Replies

"FR would instantly lose 90% of the audience..."

I disagree with this 90% number. Certainly you would lose a large percentage of people who would never contribute anything under any circumstance, donation or subscription-wise. I think for the most part you would keep people who are donating because I don't see why people would stop paying when they are already paying. People who are reluctant to contribute because of quality concerns would be more inclined to comtribute and thus subscribe.

So right there you are keeping and even adding people that are paying. And the people who refuse to pay have never been contributing anyway, so that is really no loss. And like I pointed out, it's not like Free Republic is ad-based revenue, so it really does not matter how many clicks they are getting. Thus quantity for sake of quantity really doesn't make any good economic sense.

Why don't you do a market study, you know, start a thread and ask who would support a subscription site, you seem to know a lot about how this place works, and apparently, you have experience in internet marketing and who should be allowed to be a conservative. So your input would be valuable. Oh, wait, you tried that, and the resounding majority said no. Not every conservative has extra money, some can't contribute, but enjoy the forum. Just because we don't tow your idea of conservatism doesn't mean your idea work. Start your own pay per view site, see what happens. Why do you want to mess with Jim's business plan, it's been working for almost 10 years. Oh, by the way, have you seen Jim give his two cents to your idea? Face it, your idea was dead before you posted your thread. Sorry. But, it has been an interesting and somewhat fun thread.