The Times No-Pay-Wall

Interesting times at ‘The Times’. The debate amongst publishers rumbles on about ‘to pay’ or ‘not to pay’ for content, the value of journalism and the bastardisation of existing revenue models. There are two clear camps forming, with the Guardian and the Times each telling us why their approach is the future for publishers. I have to say my view aligns to the Guardian’s stance. Web content is and should be free, good journalism can exist in this environment and it can/is being commercialised effectively – even with a traditional print business. I certainly know which camp I’d prefer to be working in at present!

For niche publishers like Sift Media, we’ve debated the merits of delivering a metered approach to our content, but I’ll put a stake in the ground now and say that we won’t be introducing this across our B2B publications. However, we will be looking to improve our understanding of our members needs through further research and aligning our content, services and products accordingly. With 600,000 business users accessing our sites each month, there are definitely other revenue streams apart from advertising to explore. In the two years to the end of 2010 we will have shifted our reliance on online advertising from 90% to 65%, and I’m sure this trend will continue.

Some of the initiatives we’re currently looking at include; Clubs/Networks; Benchmarking & insight; Training & Learning; Shops & E-commerce – all strategies that allow us to;

1) Serve the needs of our members better and build sustainable relationships with our members (site users)

2) Shift a reliance on advertising – which as we know, isn’t much fun in a recession!

Posted by Tom Dunkerley
Managing Director
Sift Media

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