Monevator becomes paid membership blog

Rollinghome

I haven't used it for years, so not sure what's on the site now.  Often I found comments from other users most interesting. 

A problem they may face is that there's a huge amount of information available on the net for free, and as I remember, most of what appeared there could be found elsewhere. If the number of users fall and the amount of useful comment with them, that may reduce the appeal of the site.

I hope they won't resort to Moneyweek style headlines and hype to pull in users. Even HL have a free article on how rising rates affect equities: https://www.hl.co.uk/news/articles/how-rising-interest-rates-can-impact-the-stock-market

They clearly put a lot of effort into the site and will have alerted a lot of people to consider passive investing, so good luck to them.

Eco_Miser

dealyboy said:

@Eco_Miser said:

As I understand it, the free content will be much the same as it has been, the paid content being additional material, especially the 'naughty' stuff on the £8 a month tier.

... well ordinarily the article 'Do rising interest rates spell dark days ahead for our portfolios?' published on 9th May would be one of the three or four standard articles per week, but it is now member only.

Well, since I can't read the article, I don't know whether it is the normal style content or not. It's not surprising that the first article published after subscription was introduced would be a member only article - give the members a taste of the exclusivity, and maybe nudge some waverers.

I'll wait a week or more to see what is published available to all before making a judgement.

GeoffTF

There is plenty of free information available, and Monevator is not always accurate. I do not see any point in paying.

Albermarle

GeoffTF said:

There is plenty of free information available, and Monevator is not always accurate. I do not see any point in paying.

Probably the blog/matey style is easier to digest than some other sources, which could appeal to some?

dealyboy

I have updated the 1st post to provide more information from the horse's mouth (sorry no sic intended The Investor ).

Millyonare

A (very) wild guess, based on publicly available site traffic, suggests Monevator might get 20-70k unique visitors a month. If it can get 1-3% to pay £3-8 a month, it might make £10-150k a year. The freemium info industry is not an easy one to play in. Hope it works out for them, they publish some good stuff.

From a potential-subscriber angle, for me, before ponying up, I'd need to be confident that I can make or save at least £50-100 per year directly from their not-found-anywhere-else-for-free analysis or tips.

ChilliBob

I wonder when they will de cloak?

The idea you don't know who they are was a novelty to start with but I can't help but think if they updated the website, did some sbout us sfuff, perhaps even some video content, they could be much bigger and gain more support. 

I've post links to their site many times on here, and indeed used them myself many times. 

The only place I have found that goes super specific into things like withholding tax, excrss reportable income etc.

Futuristic

dealyboy said:

I have updated the 1st post to provide more information from the horse's mouth (sorry no sic intended The Investor ).

They are probably making decent enough money through what is probably their most popular page (broker list) which has many affiliate links to II, InvestEngine etc. so they are probably just wanting to line their pockets more. It probably started as a hobby project but they want to milk it while they can now. Afaik I remember article about him being retired with million(s) not sure how they will be able to relate to this modern day market which is very different. 

The memberships won't remove affiliate links so you still technically have ads even on paid but nevertheless it was good read when I was starting my journey and not worth it for me but £3/mo is pretty cheap to be honest and can see many people pay that so good for them. 

jimjames

Rollinghome said:

I hope they won't resort to Moneyweek style headlines and hype to pull in users. Even HL have a free article on how rising rates affect equities: https://www.hl.co.uk/news/articles/how-rising-interest-rates-can-impact-the-stock-market

I remember when Motley Fool site was free and promoted index investing as the best way, they then introduced subscriptions and suddenly buying specific promoted shares was the way forward. Hopefully that won't be the case here either.

GeoffTF

jimjames said:

Rollinghome said:

I hope they won't resort to Moneyweek style headlines and hype to pull in users. Even HL have a free article on how rising rates affect equities: https://www.hl.co.uk/news/articles/how-rising-interest-rates-can-impact-the-stock-market

I remember when Motley Fool site was free and promoted index investing as the best way, they then introduced subscriptions and suddenly buying specific promoted shares was the way forward. Hopefully that won't be the case here either.

That is the natural progression. People do not need to pay a subscription to be told to buy a global tracker (or a packaged investment like Vanguard LifeStrategy) and sit on it. Ironically, they are introducing subscription when they are running out of important new things to say. There are other sources covering the same ground. I doubt whether many will make extra money as a result of buying a subscription, but they will get some entertainment.