Rations Jim, but not like you know 'em

We're making a meter for you

By James York, 5 April 2012

We'll get straight to the point, we've made some tweaks. We're upgrading to a simple new membership model. All readers can now leaf through our content with no obligation to buy, just as you might with a magazine in a newsagent. (Until the owner slings you out for loitering.)

From next week, you can visit Blokely and read a free ration of articles, any articles you want, before we'll ask you to take the plunge and grab a paid membership. We want you to choose what to read and then want more!

Over the last three months, we've also tested a number of membership variations, so we're going to streamline them. We're now offering one single membership priced at just £3 per month. That's less than a pint or franchise coffee. So you're getting an absolute bargain for 60-80 original magazine-grade posts per month and access to our huge archive of reviews, interviews and features. You'll find no churnalism here, people.

More unique than that, though, is the fact it's also completely obligation free. It'll keep on rolling, but you're not locked in and can switch it on and off as your budget requires. You can also pay it automatically - so you won't develop palpitations about your cashflow when your bank statement arrives.

We've discovered an incredible amount about the wonderful loyalty of many readers since we launched our membership passes. As you know, our first system gave you a pre-selected "free" post each day alongside all our paid-for content.

If you aren't aware, the so-called "metered" model is used by prominent publications in the United States such as the New York Times. It means that all of our content will initially be free to read, within an allotted "free ration" that runs for a week. You'll be able to surf the site, reading any story you'd like to, and only when you have exhausted your ration pack of free content, you'll be offered the chance to join at that reasonable price of £3 per month.

Along with some other exciting deployments this should improve your user-experience with Blokely. It will also allow those just discovering us and perhaps skeptical about joining our brand to dive in and see the value of buying into our ethos and our product.

You might ask: why didn't we do this in the first place? We considered it, but have only just perfected the best technical method of delivering it. It's that simple.

Look out for the subtle changes, which will be soft-launched next week. We've already launched our simplified products. All existing members will be offered the chance to either keep their current membership pack or switch to the new £3 per month pack. No one will pay more under this new structure.

We're proud of our unique product and strive to make it better for you, the readers.

As usual - if you have any concerns or feedback, feel free to tweet us @blokely.

So come on, what are you waiting for? Join the ride.

James York, Founder of Blokely (@founderblokely)