Keep up with my tweets about this industry and small biz: @TJMcCue
At a time when most website owners and media publishers are asking the question: "Will people pay for content?", Anne Holland is answering it with a resounding YES. Definitely. Absolutely.
She is much too polite to say it this way, but the energy and passion in her voice is somewhat incredulous: "Do you believe the hype? Are you blind?" She found that most people were not answering this question logically, so she set out to prove the answer. She knew in her heart and based on experience with the very successful MarketingSherpa; But true to her entrepreneurial spirit, she scientifically went about testing and researching subscription and membership sites. 
Paid content sites have been on a steady growth rate for the last twenty years. It doesn’t matter what hype surrounds Rupert Murdoch around will people pay for content, paid content works. Her new business under Anne Holland Ventures, Subscription Site Insider, has published research reports on the industry after hundreds of interviews. Packed with insights and ideas and examples from Classmates.com to Sustainable Food News to Artistic Threadworks. From large to small and in between, membership sites are growing as small businesses form to serve niche markets. Kevin Kelly's idea of *1,000 True Fans is coming true (if it wasn't already proven true).
The Subscription and Membership Site Benchmark Report executive summary alone is worth its weight in gold, or paid content, if you will. Scroll down a bit on the home page (if you’re on a laptop or netbook) and you’ll find the email signup or download now link.
One of the side benefits of talking with a true entrepreneur is that person knows how important giving and sharing is. Anne offered me several nuggets of wisdom for my Sales Rescue Team efforts. The one that has stuck with me: "Spend your day dealing with the business you love, with the customers you love. Avoid starting your company with an exit in mind, you'll never be successful because you'll be thinking about your self interests. Focus on your customer." She has clearly done that in all her ventures. Thanks Anne!
Learn more about Anne Holland Ventures at Subscription Site Insider link above or by reading my post at Sales Rescue Team about Which Test Won.
* From Kevin Kelly's post:"A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson,
performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author - in other words,
anyone producing works of art - needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans
to make a living."
TJ McCue is the founder of Sales Rescue Team and frequently blogs about how small biz owners can improve their online sales and marketing.
