RE: Will They Pay? Part II

From: John Gaskill <gm_at_info-central-usa.com>
Date: Wed 16 May 2001 16:44:53 -0500

There seems to be a desire on the part of some list
contributors to convince the rest of the list that so
many people who surf the internet are unwilling to pay
for content that a web site operator may not charge
for content and be profitable.

I've read research by Forrester and Nua that appears
to reinforce this concept if you read the headlines and
don't see beyond the words printed on the web page.

In fact these reports reveal that increased numbers
of people are paying for online content, aside from their
internet access subscriptions. That is the first step.

Adoption of the internet started out at a trickle before
becoming a mass culture wave. There is no reason
to believe that changing individual behavior on the
web should happen any faster or with less resistance
than elsewhere. After all, did not paid T.V. cable access
take years to produce profits for most cable suppliers?

If making a profit on your content requires putting up
a password protected entry point and secure server
to prevent data from being spidered so be it? Are you
in business to make a profit or satisfy the lust of search
engine operators for a larger number of pages to post
on their web site?

The supermarket I shop in has about 55,000 square feet
of floor space devoted to retail selling. Aside from the
bakery and deli where free samples are handed out now
and then, one has to pay to leave with the contents or
face a squad of armed men in blue suits and a shoplifting
charge. Every day thousands of people fill their carts and
line up to pay -- some happily, some grudgingly, in this
market (most happily because it is a beautiful market with
a big selection, excellent helpful staff and fair prices).

Most shoppers walk past thousands of items on the shelves
without buying but a fraction of one per cent of them.

What is my point?

Now I realize that there is a distinction between food and
information (advertising is information as is content), but
us human folk seem to lust after information, including
gossip, as much as we like to eat.

Sites charging for content are not the end of the free
internet. Publishers who can charge and come out
ahead monetarily should do so. That is only common
sense. If it means a few people who previously got
something of value free now have to pay -- too bad for
them. If they don't have the resources to subscribe
to all the i-pubs they want I am sorry.

These paid content web sites will then have some
resources to do advertising of their own, hopefully a
percentage of which is on the net.

Advertisers need outlets for their messages that
reach people. Publishers of content need money
to produce their publications.

If publishers can't get the necessary funds to
stay in business from advertisers, plus a little left
over after expenses for the shareholders, they
must get it from the people who use their product.

If people are unwilling to pay, the answer is clear
in spite of its unpleasant nature.

Regards all,

John

John Gaskill
jg_at_info-central-usa.com
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Received on Wed May 16 2001 - 16:44:53 CDT