The 21st Century Subscription

Some of the magazines our house subscribes to…YES good old fashioned print magazines!

When I was a kid, one of the most exciting parts of my day involved…the snail mail. (Yes, I’m a nerd.) But I loved getting hand-written notes and packages in the mail. I also had pen pals around the world before the internet came about and ravaged ‘slow news.’ I also subscribed to a few magazines. One of my favorites was Victoria magazine and later, Pink Magazine. (Their corporate board naughty list was the. Best!) I’m also retro-obsessed right now with mimeograph machines, even though I also recall working with them a total mess! (I know. Super. Nerdy! Vulnerability moment…)

I also know that there’s been a lot of talk on the association side that millennials, Gen Z, (and maybe the new alphas?) don’t tend to join things….but I don’t think that is correct. I think they DO subscribe to some things; maybe just not the same things that Gen X, Baby Boomers, and the Greatest Gen subscribe to…?

Right now, I’m also studying subscription services…for several reasons. So I’ve asked my friends on a few social media channels — what do you subscribe to these days? Here below is a list I’ve mentally started.

Media

• Traditional Newspapers — and digital
• Traditional Magazines — and digital
• Traditional Journals — and digital
• Newsletters — digital — and print again — finally! (For me, I subscribe to newsletters from fellow writers.)
• Podcasts (Patreon, ex.)
• Streaming services (Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney, etc.)
• Music (Spotify, Pandora)

Groceries

• Hello Fresh
• Instacart
• Amazon Fresh
• Imperfect Produce

Memberships

• To associations — personal
• To associations — professional
• To clubs — either/both
• To restaurants

Apps

• ?

Security

• LifeLock
• AAA (for auto)

Stores

• Costco
• Sam’s Club
• BJ’s
• Crew Carwash
• Amazon (Prime, for discounted shipping)

Box Services

• Products (Pusheen box, Stitch Fix, FabFitFun, Dollar Shave Club, etc.)
• Groceries (Amazon, etc.)

Database Access

• Personal (Consumer Reports)
• Professional (Case databases for law, like LexisNexis, etc) or

Continuing Education

• Professional Continuing Education Services (Pharmacists’ Letter, etc., CLE, CPE, CME)
• Indexing continuing education (in pharmacy, for example, you can buy a subscription to track your CPE as a pharmacists across several states at NABP)

Questions I’m curious about regarding subscriptions:

1. Why do people subscribe to all the above? Is it to save time, money, or just purely to have some type of access or exclusivity?
2. When there are competitors, what factor(s) are considered for choosing between services?
3. What factor(s) does one consider when choosing whether or not to renew subscriptions?
4. Does bundling products and services make a subscription more attractive? (For example, Amazon Prime gets you access to discounts on shipping and prime video.)
5. What about freemium subscribing vs. paid subscriptions — what makes people flip to paid versions? (Ex: Spotify, Pandora, etc.)

These are the things I’m curious about…what or who do you subscribe to, and why? Feel free to put down your thoughts below, or PM me — I’m listening!

#subscriptions #subscriptionservices #boxsubscriptions #boxservices #groceries #mailingsubscriptions #journals #magazines #newsletters #print #digital #databases

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Erin L. Albert is a nerd. (She owns it…proudly.) Opinions here are also her own.