institutional pricing? Can institutions buy packages of reports? Site licenses? How are you going to price those and monitor use?
7. If you start selling more content online and make it easier for your customers to get information without being a member will that make it more likely that member numbers decrease?
8. Do you have the staff resources to get everything you want to sell up online?
9. Is your back-end truly set up to allow you to put up and sell content relatively easily?

I am sure I could come up with other questions for you to think about when developing your strategy for selling content. Personally I think you need to give some serious thought to the needs of your market (members, non-members, the general public, etc) and use that as a guide to what you should focus on first.

Scott

]]> By: Sarah Lawler http://www.associationinc.com/385/comment-page-1#comment-426 Sarah Lawler Tue, 09 Sep 2008 21:02:01 +0000 http://www.associationinc.com/?p=385#comment-426 I would like to hear what other assocations are doing on this topic. We have been talking about it for a couple of years now. Finally we will have a web site that will support the function in a few weeks. But will we actually charge for our content? I don't know. I am all for it. My association should look at our information as a commodity, and some of it can make money. I would like to hear what other assocations are doing on this topic. We have been talking about it for a couple of years now. Finally we will have a web site that will support the function in a few weeks. But will we actually charge for our content? I don’t know. I am all for it. My association should look at our information as a commodity, and some of it can make money.

]]>