That is the advice of Dietmar Schantin, Founder of the Institute for Media Strategies in Austria, who served as the moderator of a session dedicated to paid digital content  strategies.

Schantin says, “There are a number of questions when publishers start talking about paid content: What technology should we use? Which model is best? But I think the most important starting point for them is to determine if their content and products are good enough for users to pay for them.”

There are three critical aspects to consider in determining whether readers are ready to pay, according to Schantin:

1. The right content to sell. In his research, Schantin said for most publishers, only 5-20 percent of their content is ready to be sold, content that is exclusive and not a commodity. Only 1-2 percent of users are willing to pay for breaking news content.
2. Are there enough people willing to pay? “One of the biggest challenges is the majority of our visitors are those ‘fly-bys’, who pop in briefly and leave again. We have a lot of work to do strengthen our brands in the digital arena.”
3. Do we manage our audience well enough? This means creating reach, attracting readers, trying to get them in, to use our content, then to purchase it, bind them to brands and expand this connection. “My observation is that we are not that great at managing this, particularly on the digital side.”