Five authors posting content via Seeking Alpha’s Marketplace are on pace to generate more than $96,000 in annual revenue this year, writes managing editor Daniel Shvartsman.
Shvartsman writes, “Marketplace allows authors to sell subscriptions to exclusive articles and value-added services. While these premium authors still regularly publish articles that are available to all readers, they also host exclusive services that feature articles, chat rooms, position tracking, and direct interaction with their subscribers. We did this because we thought it would support authors’ efforts to write more on the main site for all readers, as they would be able to spend more time on Seeking Alpha as a whole. We also thought it might attract new authors to the site. And most of all, we hoped it would go further in helping readers ‘read, decide, and invest’, which is our aim as a site.
“We’re thrilled with the results so far. For example, our top 15 authors on the Marketplace by # of subscribers have published 100% more free articles in 2016 than they did in 2014, including 4 authors who either are new to the site or were completely inactive in 2014. Article quality is a more subjective measure, but those authors’ success with paying subscribers is a good vote of confidence.
“The services themselves have been a collective hit. Over 90% of reviews have been 5-star reviews, with reviews representing nearly 10% of active subscribers and 5% of people who have ever signed up. The chat rooms especially have been popular, creating live investing communities that add a great deal of value beyond what can be discussed in articles and comments.”
Read more here.
