Dear West Seattle Blog: Start voluntary subscriptions

I know, I know, the word “subscription” is inherently evil nowadays. That’s one of the reasons I’m going there: I don’t think it has to be. Even more than that, I think it’s very important that local and citywide news outlets continue to rely, at least in part, on subscriber revenue.

And there’s no better place to try it than the West Seattle Blog. So here’s my open proposal to Tracy and Patrick on why (and to a certain extent, how) they should start offering voluntary subscriptions to WSB.

Why is it important to have subscriptions when advertising revenue is enough?

The company I work for, Parnassus Group, produces a lot of events and conferences. We have a party at CES every year, and we kicked off the world’s first Business Blogging conference in 2004.

Before starting this company, my boss Steve Broback used to run an events company called Thunder Lizard Productions, which was bought just before the dotcom implosion. I even run a small event series called The Pitch (coming up soon!) for Eat Sleep Publish. Essentially – we know a thing or two about putting on conferences.

And there’s a subtle but important difference between a free, sponsored event and an event where people pay to attend. Your customer is different.

When we put on a paid event, and attendees are shelling out $200, $300, or $400 to come have a great experience, we’re very good at always putting that first. No, we’re not going to get rich by selling tickets. Yes, the bulk of our revenue comes from the sponsors. But we owe our attendees a show worth paying for, and I think that psychologically that gives us a bit more backbone, if we need it, when dealing with a pushy sponsor.

In other words, the attendee becomes our real, paying customer.

I think running a neighborhood blog like the West Seattle Blog is pretty much the same thing. The bulk of WSB revenue does, can, and should come from advertisers. But having a set of paying readers would, I think, bolster the minds (and wallets) of the people running the blog, and give them a little more leeway to tell advertisers where they can stick it (if necessary), and a bit more of an inclination to do so (if necessary).

It’s a subtle, but I think very important, difference. There’s a reason that newspapapers have traditionally pursued subscription revenue even when, by their own admission, that revenue doesn’t go anywhere near covering the cost of news: it’s security against being manipulated by their advertisers.

And just so I can be puh-erfectly clear (channeling Dr. Cox from Scrubs), I think West Seattle Blog is doing a fantastic job so far, and the ONLY thing I’m trying to imply is that as citywide news sources like the Seattle P-I run aground, it’s going to become more and more important for neighborhood blogs to take up some of the investigative gruntwork and corresponding advertiser ill-will that has traditionally been the purview of larger newspapers. This second revenue stream will free up the WSB and others like it to be more critical when the time comes.

OK, So having subscription revenue would be good. How does a voluntary subscription work?

In my mind, this is pretty simple, and operates a bit like Kachingle (I’d say just use Kachingle, but we’re talking larger amounts of money and keeping your own data).

The internet makes it hard to charge for money but really easy to ask for money. Much like metered content, a voluntary subscription offers the opportunity to provide free content on a totally free site…and still make money from subscriptions.

West Seattle Blog clearly has a large, dedicated, and enthusiastic readership. I’m willing to bet that a significant number of your readers would be willing to volunteer a little bit of money to a) help keep you growing your business and b) show their support and dedication.

I’d start out by making a really simple offer. Paypal has a built-in payment system that supports monthly recurring payments. Ask for 5 or 10 dollars per month from anyone who wants to contribute, and dedicate a page on WSB asking people to become part of the community.

That might, of course, be enough. But I’d suggest also providing a little something extra to the people who decide to subscribe. I don’t know what forum software that WSB is using or what kind of options it provides to administrators, but maybe paying subscribers could be given extended forum signatures to the people who become subscribers.

Maybe you could get your hands on a nice 8×10 photo of West Seattle (or the full version of your header image) and mail that to them (figure that’s $5 to print in bulk, $1 to mail).

Both of those options have fairly low overhead involved, and the potential upside in terms of both revenue and stability is, I think, very much worth the cost of execution.

What do you say, WSB, worth a try?

Incidentally, The Pitch on March 18th is a local Seattle event to discuss possible business models for news. Hear from a UW Professor, Head Product Manager at Microsoft, Radio Host and Technology blogger, and Founding Entrepreneur at Spin Spotter. Sign up now!