Musings ....
I've been toying with the idea of creating a newsletter with techy stuff in it. Things like neat gadgets, cool finds on the web, reviews of products and even the odd bit of tech support.
Why, well in very short NNT has decided to end its 'free' edition. Now I disagree with the owners assertion that "It is patently unfair to ask a minority of subscribers to the Premium issue to continue to subsidize publication of the Standard issue to a much larger subscriber database." as this is the way the majority of web based products such as theirs work. And, may I add, continue to work. See LangaList and Support Alert as two examples of fine writing and content that provide a free and a subbed version.
Also NNT's owners state "As Bob Dylan’s music aptly sings “These Times They Are A-Changin’.” Nothing is free – someone always pays." Well, I have to agree here but the point is that you need something to draw the subscribers in. And I've been a free member (ah ha I hear you say, here's his whinge as he's no longer getting the freebie) for 2 or 3 years and in all that time it has never excited me or encouraged me enough to want to pay up. The other two examples I offer above - Langa List and Support Alert are excellent - free or paid. As it happens I pay for both of these and the reason I do is because their free content was enough to entice me to wonder what I was missing out on. Plus they have their attitude to life better balanced in that they realise they have to attract new members somehow. Tell me .... who's going to be attracted to NNT at $12 a year when they don't know what they are getting. I've been sent a sample copy and frankly it adds a fw more words to the free version and an editorial. Well gee.
If you want to spend $12 - then spend it at Langa. Or for $10 Gizmo's Support Alert is excellent. Both newsletters have different markets they appeal to but both are excellent value whereas NNT has been consigned, sadly, to my bit bucket. It could have been a great read but in all that time I think I clicked on one link directly from the newsletter.
All that said - I wish them well and hope they continue to see it work for them. So, this has prompted me to think ...
- Can I do the same?
- Do I want to do the same?
- How often?
- How do I do teh research?
- Do I offer a "premium" version as well?
- and so on .....
