A brief discussion on subscription fundraising (Part 2): restrictions and challenges for creators of "closed content"

This article author Qiu Taocheng, Ziqian is a small copywriter who uses five keyboards to type in turns. I don’t think I’m as good as a copywriter, so I’m just a writer. Currently, I specialize in keyword advertising and copywriting marketing. Looking forward to finding a dignified way to survive. Thank you for the permission to reprint, hereby thank you.

Preface Review

Previously, we discussed the possible reasons for Jonkers to stop subscribing, which shows that in some cases, the subscription system may not help creators, but will instead hinder the positive creative cycle of creators.

※ A brief discussion on subscription fundraising (Part 1): How to understand “囧星人 ceases subscription system”

※ [A brief discussion on subscription fundraising (Part 2): About the choices and breakthroughs of “public content” creators] (https://www.contenthacker.today/2018/01/kyon-subscription-comment-part2.html)

In this article, we will look at the classification of subscription fundraising and the types of creator content separately for discussion. Finally, it converges to what elements creators with different orientations can refer to to help them create their own positive creative cycle in the subscription system.

This article will continue the discussion of the previous two articles and try to discuss the operation methods of “closed content” in the subscription system and related reference cases, and whether common success factors can be discovered.

Summary of key points before the article

For “closed content” creation:

Compared with sponsorship, closed-door content has a more obvious “interest exchange” element in it. You must operate your service as a complete product and continue to bring substantial returns to readers. At the same time, you must also rely on strategic exposure and word-of-mouth spread to maintain the popularity of your project and bring in new traffic.

In addition, the nature of the content also requires long-term learning, otherwise it will easily lead to insufficient battery life of the project.

2. The value of content is often based on clear interests.

3. The project characteristics of the content should be long-term and sustainable.

4. The creator should be an expert in the field.

5. The content provided must be based on pain points to keep the consumption experience at a high level.

Closed subscription content

The main content can only be seen by subscribers, and a small amount is open to the public:

• Advantages: Subscribers have strong purchasing motivation and the content has strong value for money.

• Challenge: Only a few people can see the content, and the influence is likely to continue to decline. And how to add new users to join is also a big problem.

*Related features:

• Opinion leaders (KOL) and experts in professional fields: There are solid existing communities, but they are often relatively niche. Opinion leaders or experts who belong to a specific field and have a deep understanding of that field.

• The media’s own pay wall (Pay Wall): Recently, several mass media have begun to try this type of model, such as the subscription system of Tianxia Magazine and End Media (the nature of Medium’s pay wall is slightly different, and it is on the platform side; to avoid overly complicating the discussion, it will not be discussed in this article).

Examples: 1. Technology Island Reading, [Lao Wang loves to joke](https://pressplay.cc/project/about/%E3%80%90%E8%80%81%E7%8E%8B%E 6%84%9B%E8%AA%AA%E7%AC%91%E3%80%91-+%E7%82%BA%E6%82%A8%E6%B4%9E%E6%82%89%E5%85%A8%E7%90%83%E8%B2%A1%E7%B6% 93%E8%88%87%E6%8E%8C%E6%8F%A1%E5%8F%B0%E8%82%A1%E4%B8%BB%E6%B5%81%EF%BC%81/E7DD815ED1397807432214C22B11CD 67), [The Beauty of Copywriting] (http://www.copywriter.com.tw/); 2. [End Media] (https://theinitium.com/), [World Magazine] (https://www.cw.com.tw/).

Case 1｜Technology Island Reading-Your Technology Strategy Leader

169 yuan per person/month; the total number of people is unknown; the total amount is unknown.

Project link: https://daodu.tech/member-plan

“Technology Island Reading” is a new media attempt by Zhou Qinhua, the founder of “Yowureport”. The superficial logic of “Science and Technology Island Reading” is very simple: I provide readers with insightful and point-of-view technology and business news content. This article is written by a Taiwanese and for Taiwanese. In other words, it can be said that “there is only one company and no other semicolon.”

Due to the brand impression accumulated by “Youwu Report” and the personal brand of the founder [Zhou Qinhua] (https://www.facebook.com/chouchinhua), starting from the good reputation in the early stage, “Technology Island Reading” has accumulated a very good reputation. It can be said that it is unique in the content payment market. Its business model is quite intuitive and it produces and sells itself.

Content characteristics: “Tech Island Reader” provides content that is scarce and can bring returns to subscribers - technology interpretations from Taiwanese viewpoints, and only you can see it. At the same time, the monthly payment amount of this project is not high, but if there are sufficient motivations and incentives, it will naturally be easy to close the deal.

Of course, it must be mentioned that the content attribute provided by “Technology Island Reading” - “Business Technology” - is more beneficial to consumers. The target customer group is not a niche, and has relatively high spending power and purchase intention. Therefore, the implementation should be smoother.

For creators, whether the content of the project is subscribed by 100 people, 1,000 people, or even more, the creators need to pay almost no additional costs, but they can obtain higher profits, which means they have high economies of scale.

Compared with other projects, selling personal signatures, consultations, private gatherings, etc. are less scalable. As the number of people increases, the cost will increase greatly, or you may be overwhelmed (of course, for such feedback projects with limited supply, you can deal with quantity-based pricing, but it may not look good).

“Technology Island Reader” currently has a season of member gatherings, but the number of people is limited, and they can also get directions for product optimization. I speculate that the burden on the team will not be too great.

As discussed earlier, the content of “Science and Technology Island Reading” has crossed the threshold for readers to pay.

However, the biggest proposition of closed-door content - “How to maintain one’s influence and add new users”, how does “Technology Island Reading” solve it?

(1) Follow the topic and publish some articles

“Science and Technology Island Reading” will regularly publish a part of the articles for readers’ reference, and usually focus on current hot topics for publication (but it needs to understand the feelings of the payers). This approach is not unusual, but it works. Because this can not only maintain exposure in the community and the attention of potential consumers (awareness), but also achieve the effect of product demo (trial).

For this method to be truly effective, I think there is another important principle - let readers know that it is more than just that. Not only is this a good article, but there are more good ones inside the door that readers haven’t seen yet. You are welcome to come in. Only in this way can paying subscribers continue to subscribe and have the motivation to subscribe.

In other words, closed content is particularly focused on “maintaining the stable quality of the overall content.”

Of course, who wouldn’t want to do that if they could? But this is extremely important for closed-door content. Because if there is no way to maintain quality and make good articles public, paying users will naturally feel a sense of relative deprivation─then why should I subscribe? Just watch it for free!

For closed-door projects, you must especially grasp the distinction between closeness and distance, and take good care of your subscribers (this tendency also exists in public projects, but the degree is not as serious as closed-door projects).

In other words, the creator hides the best and exposes the less good content to the outside world, thus losing the meaning of displaying the product to the outside world.

(2) Word-of-mouth spread Regarding the second solution, I think it is “word-of-mouth diffusion”. Although I cannot prove this point rigorously, I have gradually discovered that many relatives and friends around me are loyal readers who subscribe to Science and Technology Island and continue to subscribe.

I believe that closed-door content should become a leading brand in its field of defense, making everyone think-”If you want to learn OOO, you should read XXX content or books.” That is to increase the “mind share” in the minds of consumers. Whenever they think of a certain field, they will feel like looking for you.

And how to build reputation? The quality of the product is still very important. For closed-door creators, it is necessary to particularly control the stability of quality. Don’t put out immature content or content that’s not suitable for the stage yet. Less is more.

At the same time, try to keep the overall consumption experience at a high point and guide consumers to spread word-of-mouth (discount codes, sharing experiences, and sharing quotes are all methods).

Compared with public content creators, they are facing a vast mass market. Naturally, they have more people and types of TAs to communicate with than you, and the threshold for subscription is also lower than you: if a creator likes 10% of ten types of videos, users are often willing to stay.

But the same example: Suppose someone spent “a sum of money” to subscribe to the creator, but only 30% of them were liked by him. He may not be willing to continue paying—because it doesn’t feel like a good deal.

As closed-door content, creators serve a very precise audience and need them to like you all the time. Because the creator’s customers are very precious, very expensive, and also very rare, the creator should not easily reduce the user’s favorability towards you.

Summary

“Technology Island Reading” can be said to be a truly intensive cultivation of closed-door content. It has circled a piece of land, cultivated it properly, and provided content with high value.

After that, by strategically disclosing some of the highlights and spreading word-of-mouth (both explicit and implicit) to add vitality to the project, while maintaining its influence in the market, I think a “positive creative cycle” has been created.

However, because Zhou Qinhua did not announce the current subscription amount, although he claimed to have even profits and losses, we have no way of knowing the benchmark behind this, and it is indeed difficult to call it a “success.”

However, I think “Technology Island Reading” is a case that has a chance of success in Taiwan. I am also very optimistic about their current practices. This case should have reference value for readers.

[](https://pressplay.cc/proj ect/about/%E3%80%90%E8%80%81%E7%8E%8B%E6%84%9B%E8%AA%AA%E7%AC%9 1%E3%80%91-%20%E7%82%BA%E6%82%A8%E6%B4%9E%E6%82%89%E5%85%A8%E7%9 0%83%E8%B2%A1%E7%B6%93%E8%88%87%E6%8E%8C%E6%8F%A1%E5%8F%B0%E8%82 %A1%E4%B8%BB%E6%B5%81%EF%BC%81/E7DD815ED1397807432214C22B11CD67)

Case 2｜Lao Wang loves to joke: [Give you insight into global finance and grasp the mainstream of Taiwan stocks! ) E5%85%A8%E7%90%83%E8%B2%A1%E7%B6%93%E8%88%87%E6%8E%8C%E6%8F%A1%E5%8F%B 0%E8%82%A1%E4%B8%BB%E6%B5%81%EF%BC%81/E7DD815ED1397807432214C22B11CD67)

Project amount in January 2018: 1,131,793 yuan per month, 3,207 people, an average of 352 yuan per person.

Project link: [Please click here](https://pressplay.cc/project/about/%E3%80%90%E8%80%81%E7%8E%8 B%E6%84%9B%E8%AA%AA%E7%AC%91%E3%80%91-%20%E7%82%BA%E6%82%A8%E6%B4%9E%E6%8 2%89%E5%85%A8%E7%90%83%E8%B2%A1%E7%B6%93%E8%88%87%E6%8E%8C%E6%8F%A1%E5%8F %B0%E8%82%A1%E4%B8%BB%E6%B5%81%EF%BC%81/E7DD815ED1397807432214C22B11CD67)

“[Lao Wang loves to joke](https://pressplay.cc/project/msg/%E3%80%90%E8%80%81%E7%8E%8B%E6%84%9B%E8%AA%AA%E 7%AC%91%E3%80%91-%20%E7%82%BA%E6%82%A8%E6%B4%9E%E6%82%89%E5%85%A8%E7%90%83%E8%B2%A1%E7%B6 %93%E8%88%87%E6%8E%8C%E6%8F%A1%E5%8F%B0%E8%82%A1%E4%B8%BB%E6%B5%81%EF%BC%81/E7DD815ED1397 807432214C22B11CD67)” can be said to be a fairly indicator project on the PressPlay platform. It has received support from readers since its launch in May 2017, and reached a monthly revenue of 1.06 million in July. After nearly half a year of operation, we achieved good results of 1.13 million per month in January 2018. Well, not only did it not decline, but it maintained the one million mark, and it also improved slightly, which is really amazing!

In terms of plans, the project has basic combinations of 99, 199, and 399 yuan, as well as limited edition combinations of 1,299 and 3,999 yuan. Among them, the 399 yuan “exclusive community” plan is the most popular and has the most subscribers. The latter two high-priced limited-edition rewards will be filled up very quickly!

[](https://pressplay.c c/project/about/%E3%80%90%E8%80%81%E7%8E%8B%E6%84%9B%E8%AA%AA%E7%AC%91%E3%80%91-%20%E7%82%BA%E6%82%A8%E6%B4%9E%E6%82%89%E5%85%A8%E 7%90%83%E8%B2%A1%E7%B6%93%E8%88%87%E6%8E%8C%E6%8F%A1%E5%8F%B0%E8% 82%A1%E4%B8%BB%E6%B5%81%EF%BC%81/E7DD815ED1397807432214C22B11CD67)

[](https://pressplay.c c/project/about/%E3%80%90%E8%80%81%E7%8E%8B%E6%84%9B%E8%AA%AA%E7%AC%91%E3%80%91-%20%E7%82%BA%E6%82%A8%E6%B4%9E%E6%82%89%E5%85%A8%E 7%90%83%E8%B2%A1%E7%B6%93%E8%88%87%E6%8E%8C%E6%8F%A1%E5%8F%B0%E8% 82%A1%E4%B8%BB%E6%B5%81%EF%BC%81/E7DD815ED1397807432214C22B11CD67)

In terms of content consideration, investment and finance-related content is indeed an item with sufficient consideration and purchase incentives. This can be seen from the numerous investment books and courses on the market - because we believe that such spending will bring us greater returns (not to mention super specific cash and returns).

“Investment and Finance” is often a project that can be updated in the long term. There is new news every day, and readers will have continuous needs - the world is changing, and we all need new information. Moreover, more money is always better, and no one will have too little.

As for the design of the feedback project, we can see that the “Lao Wang Loves Joking” project has raised the limited amount to a relatively high level, and also controlled the number of people. This approach can prevent creators from being overwhelmed. Avoid worrying about one thing and losing the other just to take into account limited rewards. A high amount can also make the matter itself have a higher return value (of course, someone must be willing to pay for it).

As for acquiring new subscribers, the project’s own Facebook community “[Wang Dong’s Big Stock Chips] (https://www.facebook.com/winnstock/)” has 40,000 fans, which is not very large. However, the “Daily Statistical Data Chart” shared by Lao Wang’s fan group every day has almost 300 likes, and the likes ratio is quite high. However, the fan page did not announce the special content of its subscription project.

However, it is somewhat doubtful whether this chart can bring new subscription traffic to Lao Wang. After all, I don’t think the correlation between this sorting and whether it can be linked to the professional capabilities of creators and consumers’ willingness to pay for subscription projects is high.

What’s more, this information doesn’t even include PressPlay project links, making it even harder to divert traffic. Lao Wang’s own blog on Juheng.com seems to have stopped updating for a while.

Since I am not a person in the investment circle, I don’t know much about the ecosystem of investment teaching and what is Lao Wang’s reputation in this circle? Has word-of-mouth about subscription spread? Since I don’t know enough about these areas, I won’t comment on them yet.

I am still observing whether Lao Wang has any special channels or methods to continuously increase his subscribers. However, the price of content subscription and the battery life of this project are very impressive.

Summary

Summarizing the above two closed-door contents, we can find several points:

1. The value of content is often based on clear interests.

What does this benefit refer to? It might be making more money, getting a raise, becoming more powerful, these are clear interests.

2. The project characteristics of the content should be long-term and sustainable.

Although it is impossible to include more cases in the discussion due to the space mentioned above, I think the most important point of a closed subscription project is that the topic should be able to be continuously learned, and the subscribers should think so too.

For example: “Technology Island Reading” has new topics to write about in business technology every day, and everyone needs to know new ones, so that we can continue to create motivation for subscriptions.

“Lao Wang loves to joke”, and because investment is a long-term, continuous behavior, market information is updated every day, and someone needs guidance and advice. Money is never too little and can create a continuous motivation to subscribe.

If it is not continuous content and consumers do not want to spend too long time cultivating it, I think it would be more appropriate to use online courses to handle it (as for what is not, I will discuss it later).

3. The creator should be an expert in the field.

The first point mentioned above refers to the nature of the content itself, and the second point relates to the battery life of the subscription project. If you want to produce closed content, the authority and leadership of the creator are the key to selling it.

Jufan The Beauty of Copywriter, Lao Wang Ai Joke or “Science and Technology Island Reading” are all experts and opinion leaders in this field. Becoming an expert or having your own fan community is also a very important basic prerequisite for providing closed content services.

Because of its closed nature, it is difficult for content to spread, and it is difficult for creators to become more popular the more they do it. Creators need a basic chassis as a support before they can start a project.

4. The content provided must be based on pain points to keep the consumption experience at a high level.

Just like the model of “Technology Island Reading” discussed earlier, in order for consumers to be satisfied and continue to spend money, they must continue to create a feeling of “Fortunately, I have a subscription, this is such a good deal.” Only by achieving this level can we achieve the spread of word-of-mouth and a stable renewal rate.

Creating this kind of emotional situation can only be achieved by stable and high-quality content and continuous use by readers.

In fact, this also brings up another potential issue - consumers’ completion rate of service usage is very important, because it is difficult for us to really fall in love with a product that we never use. Just like the gym, if a person doesn’t go there a few times throughout the year, they tend not to book again next year.

Therefore, as a creator of closed-door content, it is also very important to guide subscribers to use your products.

Conclusion:

From the above, we can vaguely feel that there are actually many prerequisites for closed-door content subscription, such as: the characteristics of the content itself, the level of the creator, the longevity of the project, etc.

Some content is inherently more difficult to pay for as subscription content, or the market’s willingness to pay is not high enough. At this time, the subscription system may not be established.

However, in addition to the subscription system, there are still many channels for monetization, such as lecture sharing, offline teaching, online courses, and book publishing, etc. Creators do not necessarily have to take the subscription route.

There is usually no right or wrong in a business model, only whether it is suitable or not, and whether it survives or not.

We have come to an end with the discussion on the subscription system. Thank you to all readers for patiently reading this series of long articles. I hope it can inspire or gain you some.

I also wish all creators to find their own satisfying lifestyle.

P.S.:

1. So what kind of issues and projects may not be of long-term concern?

As far as the field that I am familiar with is concerned, I think “presentation” is such an example. For example, I have taken many presentation classes and taught many presentation classes myself.

The world of briefing is deep and wide, and I think that’s true of every field. But not everyone needs to learn so deeply, because time is limited and energy is limited. Many people have learned 80 points or even 75 points, which is enough to turn around and leave.

For such a project, it is a blessing that everyone is willing to spend 3 hours or 6 hours to pay for classes, but some people are not willing to spend 6 months to learn step by step.

2. What about Naxia Magazine and Duan Media?

Some readers may have noticed that in the previous examples, I mentioned Duan Media and Tianxia Magazine, but I did not discuss them in detail.

Among them, End Media is a down-to-earth subscription fund-raising, and it is also a closed-door media. But in this area, I have a vague feeling that the voice of end media on Facebook has declined, and I feel that the presence of end media on some important issues has become less frequent. However, there is currently no particularly detailed data support and it is impossible to infer (just looking at Facebook’s interaction rate, it looks pretty good).

But I think that although End Media is of excellent quality, it is not “indispensable” in terms of content value. It is undeniable that the current closed-door content relies heavily on an individual personality or a brand with obvious expertise. Because Tianxia Magazine and Duan Media cover a wide range of content areas, it is not easy for readers to feel “what did they buy?” As a result, the incentive to pay will become weaker.

Speaking of this, another big topic comes up - about the media’s dilemma, and I don’t have an answer to this at the moment. However, as far as end media is concerned, I would be more motivated to do pure sponsorship if it was public (of course, this does not mean that a pure sponsorship and public model is necessarily the right approach).

※ A brief discussion on subscription fundraising (Part 1): How to understand “囧星人 ceases subscription system”

※ [A brief discussion on subscription fundraising (Part 2): About the choices and breakthroughs of “public content” creators] (https://www.contenthacker.today/2018/01/kyon-subscription-comment-part2.html)

★ To improve your content power, please don’t miss the [“Content Power: The Super Power of Building Brands”] (https://goo.gl/9hgqc2) online course ★Content Hacking Course: Content Marketing Practical Practice Class (1/24)[Registration now] ★ Content Hacking Lecture Series (CHL4): Create a call to action for your content [Open for registration]

★This article author Qiu Taocheng. Thank you for the permission to reprint, hereby thank you.

★ Image source: Qiu Taocheng Medium, PressPlay, YouTube

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Further reading

• A brief discussion on subscription fund-raising (Part 1): How to understand “囧Star people stop the subscription system”
• A Brief Discussion on Subscription Fundraising (Part 2): About the Choices and Breakthroughs of “Public Content” Creators
• [Lazy Bag] To subscribe or not to subscribe? That’s the question：Lazy Bag stopped raising funds for subscription event [Updated on the evening of February 2nd]

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