Linn's Stamp News

Family,

I just received my 8/17/2015 Linn's Stamp News. 100 pages cover to cover. Very impressive. Only problem is they sent me two magazines. Both arrived the same day. Did this happen to anybody else?

Jack Kelley

Wow! Thanks for the reminder. I used to get Linn Stamp Weekly newspaper decades ago. Haven't seen it for a long, long time. Your post caused me to goggle Linn's Stamp Weekly and view the on-line digital edition. http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Ol...nsStampNews/
Wow! Again, thanks.

oldguy,

Try the public library as well. I find it easier to read paper instead of the computer.

Jack Kelley

Try buying the subscription for your local public library.

That way, the unread copies can gather dust out-of-sight of your significant other.

So... if oldguy can view Linn's current edition by just googling it, why am I paying for a digital subscription?

I usually get two of the Monthly Magazine copies when it is time to renew the subscription - I believe they gat their wires crossed at the shipping department, but it only happens to me when I renew - Not thereafter.

I enjoy Linn's - It's a great periodical.

Regards,
Stampalotapus

I'm a Linn's subscriber and I read it online every week. I, too, have noticed that since they upgraded to the new site, you no longer have to provide a login to see recent issues. I somewhat assume that will change at some point in the future, but even if it doesn't, I'll still renew my subscription. $20 a year isn't that much to pay for a year's worth of content. I may not read all of it every week, but I get my $20 worth.

I'm paying $60- per year and plan to renew.

Jsck Kelley

Agree it is worth the subscription cost but how does it make any sense for them to give away their content?

Rhett,
There are many ways to turn a web site into an income generator other than selling basic access. Traffic related methods include; ad income, building an email list, selling other services, promoting other products as an affiliate (for commission), develop and offer premium content, sell paid directory listings (charge for links), develop webinars and sell them or promote a product in them, or offer training or workshops for a fee.

I have no idea if Amos is considering any of these approaches. But charging for simple content access, when the rest of the web is providing more content than anyone one person can go through in a reasonable time, is slowly disappearing. And of course everyone knows how traditional printed media firms (such as newspapers, magazines like Time, etc.) have struggled in these new digital, freely available, real-time access, times. In my opinion Amos (and APS) have been slow to evolve into this new landscape and are now trying to figure out how they should deal with it.

It takes a technical visionary inside these organizations who has a strong personality and can get things done (including demanding the required resources). A strong commitment as opposed to a tentative or tepid online foray. An understanding of this new paradigm shift; including a willingness to let go of the traditional, comfortable profit centers.
Don

One would expect them to experiment a bit with paid & unpaid content, so as to answer questions like:

Q/ Do people who view free content click on the ads for other Amos products? Enough?

Q/ What package of extras will people pay for?

Q/ Are those extras more valuable as a way to build traffic, or for their revenue?

And on, and on, and on ...

Cheers,

The handwriting is on the wall, and they can consider many other no-longer-in-print only magazines as examples of those who have, and have not, successfully made this transition. I used to feel that this issue was about hardcopies. I am old school; I love my library and having a book in my hand. But over the years my opinion has changed, this is about content.

What I mean is that having unfettered access to real-time content is what Amos is really competing with now. There are no funky downloads or third party apps required to access this forum or thousands of other online resources. It is cross platform (Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, etc.) and easy to learn and use.

So beyond the quality of the content, I think that Amos missed the boat. What they do have is legacy users, decent content, and a propriety catalog numbering system and pricing values. Imagine what they might be able to do if they opened up the basic catalog info as a free service. With this published online, and accessible using a standard browser, their traffic would grow significantly.

This opens up new revenue streams such as ad space. They could also require a simple user account be set up so they could harvest and develop an valuable email list. They could sell link space to other firms.

But they also could offer an additional paid services and features. Perhaps advanced searching capability. Access to catalog values. Perhaps access to additional data such as printer, quantity issued, plate numbers, engravers, etc. I suspect that a bit of this explains why we are seeing a bit more content offered for free.

But clinging strongly to the old approach will eventually driving them into the ground. I somewhat understand the hesitancy, their primary customer demographics is not exactly bleeding edge young people. But even us old farts have become used to being able to get online and find the real time information that we are looking for without charge.
Don

This is going to be key. How can they use their resources in different ways?

I've never quite grasped why they don't offer a good inventory program for collectors and a robust inventory and sales program for dealers. Seems a natural fit.

Don, I get it about the changing internet landscape and the fact that many entities are offering a subset of their content for free and using other sources of income to "pay the rent". What I don't get is their present pricing model. They are still advertising a digital subscription at $19.99/year but allowing free digital access to Linn's to anyone. Just seems odd to me.
I hope you are continuing to get good health news - best wishes on that!

What he and I were referring to is the fact that the entire print version of Linn's can now be seen online by anyone, without a login. I would expect that Linn's would have a certain amount of free articles, but you've always had to at least supply an email address in the past to access the complete printed version online. Since they've upgraded to their new site, you no longer have to provide a login to see the entire print edition. I'm a Linn's subscriber (weekly online, monthly hardcopy) and I always read it online, I rarely even look at the hardcopy as by the time I get it, I've already read it online. He's right that one wouldn't have to pay the $20 subscription anymore to get the same content. I don't know if this is a promotional thing Linn's is doing or if it was just an oversight.

Artful,
Understood, I was suggesting that Amos might be transitioning and this is an initial step. And of course your suggestion that it might be a promotional thing might also be correct. Perhaps they have something in the wings that is ready to be rolled out and they desire to first pump up the traffic for a 'limited time'. Or it could be a technical bug that needs to be reported. Only person who can definitively answer is someone at Amos.
Don