Your readers might be willing to pay more for subscriptions

By Michelle Nedved

Effective July 1, The Miner’s subscription rates went up by $14 a year for in-county residents. A year ago May, we had increased our rates by about $7 and prior to that, we hadn’t increased circulation rates for years, much to the chagrin of my business partner. A year’s subscription now costs $49.

I wasn’t looking forward to either rate increase.

I had heard various theories on how to go about increasing your subscription rates and compared our rates to our sister newspapers. We were by far the cheapest, and I while I knew we could justify a rate increase the fear of losing subscribers loomed large.

It had been suggested by a few people that we make a big deal out of a rate increase and use it as a subscription drive; tell our readers to renew now before rates increase. Others suggested a subtle editorial and a house ad or two explaining the rate increase.

I braced myself when we raised rates in May of last year. I ran an editorial apologetically explaining how our costs had gone up and that, as much as we hated to do it, we had to raise rates. We got exactly one phone call. A reader wanted to know why we hadn’t increased our rates sooner.

This time around, I took the words of my dear friend and colleague John Lester of The Shelton-Mason County Journal to heart. He said, “you never see big signs in the grocery store that say, ‘The price of milk just went up!’”

This time, we didn’t mention it at all. We ran our standard house ads that state our rates and made the change effective July 1. We have had zero comments.

It’s important to note that we do not have automatic subscription renewal. When a subscription is about to expire, we send out a notice and bill so readers can renew. If we did have automatic renewal, we would be more vocal about our increases. We aren’t in the business of bait and switch.

I don’t have to explain to anyone reading that what the rising costs of postage and printing are doing to our bottom lines. It is vital to remember that we offer a service our communities are willing to support, and we do a damn fine job of it too.

Don’t be shy about charging what you are worth. Chances are your readers are wondering why you haven’t done so already.

Michelle Nedved is the Publisher of the Newport Miner and this year’s WNPA president.

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