on discovery path

WSJ the “Drug Dealer”

I’ve mentioned before that I’m quite addicted to WSJ Mobile Reader - I read their articles on my BB incessantly.

Recently, WSJ Mobile Reader started charging subscription fee for access to most of its articles.

To my surprise, I am actually considering to subscribe.

As I look back, I realized what a smooth calculated process WSJ has driven to get me to this point.  About one year ago, WSJ started distributing the Mobile Reader for free.  I wasn’t the first to sign up, I downloaded it sometime in the spring after a prominent VC raved about it on his blog.  A couple of months ago, the Reader began showing a splash screen informing that I have until such and such date before I need to make a choice: register for WSJ and get access to the free content, or subscribe to either the print or Web version and get full access to the mobile free.

By this time of course I’ve been a user for about 1/2 year… reading WSJ on my BB has become an ingrained daily habit.  WSJ’s “drug dealer” strategy here has worked.

My case also seems to validate the news publishers’ business strategy: make up for the loss in print subscribers by going online, but not solely on an advertising business model - instead, offer online and hybrid subscriptions at higher price points to offset decline in revenue… while transforming the company cost structure.

Per Dan Gross over at Moneybox:

“So in the past six months, according to ABC, the New York Times’ daily circulation fell 7.3 percent, while Sunday circulation was down 2.7 percent. Horreur! And yet, the New York Times Co. reported that in the third quarter, “circulation revenues rose 6.7 percent, mainly because of higher subscription and newsstand prices at The New York Times and The Boston Globe.” In the quarter, circulation revenues were larger than advertising revenues for the first time—$175.25 million, compared with $164.5 million.”

Now if only I could wean off the drug…

The Core of the Blogosphere

I’ve been busy lately but I wanted to share a couple of changes to my reading pattern over the last few months you may find interesting…

First, I now rely heavily on WSJ Mobile Reader to keep up with latest news. This makes me officially a Crackberryhead.

Second, over the last couple of months I’ve paid less visits to Google Reader - let alone blogging - partly because of the busyness, but also because the the 1000+ unread feeds is such a turnoff.  Clicking on “Mark all as read” button multiple times has not helped me feel good.

So I decided to make some changes to cut down on the number of feeds - I began limiting feeds from TechCrunch to only those from two of its many authors, unsubscribed from news sources like GigaOM and Xconomy, and eliminated entire feeds in categories like market facts and green tech.

Now I’m focused once again on the core of it all that I care about the most… the individual bloggers.  Imagine that!!

Some Links to Share…

A good story about YouSendIt’s transition from ads-supported business model to subscriptions. Free to Freemium: 5 lessons learned from YouSendIt.com | Futuristic Play by @Andrew_Chen

Good advice, Joel-style. But sounds like a product owner in Agile? How to be a program manager - Joel on Software

A short historical perspective on the Internet law pendulum. Technology & Marketing Law Blog: The Third Wave of Internet Exceptionalism

The corporate escapee, now that’s a persona. Startup Marketing Isn’t Rocket Science, So Don’t Hire the Ph.D Too Soon - O’Reilly Radar

You know Friendster is near the end when…

… its Southeast Asian users are moving en masse to Facebook.  Proof? I’ve got a lot of new friend requests from my Indonesian buddies as well as my teenage sister on FB in the last couple of weeks.

Friendster, as you know, has just moved headquarters to Bay Area and opened new offices in Singapore and Sydney last month.  The management finally came to terms with the fact that their strongest user bases are located in markets where, unfortunately, online advertising isn’t as mature or large as in the USA.

The move may be too little, too late… social networks may be sticky but once users leave, they don’t often come back.  I for one haven’t logged into Friendster for ages…