Another suggestion for subscriptions / sponsorships. [LWN.net]

Another suggestion for subscriptions / sponsorships.

Posted Aug 1, 2002 13:00 UTC (Thu) by seanpecor (guest, #2983)
Parent article: Is it really The End?

I was pleased to see that your task items included some suggestions made by both myself and others. Given the level of enthusiasm observed in the comments I would, in addition, suggest you consider the following:

Take advantage of the level of loyalty and enthusiasm expressed by Linux folks by creating an LWN Yellow Pages area. Make the LWN Yellow Pages area browseable by category. Nothing too vast, perhaps 20 categories each with 5-10 subcategories. Examples: I.T. Services -> Web Designers, Internet Service Providers -> Web Hosting. For each category, sell a SINGLE "Platinum" listing for (example) $500 per anuum. This would appear at the very top (bolded perhaps). Sell a SINGLE "Gold" listing for (example) $250 per anuum. This would appear as the second link. Then, sell as many "Silver" listings as you can for (example) $100 per anuum.

If you look at the NASCAR sponsorship model, people who are fans of a particular driver/car are MUCH more likely to purchase from their sponsors. Applying this to LWN one would assume that being a Platinum/Gold/Silver sponsor would affect the buying decisions of some folks and make the nominal sponsorship investment quite a bargain. I, for one, would spend at least $500 per anuum to have Marketingtool.com's Editor's Pick service recommended in a Web Designers category. I'm sure many other biz folks would feel the same.

A theoretical scenario might have you selling 20 Platinum sponsorships, 40 Gold sponsorships and 120 Silvers. That would imply an additional $32,000/yr in revenue using my above numbers.

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