Is the Long Tail Killing Paid Online Services?

I have begun to notice a real shift in my online habits...

I unsubscribed from Webshots Premium because I find there's even richer artwork for my desktop (not to mention an array of awesome services) on Flickr.

I unsubscribed from Audible because I can get much more interesting spoken word content by downloading podcasts through the iTunes Music Store.

I spend much more time reading blogs than I do the Wall Street Journal Online, so I am considering letting my subscription lapse. The Journal put the nail in their own coffin by making the best chunks of their content available for free for bloggers.

I still pay for and use Backpack - and I love it, but I also see there are great free alternatives like Tiddlywiki that are getting stronger every day.

My frustrations with TypePad's comment moderation tools and slow performance are encouraging me to take a hard look at WordPress - a free blogging tool.

What's next? I think my T-Mobile Hotspot subscription could be in danger if Google has its way. Anyone else been dumping paid online services? It's very difficult to survive as a paid service in a Long Tail environment. One reason is that it's now easier to discover free, open source alternatives.

Comments

[Russell]

Check out http://www.supersized.org/tour.php. It is free and gets better each month.

[Adrian]

I'd highly recommend going to WordPress. Simply put, for free, it's totally nice.

[William Stewart]

I used MovableType for the longest time, but recently switched to WordPress at the urging of some fellow graphic artists. WordPress is super easy to set up and it has a plethora of plugins and hacks that makes life easier. If you do decide to switch, I recommend getting Blix for your template; it's very well done.

I am so passionate about WordPress, if you need any help switching, I'll volunteer my time. Email me if you are interested.

[Narendra]

A recent database malfuntion has caused your Webshots Premium account to be reinstated.

We apologize for any convenience this might cause.

~the random acts group

[David Smalley]

You really should consider Wordpress.

I have used Movable type and wordpress and WP is definately my favourite.

Wordpress can take a little bit of tweaking to get exactly how you want it - but its well worth it once you've got it sorted and they have some good online documentation at http://codex.wordpress.org

There are lots of Wordpress fanatics out there who will help (myself included) if you want to switch.

On the rest of the post I have to say I agree, however the only online news sources I used to read were the Guardian and the BBC. Fortunately these were two organisations that already jumped onto the RSS train so I still receive info. from there in my aggregator.

Also, I don't think paid online services are being killed, rather having to adapt to a new business model. Supporting a lot of free users but tempting people to pay a modest fee to unlock slightly increased funtionality. I only spent a week on the free flickr plan before upgrading, and I'm currently thinking of upgrading my backpack plan.

The key with these two is that I've looked at the price and thought "thats so cheap its not even worth thinking twice about". More online services are going to have to switch to being free with the tempting extra bits for a slight fee.

Another example is http://www.last.fm (used to be audioscrobbler) - I used to listen to online radio from main stream places, but now I let last.fm store all the music I listen to in iTunes and offer me a personalised radio station based on it. The service is free, but again, you can unlock extra features for a small fee. I think this is the only price plan you can use to spread the idea virus as wide as possible.

[Steve Rubel]

William, I may just take you up on that offer. Thanks!

[David]

I think you want to look for a custom design. Too many blogs share the same templates and I think the design can really set you apart.

I suggest that you check out Hugh MacLeods hughpage wiki, he has links to various blog designers: http://thehughpage.com/Blog_Designers

I have used one of these designers before, and generally they can get everything, including Wordpress itself completely setup for you.

Disclosure: I work with (and recommend!) one of the designers on that wiki, but I won't reveal which one unless asked.

[Adrian Trenholm]

Another vote for WordPress. WP 1.6 will also feature a WYSIWIG interface, if that is what you are used to.

If you hang on a little longer, there is WordPress.com, which is going to be a hosted service - like TypePad, but free. I don't know how they are paying the rent with this, but it's a great offer.

[Narendra]

Steve,

A couple of additional comments. In general terms (we don't disclose subscriber numbers), the Webshots Premium service has maintained very steady adoption and churn rates. The "long tail" is actually one of the reasons why the service has grown and thrived -- with now more than 200 million user photos publicly available. Consumer behavior will continue to evolve around how they "share" photos and successful subscription services must meet those needs to continue to survive. As part of CNET, Webshots is an enormous entertainment media property and strikes a balance between the two revenue streams.

On a separate note. I recently moved from TypePad to Wordpress and posted my experience.

http://www.nosoapradio.org/?p=36

I love wordpress, but the migration takes time and you will have to find a good solution to the many post/permalinks that you have made that are widely indexed and referenced.

[Rafael Sidi]

Steve,
One of the reasons that people are not dumping fee services is that additional value(indexing, ease of searching, editorial content etc) that these services are adding to their content. If you try to do a search for engineering literature/patents in free services including Yahoo Subscription or Google Scholar you get what I call "dumb" search results. A similar search in paid sources (http://www.engineeringvillagewillage2.com , http://www.delphion.com, ) will give you intelligence hidden in the search results or other analytic tools that are important for the researchers.
best, rafael

[Rodney Rumford]

Steve,
Tinu Abayomi-Paul and myself will set up your blog with wordpress for you if you like since you were kind enough to let us syndicate your blog. We can also put some stats and such on the private side of the blog for you.

We just launched a consulting practice that offers a full range of blog consulting services.

The new version of wordpress is great, and more modules are continually being developed.

Rodney Rumford
www.leveragedpromotion.com

[Shantanu Oak]

I recently let my quickbase.com subscription lapse after being a customer for last more than 4 years. Soon I found db4free.net (Currently down) where I can have not only web based data but 'relational' MySQL Database Version 5.0 for 'free'!
I don't regret my decision.

[Ben, web design manager]

I also spend a lot of time reading blogs. There are plenty of interesting things on blogs that help me to discover some issues from the other side. I love blogs for an oppotunity to read different opinions and say my opinion. Once you find some quality blogs, you are not gonna need paid services that much.

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