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Minal Bopaiah

Case Study Lessons: When Open-Access is a Great Marketing and Retention Tactic

Business Services, News, Subscriber Acquisition, Subscriber Retention /

I’ve previously written about how open-access laws in the UK and US are threatening some subscription site businesses, while other uses of open-access (such as after a natural disaster) can create great PR opportunities. But Vet Visuals International, a streaming video and e-learning site for veterinarians, is using open-access to build customer loyalty among students. Specifically, the site gives free access to any veterinarian student in their last two years of vet school. Publisher Andre Romjin said…

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The Times Has 140,000 Subscribers, Approximately £29 Million in Subscription Revenues

FInance, News, Subscription Apps /

The Times’ metered subscription site has added 13,000 subscribers since the start of the year, for a total of 140,000, said News UK CEO Mike Darcey at a recent conference. A conservative estimate would then put subscription revenues around £29.1 million. That number is derived from assuming that all the subscribers have The Times’ Digital Pack, since Darcey claimed that much of the company’s digital growth is from tablets, with readers wanting on-the-go, multi-device access. (Revenues…

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You May Be Responsible for Fraud Against Your Subscribers

News, Payment Processing, Technology /

A story about bank fraud in Missouri may want to make you double-check all your online transaction and fraud prevention methods. When a Trojan horse was installed on an escrow company’s computer and $440,00 wire transferred from its bank account to an account in Cyprus, a federal magistrate ruled that the escrow company, not the online bank, was at fault. In other words, if money is missing from your online bank account, you, as an online merchant,…

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Advanced Tips to Optimize Online Forms for Subscription Sales

News, Subscriber Acquisition /

Our five best practices for paywall optimization is a great place to begin when looking to increase your online subscription sales, but it’s not the final word. Just this week, Clicktale released The Giant Book of Form Optimization, which had additional and more advanced tips that subscription sites could use to take their online subscription sales to the next level. Among the 21 tips, there were five that went beyond standard best practices: #1. Use side-by-side field captions. You…

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Do US Subscription Sites Need to Collect VAT from European Audiences?

FInance, News, Technology /

For most of history, periodical publishers on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean have been able to provide their services without worrying about the nitty-gritty of sales tax. And that’s been an operational and revenue boon for print subscription sales. But while the US has extended the same courtesy to almost all digital content, the UK and EU have not. In fact, in the UK, digital subscriptions comes with a whopping 20% value-added tax (VAT). Different UK…

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Stop the Presses: Newspaper Readers Will Pay for Subscriptions!

FInance, News /

By Russell Perkins An Associated Press story this morning reports the seemingly impossible: optimism among newspaper publishers that paid, digital uptake of their content is substantial, growing and is on its way to becoming a significant and durable revenue stream. Digital delivery of news content has a double benefit to newspapers because not only is subscription revenue increasing, publishers are simultaneously able to reduce or even eliminate their print editions, yielding significant cost savings as well. Perhaps…

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Boston Globe Adds Mobile App, But Keeps High Prices

FInance, News, Subscriber Acquisition, Subscription Apps /

The Boston Globe, apparently not satisfied with the appeal of its responsively-designed website, has launched a native iPhone app. (Why is this a big deal? Read our short explanation about the difference between native and Web-based apps.) It’s odd that a subscription site that invested so heavily in responsive design, especially since Apple will take 30% of sales made through its app store, while the responsive site will require The Globe to keep all of its…

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Homepage Carousels Bad for SEO, But B2B and B2C Sites Still Use Them

Business Services, News, Subscriber Acquisition, Technology /

One of the most prevalent SEO mistakes made by B2B sites, according to a recent article in Search Engine Land, is the use of homepage carousels (like HDI). However, this worst practice has also been employed by a number of B2C sites (like Hulu), particularly subscription content sites that want to highlight various feature stories. The problem with the carousel (or sliders) is that it requires you to break a lot of basic SEO best practices.…

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The Nation Gets 22% Conversion Rate (Trial-to-Paid) on Student Offer

News, Subscriber Acquisition /

Some print publications that target older audiences are still enjoying high renewal rates. But if these publications want to stay relevant, they need to bring in younger readers — and that usually means adopting a digital strategy. The Nation created a unique student offer recently specifically designed to draw in younger audiences. Through a unique URL (www.thenation.com/#students), The Nation offered college students a one-time trial of its iPad app and website for 25 weeks — the…

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New Subscription Launches for The Atlantic, NBCUniversal and Amazon

Business Services, Entertainment and Streaming, Industry Announcements, News, Subscriber Acquisition, Subscription Apps /

A number of major media organizations launched digital subscription products this past week. First, The Atlantic, almost pathological in the avoidance of online subscriptions, launched The Atlantic Weekly, a paid iPhone and iPad app. Priced at $2.99/month, $19.99/year and $1.99 for a one-off purchase, the app simply curates the “best of” content from The Atlantic’s free website and presents it in a compact app that’s quick to download. (The app also includes archival pieces, such as…

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