Periodical Opinions

I'm working on a local periodical in Orwood (where I'm stationed), and I've been going back and forth as to what to charge per issue or if it's even right to charge period. I wanted to get some opinions on notecard-based periodicals and price points. It's something I do by myself, and I occasionally upload pictures for use in the Orwood Hour (that's the name; I wanted something different) and am trying to get information on and from the people and/or shops in Orwood. I've been debating whether five bucks was too much, and was one dollar even fair? Was I going to rip myself off? My market base isn't very large, but then again there's very little investment going into the work right now; just the occasional picture or texture. Can I get a rounded public concencis?

You could give it away free and sell ad space.

I *love* the fact that there are local newspapers in SL. (Budaniel, yours isn't the only one.)

I say charge nothing and run ads, like we do in the Herald. (Though we don't sell too many of them.)

If you want to investigate other revenue streams, though, let me know if there are any good stories coming out of Orwood that we might want to re-print in the Herald and we can talk about content-sharing agreements or some such. Drop me an IM any time.

I look forward to clocking some time with the Hour.

I'm glad to hear your support. The Orwood Hour is slated for an early April release since I'm going for an every-half-month release schedule (Early April, Late April, etc). I know I asked for a rounded public opinion but I don't think I was looking for each of the options to be voted almost the same... that doesn't solve my problem at all! A pay-by-ad concept is a good one, however it's too late to be scrounging for ads to go in issue one, plus I don't think I've got a wide market base right now. So, as the release date nears I'll have to settle on something for the inaugural issue.

Just to put things in perspective

In US$, at today's exchange rate, your choices are:

0
0.4 cents
2 cents
4 cents

At $L10, you would have to sell 250 copies to get enough money in order to buy a 512m blocked-in awkward hillside snow sim second-hand first-land.

I think it will take you a while to sell 250 copies, but you never know -- it might be a sensation if you are really clever.

What I am saying is that prices in these ranges don't matter very much to your own finances. It makes sense to change something, because even L$1 has the psycological effect of weeding out the people who just automatically pick up everything that's free. That way you can know whether you are developing a following or not.

Buster

To give you some idea of a somewhat unrelated market, Budaniel (but still an in-world publication) Marilyn Murphy charges L$85 a copy, I think, for Players, SL's in-world erotica magazine, which comes out monthly.

Thanks for all of the opinions. I've decided to start high and work down if need be. I'm charging L$ 45 per issue with a L$ 50 price point for ads. I hope this comes off okay!

Though my shop isn't in Orwood, I'm interested in advertising in your paper.

Please contact me IW, if interested.

~Jamie Bergman

I like Prokofy's idea of free w/ad space, but then you'd have limited ways to track your 'subscription' rate.

Why not $1 with advertising?



But, what do I know... I'm a builder, not a publisher.

People tend to make mental price groups for themselves. It's actually pretty universal, too. Except for certain objects or services, you can see people making initial snap-judgements based on price ranges.

Anything below L$10 is viewed as throwaway, yardsale, forfun, simple accessories

L$10 denotes things that are nice but cheap. Not throwaways but not significant purchases.

Interestingly enough, people tend to be very critical of pricing inbetween 10 and 100. I'm not sure why but I guess it would have to do with RL prices and that these tend to be the most common numbers we deal with.

Anything L$100 or more is viewed as "well worth the price for something pretty useful" and "something used often in the day-to-day" Again, this is an initial reaction and a very ephemeral one... people usually identify crap 30 seconds later.

I'd say if you want to set an impression for your work's quality and usefulnes, L$25 is a good price.

~Lefty

One of the main reasons for the price choice was due to the self-percieved lack of a market. I doubt I'll have more then a few advertisers or buyers, being in a very low-traffic area with few connections. L$ 45 was an arbitrary number I nabbed out of the air with my eyes shut on a caffiene buzz. The advertising cost, too, was an arbitrary number. I figured start higher and lower as necessary. As it seems right now, lowering is definitly needed seeing as how I've been selling them for a few days now and I've only sold one issue - and it was to the dude living next to me I did an ad and article on. Of course I'm not sure if anyone even notices my shop (the big rotating sign out front is oh-so-camouflaged, kinda like a lion in a parking lot) but hopefully my new spotlight will fix that. The trials of enterprise! Challenge is good...

Ooh, I'l definitely buy one, Budaniel. Where do I get one? Can I subscribe?

Right now they're just being sold at the Orwood Hour office in Orwood. Follow the river in Orwood to the north edge and the office is on the west bank with a large sign.