“You’re going to have to pay for that” — charging for digital only content with the Shawnee Mission Post
Listen to Jay Senter, editor and publisher, of the Shawnee Mission Post, give an overview of their decision to start charging a subscription fee for full access to their community news website in 2017, and how that decision affected traffic to their site, their social media presence and their relationship with trolls online.
You'll learn:
- When community news is your product, why readers have to be a key part of your business model.
- How charging for content fundamentally changes your incentives and your relationship with your audience.
- How putting up a paywall had major (unexpected) benefits in their experience with trolls.
About the speaker
Jay Senter is the Editor and Publisher of the Shawnee Mission Post. Launched as the Prairie Village Post in 2010, it is now recognized as one of the most successful digital-only community publications in the country. Jay grew up in Prairie Village and graduated from SM East before attending college at the University of Wisconsin — Madison. After serving as Peace Corps volunteers in Panama, Jay and his wife Julia returned to the area to start their family. When they noticed that coverage of local schools, government and business had dried up, they decided to start their own publication to fill the gap.
Schedule
7:30 a.m.: Doors open; buffet breakfast available; networking.
7:55 a.m.: Opening announcements
8 a.m.: Speaker's presentation
9 a.m.: Program ends