Is there room for Ultra Premium?

There’s been talk of lower priced memberships and per-article pricing, both of which are ways to potentially increase membership while still doing so profitably and without undercutting current subscribers.

But there is another way to grow the bottom line, and that is by offering even more expensive tiers. It certainly shouldn’t be the focus, but Thurrott.com may be leaving money on the table by not at least offering a higher tier. If you look at Kickstarter, Patreon and other subscription-based sites there are often opportunities for people to contribute at a level above the baseline value proposition for different perks. I bet there are readers out there who would pay $100/year, or make a special one-time payment for something special.

Obviously this could devolve into farce (e.g. tandem bike ride with Paul; drop Brad in a dunk tank; have the guys leave you a happy birthday message), but I think the basic premise of giving people a chance to be super-contributors isn’t entirely untenable– especially when you’re talking about a niche audience that also likely contains some very passionate fans.

Conversation 21 comments

  • Paul Thurrott

    Premium Member
    01 December, 2017 - 11:29 am

    <p>No. :)</p>

  • TheJoeFin

    Premium Member
    01 December, 2017 - 12:42 pm

    <p>So I had an idea in this same category. On NPR you can buy ads which are read on air. I think it would be cool if Premium members who have their own business, or an app or website they wanted to promote could the buy short 10sec ads to be read on FRD? Only read one or two per show, but they would vary and would be coming from members of the Thurrott.com community. Just a thought.</p>

    • jimchamplin

      Premium Member
      01 December, 2017 - 2:55 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#223389"><em>In reply to TheJoeFin:</em></a></blockquote><p>I'd buy a ten second ad talking about how awesome I am and that I'm a really cool and stand-up guy. Or maybe just a really long tongue twister for Brad to try to read.</p>

      • Brad Sams

        Premium Member
        02 December, 2017 - 1:35 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#223436"><em>In reply to jimchamplin:</em></a></blockquote><p>savage</p>

    • anchovylover

      01 December, 2017 - 4:17 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#223389"><em>In reply to TheJoeFin:</em></a></blockquote><p>This isn't Google Joe ? I absolutely guarantee you the viewing numbers of FRD would plummet. Also, I assume you mean only the Friday FRD as paid subscribers would blow a fuse if more ads were run on Mon/Thurs FRD.</p><p><br></p><p>We subscribers already have advertising on FRD and now sponsored posts as well. That's quite enough thank you.</p>

      • TheJoeFin

        Premium Member
        01 December, 2017 - 4:37 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#223459"><em>In reply to anchovylover:</em></a></blockquote><p><br></p><p>FRD is now free for all and is no longer a premium only benefit.</p><p><br></p><p>Do you think community ad spots would really detract that much from the podcast? I think if they're from the community or tech related I'm fine with the idea of some short ad reads. I don't expect this idea to happen, but I think it would be a positive way for the community to integrate more into Thurrott.com content and help support the site at the same time.</p>

        • anchovylover

          01 December, 2017 - 6:01 pm

          <blockquote><a href="#223469"><em>In reply to TheJoeFin:</em></a></blockquote><p>You're correct Joe. FRD is free every day. I wasn't aware of that but that changes my view. The scope is there to place more ads if the site decides to do so given it's free to view.</p>

      • Paul Thurrott

        Premium Member
        01 December, 2017 - 4:43 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#223459"><em>In reply to anchovylover:</em></a></blockquote><p>FRD is free for everyone everyday.</p>

        • anchovylover

          01 December, 2017 - 6:05 pm

          <blockquote><a href="#223489"><em>In reply to paul-thurrott:</em></a></blockquote><p>Cheers Paul. I wasn't aware of that. As I stated to Joe, given that fact there is no reason why you couldn't increase advertising if you wished.</p><p><br></p><p>To be honest you should seriously consider it now it's free.</p>

    • Paul Thurrott

      Premium Member
      01 December, 2017 - 4:42 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#223389"><em>In reply to TheJoeFin:</em></a></blockquote><p>Interesting. </p>

  • hrlngrv

    Premium Member
    01 December, 2017 - 1:51 pm

    <p>On a tangent, are the <em>passionate</em> fans passionate about MSFT/technology or about Paul? How many of the latter would the other paying customers want to hang around with?</p>

  • anchovylover

    01 December, 2017 - 4:03 pm

    <p>I would imagine a number of subscribers would abandon the site if this idea were implemented. </p><p><br></p><p>The Premium option was promoted as just that, Premium. It was to have limited access to Paul and the team through comment sections and ask questions/we help podcasts. Also, let's not forget the reason many subscribe. The emotional payback of knowing you are doing right by supporting quality journalism plays a major role and cannot be underestimated.</p><p><br></p><p>To introduce a higher subscription offering could only undermine the current value of Premium and would only harm the sites bottom line. Worse, many members would feel betrayed by Paul and the team thus breaking the unspoken bond between both parties. In short, I believe it to be a short sighted and harmful proposition.</p>

  • Bats

    01 December, 2017 - 4:25 pm

    <p>I propose new pricing tiers:</p><p>1. Thurrott.com FREE</p><p>2. <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Thurrott.com Home</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">3. Thurrott.com Home</span> Premium</p><p>4. <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Thurrott.com Professional</span></p>

    • Paul Thurrott

      Premium Member
      01 December, 2017 - 4:42 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#223464"><em>In reply to Bats:</em></a></blockquote><p>Love it. Also Thurrott Starter. :)</p>

    • TheJoeFin

      Premium Member
      01 December, 2017 - 6:05 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#223464"><em>In reply to Bats:</em></a></blockquote><p>There should be at least 3 Thurott.com enterprise versions and a Thurrot.com for workstations</p>

    • Rycott

      Premium Member
      01 December, 2017 - 8:29 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#223464"><em>In reply to Bats:</em></a></blockquote><p>Your plan has merit but it's not confusing enough. You forgot a few tiers.</p><p><br></p><p>5. Thurrott.com Enterprise</p><p>6. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Thurrott.com </span>Professional for Workdays</p><p>7. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Thurrott.com </span>365</p><p><br></p><p>Then you could add in sub tiers.</p><p>7a. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Thurrott.com </span>365 Home</p><p>7b. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Thurrott.com </span>365 Premium</p><p>7c. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Thurrott.com </span>365 Essentials</p><p>7d. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Thurrott.com </span>365 ProPlus</p><p>7e. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Thurrott.com </span>365 E1</p><p>7f. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Thurrott.com </span>365 E3</p><p>7g. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Thurrott.com </span>365 E5</p><p><br></p><p>But why stop there. We could have tiers for students. Let's call them A1, A3 and A5.</p><p><br></p><p>What about those poor government workers? G1, G3 and G5 plans for them.</p><p><br></p><p>Who knows… we could even come up for some nonprofit organisation tiers as well as some for Firstline workers who are be going to reading Thurrot.com while helping customers.</p><p><br></p><p>I see it now. The future of <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Thurrott.com were everyone gets what they need. If only they could figure out the differences. Because it is made it as obtuse as possible.</span></p>

    • jimchamplin

      Premium Member
      01 December, 2017 - 9:07 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#223464"><em>In reply to Bats:</em></a></blockquote><p>Thurrott.com NT Lan Manager 3.51 Professional for Enterprise Workstations</p>

    • Chris_Kez

      Premium Member
      01 December, 2017 - 10:09 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#223464"><em>In reply to Bats:</em></a></blockquote><p>Love it. ?</p>

    • Tim

      Premium Member
      04 December, 2017 - 11:55 am

      <blockquote><a href="#223464"><em>In reply to Bats:</em></a></blockquote><p><br></p><p>We'll have a launch party </p>

  • PincasX

    01 December, 2017 - 4:31 pm

    <p>I admittedly have no clue what the financials of the site look like but it seems to me that the first step in getting more people to pay for content is to provide quality content worth paying for. That would make more sense than trying to gouge already paying customers for more money. </p>

  • Oasis

    Premium Member
    02 December, 2017 - 11:57 am

    <p>Thurrott.com w/Bing</p>

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