Earlier this year we announced that HRO Today is implementing a subscription program and a paywall, which we know are not always popular. However, to continue to host our volume of high quality content and offer the high quality journalism that is core to HRO Today, this was necessary. I want to make sure that our provider and practitioner communities understand why. Below is a memo we are circulating, explaining the program, its genesis, and some of the details and options for participating in the subscription program. Please read on for those details.
The business environment is always changing, and the business-to-business media is no exception. We deeply appreciate the engagement we have with all levels of HR leadership as an important resource in the performance of their responsibilities. More than 75% of our web traffic visits the archive section of the HRO Today website. The cost of both new editorial and the hosting costs of that aforementioned large online archive have been steadily rising. Like many news and editorial organizations, we are forced to charge subscription fees. We believe that there is a strong market need for high quality HR content and we remain committed to our mission to educate, inform, and improve the practice of human resources.
We wish to keep these costs both modest and affordable. When you visit HROToday.com, you will encounter a paywall. You need to enter basic contact information to gain a free subscription to our content. That free subscription will expire after you have consumed three articles. After you consume that content, you will encounter a paid subscription request for $99.00 per year ($1.90 per week or less than the cost of one cup of take out coffee…). There will be discount offers available at different times of year as well. Keep an eye for such offers.
For provider organizations and our HRO Today Association members who are our loyal advertisers and supporters, we will provide two free subscriptions and those organizations will need to provide us with two designated email addresses to receive these free subscriptions. If you’d like more team members to have access to HRO Today articles, market research, podcasts, etc. you can purchase additional individual subscription or purchase a pack of 10 subscriptions for $699.00. Once again, specific individuals will need to be designated as the email recipients of the subscriptions. If you purchase more than 50 subscriptions, all subscriptions from the 51 onward will be available for $60.00 for each additional annual subscription. A company-wide subscription plan is available to all providers as part of their professional development budgets for an annual fee of $10,000 covering all associates currently employed.
In addition, we will be keeping certain sponsored content such as sponsored newsletters, research reports, and podcasts, outside the paywall for the first 48 to 72 after initial release to ensure the general audience has time to consume those products. The duration outside the paywall will depend on what day of the week the initial release is occurring. After this initial “free release” period, the content will continue to be available but it will only be available to paid subscribers.
For practitioner organizations who rely upon our HRO Today content for professional development, we will be offering additional benefits. You can acquire a pack of 10 subscriptions for $699.00 as per above. You can acquire a pack of 100 professional development subscriptions for $6,500.00 and will include 20 hours of free HRCI accredited continuing education videos in our HRO Today Virtual Academy. For each subscription above 100, there will additional charge of $60.00. For larger HR organizations that would like to purchase 200 subscriptions, you will receive 40 hours of free pre-accredited content from the HRO Today Virtual Academy and each additional subscription will be at $60.00 per subscription. A company-wide annual subscription plan is available to all practitioner organizations as part of their professional development budgets for an annual fee based on the size of their HR departments if that department exceeds 100 HR professionals. Please contact sam.chack@sharedxpertise.com to get more information and pricing.
We hope this clarifies questions people may have and we look forward to your ongoing support for what we at HRO Today are doing to educate, inform, and improve the practice of human resources.
We hope this explains our policies and we look forward to your continued support. On behalf of the HRO Today organization and its great staff, I want to wish all of you happy holidays and a Happy New Year!
Elliot H. Clark
CEO
