YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Locally owned news organizations survive through a mix of advertising and subscription revenue. Maintaining a local media publication with a positive mission is essential to a healthy local business ecosystem.
To that end, The Business Journal has invested in our products (great journalism) and content delivery and publishing platforms to give you what you want, when you want it. Now available is the ability to manage your subscriptions and customize your experience using our website.
For example, you can manage and modify your subscription to include several new newsletters and a soon-to-be-released mobile app.
Our current paid subscribers are already familiar with this feature. Many of you have already renewed your subscription using the “Subscribe” area of the website, and we thank you.
As an added benefit, current paid subscribers will be the first to get free access to our NEW mobile app. You’ll receive an email with links to download it within the next few days.
We’re now asking all other members of our audience to choose the level of access to content that they prefer by picking one of the three options below:
• The “Basic” subscription entitles our registered audience to five premium posts and articles per month.
• The “Digital Only” level provides unlimited digital access to ALL content we publish for $5 per month. This includes the eEdition of our award-winning publication.
• The “Print + Digital” level provides unlimited digital access to ALL content, plus a print edition in your mailbox for $42 per year.
We invite you to check your current subscription level of access by logging in and visiting the “My Account” page (See opposite page).
On July 28, we will implement the “levels of access” program per the guidelines above. Current PAID subscribers should see no disruption to service. Not all online content will be subject to the change. All content posted under our Online Exclusives and Workforce Development tabs on our website will be available to view, regardless of subscription level or registration.
However, users will be required to register for an account to access any of the three subscription levels. Those members will have control over which platforms they prefer to use, whether it’s our flagship twice monthly print publication, BusinessJournalDaily.com website, a variety of newsletters, a brand new mobile app, or a combination of all.
The goal is to deliver “what our audience wants, when they want it, and on the device/platform of their choice,” says Jeff Leo Herrmann, CEO of the Youngstown Publishing Co.
“As industries innovate ways to create a more self-service world, our initiative allows users to select how they want to experience The Business Journal based on their preferences,” he says.
This empowers registered users to take the next step and become a paid subscriber. By selecting either the Digital Only or the Print + Digital Plan, they will have unrestricted access to all of The Business Journal’s online content, including the brand new mobile app on Apple and Android devices.
Those who do the math will notice that the Print + Digital plan is actually less expensive than the Digital Only, says Herrmann.
“Call it an incentive,” he explains. “We’re proud of the work that goes into each print publication and we want our readers to share in the pride of receiving their own copy of a locally produced business newspaper published by a local journalism team.”
In addition to the primary content platforms, subscribers get free access to the new mobile app available on iPhone and Android platforms, as well as a selection of email newsletters featuring exclusive franchises such as Brain Gain, Voltage Valley, After Hours Youngstown and The Sports Enterprise.
“This is part of our mission to promote the growth of business, industry and quality of life in the five-county region,” Herrmann says.