A conversation about paying for content

We recently launched a membership side to one of our blogs. It’s a travel blog about where we live. The membership side is still in private beta and has been launched free of charge to a hundred members from the email subscription list, so that they can test out that everything works for us.

Image: 7thsens / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I will write in detail about it once it goes public, but there are some quite interesting innovations on the site

• A properly moderated forum
• A classifieds section which is free to use
• Chat rooms
• Live translated news feeds
• A special deals section with car hire discount, free drinks at restaurants and so on

It’s a true on-going membership site and we’ve made it clear to the people in the beta that once tested, we’ll be charging it out at just €1.95 a month, or the price of a cup of coffee. We hope to leverage the power of the internet and get several thousand members.

I need to tell you a little about the main site to give you some background. It’s only a year old and already gets more than 1,000 visitors a day, viewing an incredible 8,000 pages! My wife post 3 to 4 times every day and it’s thriving, with lots of advertisers and it has a big community around it. All this based on an island with a population of 130,000 people!

I was quite surprised when I sent the invitation email out to see that someone had unsubscribed from the main site stating “I didn’t know you’d expect me to pay.” I sent him a quick email explaining that he would never have to pay for the main site, and that would continue as before, and giving him my phone number in case he wanted to talk to me.

He called me straight away, and really took me aback by starting the conversation with: “I think it’s terrible that you’re charging for internet content, it should be free!” He calmed down a little when I explained that he would still have all the access he enjoyed to the main site, and it turned out he hadn’t really read the email properly, thinking we were going to start charging for the main site. I assured him that he would get the same level of posting as always and that the site would continue to receive as much attention as it always has. I explained that the new site was for people who wanted, and were prepared to pay for, a little more.

We ended the call amicably.

He rang back five minutes later, and here’s what he said:

“I want to apologize to you. My wife just told me what a dick (his words) I’ve been. Here am I, sitting on my arse (his word again!) reading all your stuff, learning loads about the island, adding my views all the time. While you’re working at writing it every day, taking great photos, paying for hosting and answering all our questions. And I’m complaining about paying €1.95 a month for a little more. Where do I sign up?”

Interesting, no? Your thoughts? Comments?

Here are some great early Mike’s Life posts that nobody ever read!

1/ The difference between bloggers and journalists

2/ Blogging as a perfect consumer circle

3/ Eight reasons to be cheerful in a recession