Oh no don't say you're leaving! Yes, I am

Well, in actual fact I'm moving the contents of the blog to my personal website URL and so from March (all other things being equal) this blog will be empty. I posted about this back in October. That was when I finally decided to take the plunger; in fact I've been thinking about setting up a paywall for a long time.

When I announced the plan in October Google must have taken notice because pageviews for the blog halved within a month. So you KNOW they're watching ... ! But the move will allow me to concentrate all my efforts on a single URL, rather than two. It also is better in terms of personal branding.

This morning I spent 30 minutes on the phone talking with the site designer, settling on a few basic principles and making sure the vision for the site redesign happens. The paywall will be quite cheap: $30 per year, $5 per month and 50 cents per article (with a $5 minimum charge to the digital wallet). These prices are quite generous, especially considering the charge that I will take from the provider of the transaction engine. The charge to the reader is moderate for the material I think and will help to provide the kind of financial return that all writers should be able to attract.

News of the demise of The Global Mail that appeared this week got me thinking about the money I earned as a freelancer - back when I was pitching for commissions from media outlets. It made me realise how underpaid most writers are. In this context it seems perfectly reasonable for me to place a charge on access to my blogposts. The new-designed site will also feature a larger number of videos, and all video content will be free of charge - you only have to pay for the blogposts. There will be plenty of quality content to consume when the site is relaunched in a month or so.