GigaOm Releases Premium Content

Indeed there are many ways to reap the benefits of an online business. However, when we sell content in the form of news or articles, there are not many business models that apply other than just relying on advertising banners. This then pushes Wall Street Journal to try to implement a premium content business model with a paid subscription system. At the beginning, many doubted the WSJ's move, but now the voice of ridicule is dimming while WSJ reap huge profits from the premium content served to its subscribers.

This step was followed by Techcrunch by releasing annual report which you can download by paying US $ 450, and ReadWriteWeb also do the same with special report for US$ 249. Now it's your turn GigaOm who do something similar by providing premium content to paying subscribers on GigaOm Pro. To access content on GigaOm Pro customers are required to pay US$ 79 for a one year subscription fee.

This method does look easy and doesn't bother customers as much overall as the Wall Street Journal does, but it reaches readers with special needs who are willing to pay for premium quality content.

And for sure, with premium content like this it is very suitable to be applied to niche blogs with niche readers as well. But be careful, this strategy can be a boomerang and make your blog abandoned by readers if you apply this strategy incorrectly. Make sure that the content you provide is worthy of reading (and paid for) by subscribers, and that niche content will greatly support reader interest in subscribing.

is DS suitable for paid version? If NavinoT? How about a video podcast from BitesMedia? :p

ps: read my post in the space about premium content ;)