Subscriptions Strategy - free trial

13 September 2009

7 day free trial: ‘best practice’ advice on marketing for publishers with profit-boosting tips and £211 worth of free reports and newsletters from Subscriptions Strategy: all on free trial:

1. A free trial to the Subscriptions Strategy newsletter

2. Subscription Marketing Workbook worth £66: 15 Subscriptions Marketing Innovations Every Publisher Should Know (more about this below)

3. Three special issues of the Subscriptions Strategy newsletter worth a total of £105 to bring you up to date with best practice marketing procedures for online and traditional subscription marketing for publishers.

A total value of £211 all as a ‘thank you’ for taking out a free trial to Europe’s leading marketing for publishers newsletter and website.

The top source of marketing advice for publishers
The Subscriptions Strategy newsletter publishes International case studies of the very best marketing around every two months: for the Internet, newsletters, books, websites and magazines etc.

We investigate and review hundreds of promotions and websites to find those few that have something valid you can use. We test them out on our websites and publications so you don’t have to waste your budget on test-marketing. You can check it all out on free trial, and pay just £12 if you decide you want to subscribe.

Here are some examples:


Special bonus report for new subscribers: Website Business Models

You receive:

A free trial to the Subscriptions Strategy newsletter: the leading publication for publisher marketing

Subscription Marketing Workbook worth £66: 15 Subscriptions Marketing Innovations Every Publisher Should Know (more about this below)

3 special issues of the Subscriptions Strategy newsletter worth a total of £105 to bring you up to date with best practice marketing procedures for subscription marketing: all the information and strategy a publisher needs for marketing at the highest level.

That’s a total value of £211 all on free trial. If you cancel you pay nothing.

What others say
All the big publishers, Conde Nast IPC, Haymarket, Centaur, Emap, etc. subscribe to Subscriptions Strategy , and hundreds of smaller ones, too. This is what Marketing Magazine’s Drayton Bird says:

“Whatever your business I recommend Subscriptions Strategy . My criterion for a newsletter is simple: does what you learn repay the cost? This one qualifies easily. Every issue carries at least one article of value to most businesses”

You won’t find this kind of hard-won subscription marketing information anywhere else, especially on the Internet. Each piece of advice has been tried and tested and is guaranteed to work.

How do we get this marketing information?
Well, it’s not easy! There is a lot of stuff around, especially on the Internet, and most publishers don’t know much about marketing — so very little that you see around is any good. Most of the bigger publishers, for example, do not have senior marketing personnel at boardroom level. CEOs, managing directors and publishers usually have very little marketing experience – just what they pick up on the job.

The marketing information we search for and provide to clients is not readily available. Profit-boosting techniques are not common and not easily uncovered – it’s like finding gold on a mountain.

Why publishers are not marketers
A publisher’s primary concerns are producing and delivering editorial, selling advertisements and keeping costs below income.

Juggling all those different functions takes day-to-day concentration. Marketing for publishers does not, somehow, fit in that mix. Even the biggest publishing companies have tiny marketing departments that work across all titles. For small and medium publishers, marketing is not treated as a separate function – someone does some marketing when they can fit it in.

5 ways marketing for publishers is in a mess
In any field, marketing is the engine that drives most successful businesses. But for publishers, things are different.

As far as marketing for publishers is concerned, here is what is actually happening today and why we question why marketers are not playing their deserved role:

1. Without test-marketing you will never know what price you can charge for your products – and ‘charging the price your market will bear’ is the foundation of any good business.

But most publishers do not carry out regular price tests.

2. Without test-marketing, a publisher can never find out how he can increase renewal percentages – and increasing the percentage of people who renew is how you increase revenue from your subscriber file.

But most publishers have never carried out a test on their renewal files.

3. Without test-marketing, a publisher can never find out how far he can increase the number of visitors who register on his website, and go on to buy his products.

But most publishers have never carried out a test on their email address capture systems.

4. Without marketing, a publisher can never find out how to increase life-time values and revenue from their customers. A publisher needs a good list of extra products to sell to subscribers and members to maximise revenue.

But most publishers do not have a good line of products to sell to existing members and subscribers.

5. Without marketing, a publisher of free websites and publications will never discover how many people are prepared to pay for access or delivery. As advertisement revenue tumbles by up to and beyond 40%, with money moving to the Internet, the free to paid and paid content issue has become a priority for B2B and specialist publishers.

*But most publishers do not have a tested strategy for marketing and developing paid content or free to paid titles. Nor do they have the marketing expertise on hand to guide the way.*

Yes, marketing is vital, especially in a downturn like this one. It’s also the best time to get up to speed, because most of your publishing competitors have only just started thinking about marketing at all.

Why you can’t do it all yourself
I know how exhausting it can be to trawl through site after site looking for something that is ‘fit for purpose’, something you can copy.

Some sites look good, and there are lots of claims by website publishers who have a self-interest in telling you how great they are doing.

But the truth is, it costs almost nothing for a small publisher to put up a website these days. And although the bigger publishers spend £millions on building an Internet presence, we can show you a whole load of ineffective, poorly thought-through website models out there. As you read and click through the sites, you will do well to wonder how well it all actually works.

The fact is you cannot know how successful a technique is simply by looking at it. You need independent advice and that is what we and our newsletter, Subscriptions Strategy delivers.

What does this marketing information cost and why isn’t it free?
I and my handful of fellow contributors are direct-marketing publishers. I have been in the newsletter, book and magazine publishing business since 1974, and in our particular niche, you could call it ‘direct publishing’, or ‘marketing for publishers’ you live or die by results.

A typical top-flight marketing-led publisher builds his circulation and revenue in the same way: if a promotion doesn’t work, he loses money. If it works, he doesn’t tell anyone – he just uses it again.

But unlike the news trade, where promotions and circulation rises are highly visible, direct publishing is hidden and highly discreet.

“Nothing worth doing is easy or free”

It’s very difficult to get a publisher to tell you what marketing works, as you can imagine. Why would a publisher give away his revenue-earning marketing secrets? So if I, or a colleague see something that experience tells us could work well, we test it first on our own titles.

We record the results. We have become very good at this and by now, in 2009, our team has accumulated between us more than 110 years of marketing knowledge.

It is a costly process and that is why we charge for strategic advice on which business models and techniques work. In terms of profitability, there are very few around.

For example, one long-term contributor to our newsletter was the first publisher to introduce the ‘standing order’ and direct debit payment systems into publishing – and is the founder of one of the foremost marketing-led Internet publishers in the world today.

Once a marketing technique has been tested by us and found to work, we sell this marketing knowledge to clients, mostly publishers, membership marketers, website owners and charities, in both consumer and business markets.

I am a publishing marketing consultant and I copywrite and create promotions for clients using devices and methods I have tested, and my clients pay the going rate, £800 a day.

But many companies, especially publishers, prefer to create their own subscription promotions. They have in-house design studios
and writers and want to do the work themselves. So to help them, we publish the techniques in our newsletter, Subscriptions Strategy which comes out every two months.

How publishers can adapt and use our marketing information
You can read our case studies and use our findings to lift response to Internet products, newsletters and almost any kind of subscription marketing or ‘recurring payment’ product.

We also reveal marketing techniques that are currently selling books, reports, and website information access — as long as it brings in revenue, I will show how to adapt it to build you more business. You can be sure you are adapting and using something that is proven, rather than something that merely ‘looks good’.

Our marketing advice for publishers will save you a lot of money, and a lot of time. If you have some new ideas, I can tell you if they have been tried and if they will work. If you are an experienced publisher, I can tell you what the current ‘best practice’ techniques are.

Join our group today
Subscribing to this kind of information is a ‘no brainer’ really. We have a close-knit group of around 100 paid-up members and so I can answer all my emails personally.

Each issue of the Subscriptions Strategy newsletter carries at least ten creative marketing ideas that most publishers can use. We give full page illustrations and analyse each promotion with links to the successful websites so you can see the technique in operation.

You’ll immediately start to improve response and reduce your costs.

How to take up our free trial offer
With this offer you receive:

1. 20% off the full price of Subscriptions Strategy newsletter (a saving of £40)

2. Our Subscription Marketing Workbook worth £66: 15 Subscriptions Marketing Innovations Every Publisher Should Know (more about this below)

3. Subscriptions marketing ‘rapid update’: three special issues of the Subscriptions Strategy newsletter worth a total of £105 to bring you up to date with best practice marketing procedures for online and traditional subscription marketing*

That’s a total discount of £211 all on free trial. If you don’t like what you receive, just cancel and you won’t pay a thing. With Paypal, YOU are in control of all payments.

All material is delivered as pdf downloads.

There are two ways to ‘test drive’ out our information

1. 7 day free trial by Paypal: if you cancel your trial subscription in the first week, you pay nothing – your first month’s payment is delayed by seven days. If you decide to continue using our marketing services, we’ll keep your subscription rate down to £12 / $20 a month for your first complete year.

2. Annual payment by credit card: You pay just £157, a total saving of £211. If the material does not come up to expectations, email, write or phone for a full refund. This guarantee is valid for the lifetime of your subscription and can be exercised at any time.

Plus: a very valuable extra
You get consultancy-level marketing advice on the whole business of profitable publishing. You receive practical guidelines in areas such as building subscriptions before launch to ensure market leadership, converting a free publication to paid-for, how others are making money from the Internet etc.

This is our guarantee: if Subscriptions Strategy doesn’t pay for itself with the very first tip you use, cancel your subscription.

Your free £66 workbook 15 Marketing Innovations Every Publisher Should Know

Our newly updated workbook is free with your paid subscription. It’s a compendium of techniques that will get more readers to
subscribe, stay for longer and buy more of your products:

All the above have been tested in live promotions and will lift response by a minimum of 10% – usually far more.

Please click on one of the options below to place your trial order. You receive:

1. Free trial to the Subscriptions Strategy newsletter

2. Subscription Marketing Workbook worth £66: 15 Subscriptions Marketing Innovations Every Publisher Should Know

3. Subscriptions marketing update: three special issues of the Subscriptions Strategy newsletter worth a total of £105 to bring you up to date with best practice marketing procedures for online and traditional subscription marketing

Option A: 7 day free trial by Paypal

If you cancel your trial subscription in the first week, you pay nothing – your first month’s payment is delayed by seven days. Thereafter you pay UK STG £14 / US $20 a month.

h3. Option B: Annual payment by credit card

You pay just £157, a total saving of £211. If the material does not come up to expectations, email, write or phone for a full refund. This guarantee is valid for the lifetime of your subscription and can be exercised at any time. My email address is hobday@subscriptionsstrategy.co.uk, telephone 01326 240039.




Unlimited money-back guarantee
If you decide to continue your subscription following your free trial period, your order comes with a money back guarantee. Following your trial, if our newsletter or other information does not come up to expectations, email, write or phone for a full refund. This guarantee is valid for the lifetime of your subscription and can be exercised at any time. This guarantee is in addition to the standard money-back guarantee described on our secure-payment website

hobday@subscriptionsStrategy.co.uk
Subscriptions Strategy Ltd
Polurrian Road
Mullion TR12 7HB
United Kingdom

Tel: 01326 240039