Convincing readers to pay for valued content

Free content on newspaper websites has long been the business model, but one that doesn't always bring in the required revenue – and one that is slowly changing.

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Staff at the Lunenburg County Progress Bulletin (Bridgewater, N.S.) realized that moving from a free website to a subscription model came with risk.  They wanted their viewers to see the value in paying a small fee when getting buried deep in its award-winning content.

They wanted to start a bold campaign that would pull no punches and get people to understand that being the best takes a lot of time and effort – and that having full access to the paper's content costs money.

They got some negative feedback ... and expected it ... but the paper also sold subscriptions.

Additional information: Tina Hennigar, sales, 1-888-543-2457

View 100 other award-winning ideas from the Canadian Community Newspaper Awards competition here.