Some Online Content Is Worth Paying For

Some months ago, I let my annual subscription to the Wall Street Journal Online lapse. I've been a subscriber for some years, but decided not to renew the subscription. Cost was part of the reason. The Financial Times online which costs 100 (about $176) for a year's sub. So $276 a year is just a bit too much. One had to go. I decided to continue with the FT. The two media have some similarities in news coverage (no surprise there) but more differences - style, columnists, etc. As I'm in Europe, I figured the FT would serve my information needs best in the context of why I was making a choice between the two. Today, though, I re-subscribed to the WSJ Online. What prompted my decision to do that was an email I received from Todd Larsen, President of the WSJ Online, inviting me to take another look at it. He did offer a reduced rate to renew plus a $20 Amazon voucher as an extra incentive. The reduced rate was appealing so I renewed. But it was not just about the cost. Increasingly in recent weeks, I've read something in an RSS feed from someone's blog that interested me and clicked a link in the post to get something more relating to what the post was about, which typically has been to a story in the Journal online. I've then hit the 'you must be a subscriber...' barrier. Many people argue that newspapers shouldn't charge for content online; that charging just isn't what the market wants these days when you can get hold of just about anything online for free. This also coincides with a "why should I pay for it?" mindset that's prevalent today (see this New York Times for his take on why you should pay for some content). I think it comes down to perceived value - if you want access to something that costs money, and is something you believe is valuable and/or you can't get anywhere else, then you'll pay for it. At least, that's my feeling about why I've re-subscribed to the WSJ Online. Luckily, my subscriptions to the WSJ and FT aren't at the same time - they're six months apart. So I've got until about next April before I need to go through the should-I-or-shouldn't-I? exercise again... NevilleHobson.com blog which focuses on business communication and technology.

Neville is currentlly the VP of New Marketing at NevilleHobson.com