Marketing Me! NYT and WSJ abandon subscription model, join twenty-first century

The New York Times and Wall Street Journal will/have abandoned the idea of subscriptions to read news off their web sites. Read it here.

I think it is big time funny.

For years, if you wanted to read the NYT on line, you had to subscribe and hand over all kinds of personal information.

Meanwhile, all the other news sites were handing content over in favor of your eyeballs viewing loads of sometimes, very creative ads.

The Times thought that subscribers, the old model, would benefit the Gray Lady better than new-fangled, unreliable, Internet advertising. Great thinking.

Guess who won? Not hard to determine with the Times decision today.

Okay, so how does this apply to Marketing Me?

First, how hard are you making your life to prospective revenue sources? You know people and companies who are willing to pay for your time and talent?

Difficult people require all sorts of protection and firewalls which keep revenue at arm's length.

Freewheelers, people who move fast and rely on personal marketing, remove every barrier possible to making things happen. Further, they find ways to monetize every potential customer opportunity.

Difficult people love certifications, trial periods, apprenticeships, reviews, check boxes and any other roadblocks which makes their life feel worthwhile, yet often, unprofitable.

No different than the Times and their subscription model. Make your best customers go through the ringer in order to protect a short-sighted, old-fashioned, "because we always did it that way" goal.

Got a suggestion for you: Stop making it hard for your customers to give you money.

Happy hunting!