A number of legacy and online publications struggle with shifting from free to paid. While this transition is manageable (see specifically our Case Study on TheDay.com), we thought this email from Folio: illustrated both best and worst practices.
On the plus side, the note is a personal explanation for why the site is moving to a paid model. That can definitely help minimize any backlash.
But on the very negative side, THERE’S NO LINK TO SUBSCRIBE! That’s a huge oversight. When you’re making a personal and slightly emotional appeal for keeping your business model in the black, it helps to make it easy for people to give you money. Folio: announces the metered paywall “begins immediately” but doesn’t offer one solitary link to get people to sign-up. What a waste of a campaign.
