Case Studies

In the summer of 2012, Liz Cadman knew she had a problem. She was addicted to subscription boxes, and she wanted more. She couldn't find the information she wanted online, however, to make smart buying decisions, so she started a blog to talk about subscription boxes. The blog grew into My Subscription Addiction, a full-fledged website dedicated to the discussion of subscription boxes. In four years, the site has exploded in popularity, and she has added additional features including swaps, a discussion forum and more. Learn how My Subscription Addiction started and grew into what it is today.

How can you combine a wholesale book business and a passion for children's literacy to get more books in the hands of kids? With the subscription box model. That's how founder Eric Shmuely made his dream become a reality -- by creating a subscription book service for children.

Last year the publishing industry was abuzz with the news that the Winnipeg Free Press was experimenting with a Read Now Pay Later micropayment platform, where readers pay $0.27 (Canadian) per article they have read. Dana Neuts explores how well the first seven months of the strategy has gone.

At just three years old, Readly has experienced rapid growth and is defining success in the digital magazine publishing space. Now offering nearly 1,100 magazines and more than 17,000 issues in 49 countries, learn more about Readly in this exclusive INSIDER Case Study.

"BOB" stands for "Best Of Business" and BOB.tv was established to deliver premium knowledge content to industry practitioners. The company leverages a subscription-based learning platform, aggregating high-value content used by professionals to build skills and stay abreast of industry knowledge. In this case study, learn why Tony Lorenz, Founder & CEO of Bob.TV, decided to focus on video content and how he has grown was BOB.tv; via innovative partnerships with respected industry associations to deliver content to -- and beyond -- it's professional member base. Still in early-growth phase, BOB.tv has hit upon a unique, scalable model for success that we can all learn from.

Starting with just the spark of an idea, founder Ben Wolford put his journalism education and instincts to work, creating Latterly magazine last fall. This digital-only magazine features the type of narrative journalism Wolford admires yet seldom finds. Within a matter of months and some crowdfunding, Wolford took this idea and turned it into a subscription hybrid business model, combining revenue streams to fund and develop a publication he expects to break even in less than a year.

Nineteen years ago, psychotherapist Dr. Victor Yalom had a vision to capture the teachings of his mentor Dr. James Bugental on video for training purposes. That vision has turned into a seven-figure online subscription business that offers education and training to clinical psychotherapists across the country.

Politico Pro is proving that politics-oriented publications can flourish behind a subscription-based business model. With a large editorial team covering 14 public policy verticals, quality journalism and attention to detail has driven their growth into a successful subscription public policy news outlet in just three short years. Learn how subscribers are paying thousands of dollars for the convenience of email updates. Plus, find out how the site is getting a 96% retention rate and optimizing email for engagement via smartphones!

The rumor mill says local newspaper are dying, but The Texas Tribune is demonstrating how digital-native local news can flourish, even with a nonprofit model. Publisher Tim Griggs spoke with us about the site's multiple revenue streams, including subscriptions and memberships, and how the site is bringing general political news to a niche market. This is a great Case Study for anyone interested in using both membership and subscriptions (and yes, they're different) to boost their bottom line, or looking for a business model to support mission-oriented content. Finally, get tips on paywall optimization, the effective use of crowd-funding, and why social media does matter (even if it won't make you a dime).

What's the most important rule of innovation? Fail fast. Innovation Excellence Research (IXR) - a website dedicated to innovation for business professionals - takes that to heart with its new premium subscription model. Chief Research Officer and Principal Analyst Doug Williams spoke to us about the company's pivot to an innovative revenue model after a disappointing launch. Plus, discover interesting pricing benchmarks and why retention is so difficult for research library models.