[Closed] Persuade me NOT to cancel my subscription to Singletrack...

Cougar, we get 600,000 unique users a month to this website. Before we start looking to advertise widely on the newstand or wherever we should be looking to market to the audience we already have first. But to be clear, we aren't pulling out of the newstrade. Singletrack will still be available in newsagents, but we expect to sell progressively fewer and fewer copies there as we convert casual buyers to subscribers.

Plus, part of the relaunch is a whole new way to sell themag through Premier Dealers - or bike shops as they are sometimes called 🙂 You will soon be able to subscribe at your local bike shop using our imminent subs voucher cards.

The website has always been the largest source of new subscribers. In fact subs via the website dwarf the numbers that come via being discovered in a news agent.

I would email the forum list more to drive up subscriptions. Premier can opt out.

Mark > cunning. Thanks for the info, interesting stuff.

It's always been part of our terms of membership that we won't spam anyone. There's a newsletter option in your account settings that you can opt in to. It's set to 'off' by default. We don't ever want to send an email marketing message unless we know the recipient has expressed the wish to receive it.

But do you not think that non-premier users would want to see previews of premier stuff by email to help them make the decision? Maybe more would opt into that?

Seems like a good way of creating mailing list unsubscribers to me.

Cougar has it 🙂

There's better ways to reach potential subscribers. 17 have subscribed since this thread was started for example 🙂

Now [i]that's[/i] funny!

Seems like a good way of creating mailing list unsubscribers to me

Not if you opted in to it as I stated. My personal view is that people are more inclined to buy something they can see rather than something they are told will be ace.

Bin the ads? Are you seriously suggesting that a viable way forward as a business is to kill of a income stream responsible for a third of our annual turnover?

TRJ has very few ads in it, as does Rouleur. Presumably their response is to jack the price up to compensate, but I'm happy to pay the extra for consistent excellence and less ads.

Also, there is no evidence that people are leaving us in the way you imply

Have I missed something? What [i]way[/i] did I imply that people were leaving? If you read through the last four pages, people have said they're no longer subscribing or are letting their subscriptions run out and not renewing, so what I've done is repeated the anecdotal evidence from posters on this thread. By all means submit the details of subscription take-up and deletion here for greater scrutiny and I'll happily alter my perception.

As much as I'm loath to get into a 'debate' with you, especially after I made your worthy xmas gift thread sticky, I'll engage..

For the record, I didn't ask that of you, someone else did. I asked that the thread remained live, and that I would accept a ban if it was deemed necessary.

But then perhaps I should be grateful for your [i]support[/i] and simply not question your judgement. As stated in your email correspondence a while ago eh?

shuttup Kev! respec Bullheart.

I have every sympathy for your situation I really do and so I'm going to bow out of a debate with you. I think it best we just don't communicate at all on a personal level. That doesn't alter the fact we will support your causes and campaigns where we can.

I subscribe to three magazines: STW, Prospect and Private Eye. The first two are changing significantly, with more web only content.

This I really don't like.

I read the mags in odd moments - on the train, in the bog, whilst making a tea or coffee, passenger in car coming back from rides, etc. By the time I've read them, the mags are tatty, torn and teastained.

A mobile device is not suitable for any of these moments, and so I'm not getting to see the whole content. Hence I can see a time when I will cancel these subs, despite having been on board with both since day 1.
I'd be interested in how many others feel this way.

Private Eye, however, remains unchanged and an interview with Hislop indicates it will remain stoically print only. Thank God.

I have every [b]sympathy[/b] for your situation I really do and so I'm going to bow out of a debate with you. I think it best we just don't communicate at all on a personal level. That doesn't alter the fact we will support your causes and campaigns where we can.

Keep your sympathy for someone who needs it.

I do not.

I read the mags in odd moments - on the train, in the bog, whilst making a tea or coffee, passenger in car coming back from rides, etc. By the time I've read them, the mags are tatty, torn and teastained.

A mobile device is not suitable for any of these moments

That's where mobile devices are best, surely? My mobile is always in my pocket, while the print mag is somewhere in the living room at the moment.

Ahem... just wanted to say that I think the advertising/editorial ratio is fine. The other MTB mags I read seem to have significantly more advertising, [i]for the amount of editorial they carry[/i].

That's where mobile devices are best, surely

Not in my clumsy world. I'd break/submerge/drop them.

I think there's a danger here that some are thinking we are moving from print to digital. We are not. Print is being overhauled and improved too. Digital and print are not mutually exclusive. Infact the investment we are planning to put into the printed mag is the largest chunk of cash in the entire plan. We currently spend around £100k/year on print. I calculate that will likely rise to £125k in 2012. If you love the print mag and are worried it will be forgotten or left out of the good stuff then please don't worry. That's far from what we are planning to do 🙂

Mark, that's great news.

I despair at what's happened to Prospect over the last few months...

Mark - Resident Grumpy
Cougar has it

There's better ways to reach potential subscribers. 17 have subscribed since this thread was started for example

Make that 18...

That's right suckers, I got a 'P' next to my name now.

FYI Mark, despite using the forum regularly i had no idea i could get a digital sub (and the added content) for just £15.

I can see another t-shirt design coming out of this

I would really like to see more articles by Dave Anderson on access type issues. Did enjoy his writings and do feel that we all need to be more aware of what the powers-that-be are up to.

Also anything involving history and maps. 🙂 Along with riding a suitably historical route.

Always enjoy reading the overseas trip reports and in particular the more unusual destinations.

Thanks. 😀

I've just noticed that my "P" is missing as an old card that was caught up in the great "chainreaction fraud" issue was registered to my account. STW should sue CRC for loss of earnings...

I can see another t-shirt design coming out of this

😀

(Scurries off to create a new slogan [i]even better[/i]* than the 'railway sleepers' one....)

*If indeed that is even [i]possible[/i].

[img] [/img]

I can see another t-shirt design coming out of this

I'm afraid Al Spokebloke probably wouldn't consider the one I have in mind for legal reasons...