Leveraging Premium News Investments in a Challenging Economic Environment

When a knowledge economy meets economic challenges, how do companies justify investments in premium content, tools and services?  What are the value measures that companies can consider for a continued investment in premium information?

Many companies today are in the process of reassessing their information needs and trying to balance them against the need to reduce costs.  Most will say that there’s plenty of information on the “free” Web, but they quickly realize that "free" has a cost — time, efficiency and productivity all impact the bottom line. Gaining fast, well-supported and professionally sound solutions for a fee is more often than not a deal worth making if the strategic goals of the company are being met.  It's the total package: the high-quality content, trustworthy sources, value of the relationship and role-based tools that count most – and you have to pay for it. Or hope that the site posting the content is making enough money from paid advertisements to support a staff of real experts.

Information alone does not create opportunity. To create a competitive advantage it must be relevant, shared, understood and acted upon. There is valuable content to be found on the free Web, but the “find” component should be carefully considered.  There is a cost to using the “free Web” because it’s what you do with the information that really matters, and without support and enhanced features that fit within your workflow, it can require a significant investment in time and expertise to put that information to use.

To help you put the landscape of fee vs. free information services into perspective, take a look at “Pay Now or Pay Later: Exposing the Hidden Cost of “Free” Media,” the latest in the Dow Jones ROI eBook Series. This insightful piece, with contributions from several expert information collaborators, will take a look at the advantages of both information models and how each should/could be considered in the current business environment. Readers will learn seven key organizing principals for information in the enterprise and how to rebalance the equation between paying now for premium content and paying the price later for relying solely on the free Web.