Online publisher says this is the perfect time to start charging for website subscriptions

If you're a writer, researcher, subject matter expert, enthusiastic hobbyist, or an authority on almost any topic, there has never been a better time to start your own subscription website or online newsletter. And if you're already publishing information free on your website, now is the ideal time to convert at least a portion of the content to fee-paid access.

"This is the perfect time to start charging for access to your website," says Peter A. Schaible, director of the Subscription Website Publishers Association (www.SWEPA.com).

This trend away from websites offering free information and toward a subscription, or pay-for-access business model, has several causes, Schaible says.

First, only a few websites operated by big companies can afford to provide valuable content without being compensated.

Second, in the current political and social climate, there is heightened anxiety and concern about privacy. However, in the seclusion of a subscribers-only website, you can share ideas with an affinity group of like-minded people with less fear of ridicule or repercussions.

Third, information seekers are getting accustomed to the change, just as they have learned to pay for premium content on cable TV.

The result has been a proliferation of private, members-only, subscription websites and online newsletters covering literally hundreds of diverse and specialized topics.

###