Nothing But 'Net: PrepStars.com Makes Online Subscription-Based Business Model Work
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Raleigh, NC (1 November 2001) — Why pay for digital content when you can get it somewhere else for free? That's the main argument against subscription-based Web sites, which typically require an online credit card transaction in return for access to password-protected information. "But for organizations serving a niche demographic," says Heather Hesketh, CEO of Raleigh Web services firm hesketh.com, "the subscription-based e-commerce model can be indispensable to the subscriber and highly profitable for the organization."
Sports Letter, Inc., a nationally-known publisher based in Chapel Hill, serves such a niche. The sporting-news publisher delivers exclusive information about college basketball recruiting activities, noteworthy high school players, and the nation's hottest college basketball programs in its quarterly publication, Prep Stars Recruiter's Handbook. The companion Web site, PrepStars.com, was recently developed by hesketh.com and is the newest resource for college coaches, sports fans, media outlets, and high school coaches.
Besides serving a niche market, how is Sports Letter, Inc. making the online subscription-based business model work for them? Primarily, by leveraging the brand recognition they've spent 10 years developing. "The companies that are most successful on the Web are the ones who are able to leverage a brick-and-mortar business model and an established brand on the Internet," says Debra Chamra, CFO at hesketh.com. For PrepStars.com subscribers, the value proposition is that the site is updated regularly and provides more content more often than the Recruiter's Handbook, which serves as a retrospective of the top stories covered on the Web site that quarter. Many subscribers to the Recruiter's Handbook have already become online subscribers, but for new visitors to the site, PrepStars.com contains both free and for-pay content, providing full-length articles interspersed with "teasers" (the first few paragraphs of a for-pay article). Subscribing is easy, can be done online, and gives immediate access to all the great PrepStars content.
For businesses looking to adopt this type of business model, profitability is the bottom line. PrepStars.com uses a powerful user management system (UMS), developed by hesketh.com, to streamline the entire subscription process, automate mundane database management tasks, and process all financial transactions in real time and in conjunction with Sports Letter, Inc.'s bank account. This level of automation has already greatly reduced the amount of time and overhead that Prep Stars staff spends managing its subscriber database and running financials. According to PrepStars.com Publisher Dennis Wuycik, "We're now able to spend more of our energy focusing on the quality of the content we give our readers, and less effort on administrative tasks. That's good for us — and for our subscribers. We've already seen an increase in subscriptions and we fully expect that trend to continue. The project has been a huge success and, really, all I can say is, 'Wow!'"
ABOUT hesketh.com/inc.
Specializing in distinctive B2B and corporate sites, vibrant online communities, and high impact applications, hesketh.com is a leading Web services firm that energizes the Information Technology sphere with its brand of design and development solutions. A hesketh.com design makes the most appropriate use of Internet technology, employs innovative information architecture, ensures cross-platform and cross-browser compatibility, and integrates corporate marketing strategies. http://www.hesketh.com
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