Business Insider exploring expanding paid content

Lucia Moses of Adweek examines how Business Insider is looking to grow its paid content business.

Moses writes, “But Business Insider also has, in effect, a paywall. Its year-old BI Intelligence research unit provides data and analysis in the area of video, social mobile and payments for $499 a year, and BI has ambitious plans for the unit.

“Traditional media outlets have increasingly turned to paywalls to make up for declining print dollars and slow-growing online revenue. As others more experienced in this area, like Bloomberg LP and Dow Jones, can attest, producing a product unique enough to sell for a premium is no easy task.

“Blodget said BI’s Intelligence unit isn’t propping up the free site, which he insists is in a ‘very good financial state,’ even as it pours more money into online video and long-form journalism. Today, he said, subscribers number in the ‘thousands.’ But he said he saw an opportunity with BI Intelligence to develop a second income stream.

“In fact, Blodget plans to double the unit’s subscriptions and revenue this year. This year, BI expects to grow its staff to 20, from six now. The new hires will include, for the first time, a small team of reporters to write articles to augment the unit’s data and analysis offerings.

“‘We think it can become a much more meaningful part of the business, so it’s a dual-revenue business,’ Blodget said. ‘There’s a lot of demand for targeted reporting and analysis in different industries.'”

Read more here.