The Holy Grail: Newsletter publisher successfully moving from free to paid website.Newsletter publisher Jack O'Dwyer O'Dwyer is a surname of:
"We tried as hard as we could to have the most complete news, feature, and database PR website," he said. O'Dwyer publishes the 35-year-old Jack O'Dwyer's Newsletter, "The Inside News of Public Relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most ," three directories, a monthly magazine (for the past 15 years), and special reports. The website, www.odwyerpr.com, has listings and descriptions of 450 PR firms, 8,000 companies and associations, and 1,500 PR services in 58 categories, along with breaking news and feature articles presented under the title of O'Dwyer's PR Daily. The site also includes PR job listings and PR College, which offers "courses" on 40 topics such as media relations and crisis communications Crisis communications are generally considered a sub-specialty of the public relations profession that is designed to protect and defend an individual, company, or organization facing a public challenge to its reputation. . "We're we're Contraction of we are. we're we are the only PR publishing company on Lexis-Nexis--all of the articles in our newsletter and magazine are in full text back to January 1, 1989," O'Dwyer said. L-N searches are free now, he noted, but there is a $3.25 charge for printing a story. Website as drain "But we were draining away our print subscribers," he said. "Why pay $275 a year for the newsletter when you can get it for free on my website? We had tens of thousands of free visitors." So, in November he began charging for website access--with an introductory rate of $20 on top of the $275 subscription price for the print newsletter. He said "about half" of his print subscribers signed up for the website, plus some new ones that had been visiting for free. "About half want only the print edition. The other half are mostly younger people, who are more web savvy," O'Dwyer said. Website as premium Now the only way to do research and read articles on the site is to subscribe to Verb 1. subscribe to - receive or obtain regularly; "We take the Times every day" subscribe, take buy, purchase - obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction; "The family purchased a new car"; "The conglomerate acquired a new company"; the print newsletter. "We look at the website now as a premium," O'Dwyer said. "Tell your subscribers that this is a winning formula--promote your website as a premium for subscribing to your print newsletters." The site is also open to "infrequent in·fre·quent adj. 1. Not occurring regularly; occasional or rare: an infrequent guest. 2. visitors" for $25 a month or $10 a week. In addition, O'Dwyer reels in subscribers by offering package deals to those who advertise in his directories--again using the website as a premium to sell directory entries. "Don't rush into it," O'Dwyer advised, referring to the transition from free to paid. "It takes time, work, and money. All the codes have to be redrawn to block the site, and online credit card processing has to be developed. Companies offered to do it for us for thousands and thousands of dollars, but we kept it in-house In-house In the context of general equities, keeping an activity within the firm. For example, rather than go to the marketplace and sell a security for a client to anyone, an attempt is made to find a buyer to complete the transaction with the firm. , saving money but probably taking more time. "It's difficult," O'Dwyer added. "People are lazy; they don't want to fill out forms. You have to make it as easy as possible for people to sign up." 271 Madison Ave AVE Avenue AVE Average AVE Alta Velocidad Espanola (train between Madrid and Seville) AVE Alta Velocidad Española (Spanish: High Speed Train) AVE Audio Video Entertainment AVE Advertising Value Equivalent ., New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , NY 10016, 212-679-2471, fax 212-683-2750, www.odwyerpr.com |
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