Interesting to see the split of 95:5 digital/print. Not a total shocker but it's an excellent data point. I wonder what the break down of people using mobi/Kindle, PDF, and EPUB is.
It's also a good demonstration of the value of having paying subscribers rather than running advertising alone. While I don't know Lim's numbers, I've advertised in HM before and saw the early ratecards and suspect the amount isn't even a drop in the ocean compared to the subscriber fees. This is why Lim is earning more than twice what I am on 50k free subscribers ;-) A big "D'oh!" on my part..
If you have paying subscribers I'm willing to bet that it's also a lot easier to get demographic data from them (after all, they're willing to pay good money for your efforts), which then makes it (IIRC) much easier to sell higher value targeted advertising. Although possibly the HackerNews demographic is pretty obvious regardless :)
(Almost every news site you go to that relies on ad income will try and get regular visitors to do some kind of survey every year or so for this reason.)
It's also a good demonstration of the value of having paying subscribers rather than running advertising alone. While I don't know Lim's numbers, I've advertised in HM before and saw the early ratecards and suspect the amount isn't even a drop in the ocean compared to the subscriber fees. This is why Lim is earning more than twice what I am on 50k free subscribers ;-) A big "D'oh!" on my part..