Salon.com Ezine explains it's business strategy to Astro

[astro]

I was web surfing yesterday and come across a provocative Salon.com story, only to decide moments later that I would move on instead of subscribing and left them this note just as an afterthought.

Dear Salon:

Your magazine is an excellent ezine and I try to make it a stop at least once a day in my net tour for the headlines. I am in both the income and social demographic you have targeted.

Don’t take this personally but Salon is not worth 3.00 to 6.00 a month to me in this context. I might Paypal you 12.00 for a year access and live with pop ups but that's about it. I know you're thinking "Well the hell with you if you don't think Salon isn't worth a measly 6.00 a month. We pour our heart, soul and considerable resources into this mag!"

Be that as it may I’ve got dozens of free web info sites competing for my eyeballs. The only thing truly compelling about Salon (in real world terms) is my interest in some of the features you post intro’s to, and mild curiosity about what your columnists have to say is not going to make me part with 30.00 to 72.00 ad free annually when other interesting and free web info sites beckon. I’ll just move on to Slate or the Drudge links or the Wash Post or etc etc etc. Sorry but that’s the way it is.

I am sure there are people to whom Salon is a deal at $30-72, but for the great crusing public it's just not true and in the end you need their cash to survive. Three people willing to accept popups for 1.00 a month = one true believer in the value of your content. Like I said, don’t take it personally. I’m just giving you a look inside my net crusing decision process because you guys seem fairly earnest about wanting to make your ezine and subscription model work.

It’s also beyond nuts that you don’t take some of the more popular epayments like Paypal etc. An ezine subscription is an impulse purchase and the easier and quicker you can make it, the better off you are. Grunting through a credit card application process is almost comically absurd for an ezine subscription when the world is going epayments.

Good luck!

---

I actually received a response from a human being reasonably high up on the Salon food chain. This is from Patrick Hurley
Senior Vice President for Business Operations.

Hi Astro:

I’m Patrick Hurley, the Sr. VP of Business Operations here at Salon.com. Your e-mail was forwarded to me.

First off, thanks for your note. It’s always good to receive candid feedback. I would respond to your comments as follows:

1. You are absolutely correct that our readers have different levels of passion regarding Salon. Our goal is not to convert all of them to subscribers. We’re looking to simply provide our most passionate readers with something extra. If we convert, say, just 2% of our subscribers it will generate about 25% of the revenues necessary for us to break even. Given that we already have 34,000 subscribers in the first 11 months, getting to that 72,000 figure seems definitely attainable. We still plan to generate much of our revenues via advertising. Plus we’re going to be adding a lot of other nice benefits to Premium moving forward like free magazine subscriptions, audio book downloads, etc…

2. We did research before we launched Premium and determined that lowering the price would not result in the additional volume of subscribers to make up the price differential.

3. You have a lot of free options NOW. That may very well not be the case down the road. Slate can afford to stay free since it has one of the world’s largest corporations as its parent. But it’s also shackled by that relationship and doesn’t – in my opinion – provide the depth of content or the enterprising reporting that Salon does. I’m on what’s called the Paid Content Committee for the Online Publishers Association. I can guarantee you that large papers like the Washington Post and others are considering charging for portions of their content (or at the very least requiring user registration).

4. We may have an option in the near future that, from time to time, allows readers to access Premium content if they agree to sit through a series of ads, a commercial, etc…

5. We’ll be adding PayPal in May.
   Best Regards,

Patrick
Patrick Hurley
Senior Vice President, Business Operations
Salon.com

[lesa]

Hmm, that’s interesting all around. I’m surprised they have that many subscribers.

On the other hand, I don’t buy that “lowering the price won’t do any good” nonsense.

What I really think will hurt these people, is that I can subscribe to a “real” magazine for less. Really, what makes ezines so popular? Is it because you get up-to-the-second news? Nah. It’s because they’re free, and easy to get.

I also think the paid subscription thing won’t work because we all browse too many sites. It adds up quickly. It doesn’t take long to reach the “wow, I could buy somthing nice with that much money” threshold.

[Cliffy]

*Originally posted by lesa *
**
What I really think will hurt these people, is that I can subscribe to a “real” magazine for less. Really, what makes ezines so popular? Is it because you get up-to-the-second news? Nah. It’s because they’re free, and easy to get.
**

I’m not a subscriber and, since they began to charge for most of their best content, I no longer go to Salon very frequently, but for a couple years it was without doubt a better magazine than Time, Newsweek, or other of its competitors in the news and commentary magazine market, irrespective of its medium. Plus, for many users, it’s more convenient.

–Cliffy

[Fibonacci]

I did subscribe for $30 and I’m quite happy and satisfied with doing so.
Back before they started charging, I got quite used to reading Salon daily. I enjoyed the varied political views and the wide scope of Salon.
When they started cutting staff, I was worried they might go under like many other sites I used to read.
So when they put out their appeal for subscribers, I eagerly signed on, hoping it might stave off going under. So far it has.
For a less than a dime a day, I enjoy this daily ezine much more than any “real magazines.”
I can’t begrudge paying them for the value and enjoyment I receive. YMMV

[Tretiak]

The problem with ezines is you cannot take them into the bathroom with you.

[saepiroth]

laptop + wireless broadband.

need i paint a picture?

[obfusciatrist]

I was growing tired of Salon by the time they went subscription and never really considered it. At their peak, I would have done it in a heartbeat.

By the end, though, the majority of writing seemed to either be self-reflective “NPR” commentaries that managed to be more boring than NPR commentaries or were thinly veiled, poorly written attempts to titilate.

Almost all of their good writers have left, and those that remain are now mostly hidden from view by the Premium shield.