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Seems simple to me: either you think you get $5 of value from @Strava a month or you don’t. I do. I also think @flobikes is worth $12.50 a month, and the @MuseumModernArt is worth $7 a month. /1
I took the free trial of @disneyplus (mostly to see what the Baby Yoda thing was about) & peeked at @hulu but ended up not finding enough value in those & didn’t subscribe. I paid $12 for one month of @youtube Premium because I wanted to see @CobraKaiSeries, then cancelled. /2
The other night, the kid was over & said I’d really dig Isle of Dogs, so we rented just that movie for $4.95 or something. That one felt weirdly “expensive” & I was a little balky ordering it, but we’d already worked ourselves up for it & I wanted to see it enough that I paid. /3
Anyway, etc...In each of these cases & many more, I’m simply deciding whether I’m willing (& sometimes eager) to pay for a product a business is offering. I’ve dedicated my working life to what is now called “content” (stories, visuals, information & related services) so.../4
...I am likely more aware than average that while content can be inspiring, life-changing or whatever it is at its best, it is also a product. I don’t expect to get coffee or beer or meals or vinyl records for free. In fact, I LIKE supporting my favorite vendors. /5
From the other side—at 2 of the brands I work with, @runnersworld & @PopMech, we introduced paid content models (with limited free access to some content). As a creator, it’s turned out to be more fun & fulfilling—& illuminating—to focus on those who deeply value what we make. /6
I believe that for many (not all) content creators & providers, it’s better to serve the true-sized audience of people who pay for what you make than to endlessly chase scale with free product (or overly rely on ad rev or selling data, which are interrelated but other debates) /7
All of which is to say (if you’ve gotten this far with me on this), that in this specific ask: As a consumer I see enough value. And as a content insider I am excited about what is possible when we connect with people excited to connect with us. /end
