The WSJ Doubles Down on Its $25,000 Membership Programs

The Wall Street Journal launched the latest addition to its rising portfolio of government membership packages on Thursday, a part of a broader effort to revitalize the 17-year-old enterprise and internet profitable reader income and sponsorship. 

The latest program, the Chief Folks Officer Council, is the second new initiative launched in as many months. In April, The Journal unveiled its Board of Administrators Council.

These councils sit in its Management Institute, which falls beneath former Fortune chief government Alan Murray, who launched its first membership program, the CEO Council, in 2008.

Now, the writer plans to increase this system.

“We’re taking a look at how we are able to add new communities and new providers,” Murray mentioned. “The core of our enterprise is peer alternate, networking, and studying. That’s what our members informed us they wished extra of.”

The Journal is just not alone in chasing extra reader income; practically each main writer has launched a subscription program lately to generate recurring income from its most engaged readership. 

When requested how a lot it prices to affix the CEO Council, The Journal pointed to a chunk from final October from Digital Content material Subsequent stating an annual value tage of $25,000. The Journal has since rolled out 4 different packages, all serving totally different sectors of the manager suite. The writer wouldn’t say how a lot the newer councils price to affix, however they aren’t as costly because the CEO Council. It might not share how a lot income the Management Institute generates.

“The business wants to maneuver past a binary subscription-or-advertising mannequin,” mentioned Enders Evaluation senior analyst Abi Watson. “Applications like this let publishers monetize their Most worthy customers in additional refined methods.”

A mannequin years within the making

The council program, which was consolidated beneath the Management Institute in September, presently has round 750 members, in response to chief income officer Josh Stinchcomb.