I recently had the pleasure of attending the annual industry conference of Alliance of Area Business Publications in Nashville, Tenn., along with Springfield Business Journal Editorial Director Eric Olson and Advertising and Marketing Director Mar’Ellen Felin.
The conference is one that my mother, SBJ founder and President Dianne Elizabeth Osis, has attended for more than 20 years, always taking away some great advice or idea of value. AABP members represent business publications of varying sizes that serve markets across the United States and internationally. SBJ is among the smallest markets represented, and more than once we have walked away feeling like the little guys as Crain’s New York, Chicago or Detroit swept the editorial and design awards and larger markets dominated panel discussions.
This year was a little different. We held our heads higher and stood a little straighter than most as publishers continued to rehash the discussion that has monopolized much of our meeting time during the last four to five years: How do we meet the growing needs of our readers to consume news and information wherever they are and on whatever device is available to them? How do we monetize the Web when the advertisers that support our print products don’t place the same value online? How do we dispel the notion that all Web content should be free?
As a valued reader, and hopefully a subscriber, you likely know that SBJ decided to implement a paywall on SBJ.net nearly three years ago. This meant that when nonsubscribers clicked on articles they wanted to read, they would begin to receive a message saying the article was locked and inquiring if they would like to become a subscriber. This was not a decision that was made lightly. We knew that we ran the risk of losing a tremendous amount of traffic to our website. Articles would no longer be freely shared or forwarded to a larger audience that we desired to reach. Further, we were likely to make a few people mad.
Ultimately, we decided to protect our most precious resources: our paying subscribers and our unique content. If subscribers perceived that we were giving away the same high-quality news on the Web or in some other digital format that they were paying to receive in print, we knew they wouldn’t remain our customers for long. After all, why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free? So, we held our breath and made the calculated change.
SBJ’s paywall preceded the majority of AABP publishers and many other notable publications producing original content nationally. “Pay-to-play” plans were being met with some skepticism. In fact, I’ve been meaning to frame the March 28, 2011, article in satire newspaper The Onion titled, “NYTimes.com’s Plan To Charge People Money For Consuming Goods, Services Called Bold Business Move.”
It was admittedly a little scary, but we did it. Since Sept. 1, 2010, SBJ’s paid subscribers have had full access to the journal everywhere they are, and nonsubscribers have not. Felin likes to say we have truly evolved from a newspaper to a news organization. Further, we have created a premium annual subscription, viewable at SBJ.net/subscribe, that allows our paid subscribers to provide full digital and Web access for up to nine co-workers at no additional cost.
During an AABP session of publishers and editors, called Deciphering the Paywall Conundrum, Crain’s Chicago Business Publisher David Snyder presented the survey findings of members’ paywall strategies. The vast majority were metered paywalls that tracked monthly usage and started charging per article after a certain number had been accessed. As Snyder reviewed the various strategies, he repeatedly circled back to SBJ crediting us with having the most creative digital subscription model among the 26 publications participating in the survey. “Springfield, again, you love it, and I understand why,” Snyder said.
Now, three years later, we’ve decided it’s time to exhale and to say thank you to our readers and subscribers who continue to find value in our products. SBJ has seen its subscriber base grow by nearly 18 percent during the same period of time that print circulation has been on the decline nationwide.
I believe little SBJ left Nashville this year with some admiration from our industry peers. We have you to thank.
SBJ Publishing Inc. Publisher Jennifer Jackson can be reached at jjackson@sbj.net.
