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We're always working really hard to bring you new and exciting features to Eye on Spain. We also make plenty of mistakes so we want to use this blog to keep you up to date with what's new (and what's wrong) with EOS.

NEW: EOS Supporters – Ad Free and with Extra Benefits
Monday, November 8, 2010 @ 12:49 PM

You may have noticed that last week we launched our new “EOS Supporters” section on the site.

We’ve been receiving some questions from people asking about what’s going to change now.  The simple answer is that…

NOTHING CHANGES


Everything you have access to today will remain the same.  Everything that’s currently free will always be free.

So why the EOS Supporters?

There are essentially three reasons for this:

1.    Some people simply want more

We have always received many requests from our members for a higher level of content.  They want more facts and figures, more research, more up-to-the-minute information about Spain and the Spanish property market.

Having limited resources we have never been able to achieve this before.  Through the EOS Supporters program we will bring this increased level of information to our members based around a low cost annual subscription.  The subscription revenue should enable us to provide these services to our members as we can now invest in further resources.  This new content will only be available to EOS Supporters.

2.    Ad-Free website

We have always known that many of our members have become increasingly frustrated with the number of ads on the website.  They are obviously very necessary as without them we would not be able to afford to run the website.

However, EOS Supporters now have the option to enjoy a cleaner, faster ad-free Eye on Spain which comes as part of the package.   

Ad free Eye on Spain

3.    Dependency

Our long-term goal with Eye on Spain is to return to our roots.  We always strived to be totally independent and impartial.  Relying on advertisers to fund the website goes against our beliefs and desires.

We don’t have a sales team and we don’t want one.  We tried that last year but we then became more focused on trying to please our advertisers instead of our members.

That was never our intention and something we don’t want to repeat.  In today's economic climate getting advertisers is very tough and you have to be very heavy with them to get them to part with their money.

We don’t want to resort to that, as other websites that we know do.  We want to work for our members not our advertisers.

To this extent we are focusing on providing the resources to our EOS Supporters that they want and need.  We believe that by doing this well we will answer to our members and not to our advertisers and make Eye on Spain an even greater resource.

We are here for you, our loyal members, and we look forward to providing you with the best, most impartial online Spain experience.

To find out more about becoming an EOS Supporter and the benefits that you will receive, read the following page:

EOS Supporters Information

We look forward to working for you.

Best regards
Justin Aldridge



Like 0




12 Comments


Flybynight said:
Monday, November 8, 2010 @ 5:24 PM

I can live with the ads, thanks!


Barabara said:
Monday, November 8, 2010 @ 5:46 PM

I signed up last week and looking forward to the podcasts and articles that you are doing. You have always provided such a great service to us and I'm proud to be an EOS Supporter.


Mark said:
Monday, November 8, 2010 @ 7:49 PM

I'm tempted, except 2 things...
A) mailshots, you should be able to opt out at both levels
B) ad-free should be without ads, rentals are still ads ( as shown in your ad free jpg) ... Or is this configurable for the user?

don't mind so much about, (a) as let's face it, if you don't I will just put you in the gmail spam filter.
But (b) is a must... If I have to ignore rentals , I might as well ignore ads!

Don't get me wrong, I want to sign up, as I think you definitely deserve support, and I'm willing to pay.



Mark said:
Monday, November 8, 2010 @ 8:01 PM

Oops forgot to mention, a couple of things that would be getting me to hit the "buy now" button :)

- full wide display, I view on an iPad, don't want extras on the side (hence my comment on rentals above)
- more rss support, most sites i 'monitor' using rss, would be great to have rss feed on latest threads update, and also blog updates (not individual blogs, which I know is supported)
( as premium is adfree, you don't need the eyeballs on the ads, which often is why rss is shunned)


Justin said:
Monday, November 8, 2010 @ 8:04 PM

Hi Mark, thanks for your comments.

We are actually configuying the home page so that it displays what you choose. It's a couple of days away still but yes, you will be able to remove the rentals.

The idea is that we respond to our Supporters feedback and we have already had some great comments from those that have signed up and we are already working on those too.

It's an ongoing process where we work together to make it what our supporters want it to be.

Like I said above, we want to work for our supporters, that's the mission.

In terms of mailshots, they have always been a part of the funding behind the newsletter, we just don't send very many out. I don't like sending them out but we need the revenue from them....unfortunately!

Justin


Justin said:
Monday, November 8, 2010 @ 8:05 PM

We're already on the RSS case :)


Anthony said:
Tuesday, November 9, 2010 @ 2:57 PM

Maybe someone can us non computer buffs, what rss is, please


Justin said:
Tuesday, November 9, 2010 @ 3:37 PM

Anthony, RSS allows you to consume online content through applications such as RSS feeders.

For example, I follow many blogs so to keep on top of them I subscribe to their RSS feeds using Google Reader. Therefore, I can see what's new for all these different blogs, websites and forums from within Google Reader.

There are other applications in which you can use RSS feeds, but that's for another day!


Bill Bertham said:
Tuesday, November 9, 2010 @ 5:40 PM

I have looked at the paid options and I fail to see that the VIP option is worth 50 euros more as it only has three advantages:
Ad-free newsletter
No mailshots
Call from staff memeber once a month if required
Justin, I really do not think those three things are worth 50 euros.


Justin said:
Tuesday, November 9, 2010 @ 7:57 PM

Bill, that's why there are different options available. To have someone who can can chat to 12 times a year about any issues you may have has got to be worth 50 Euros at least, although it's definitely not for everyone.

Most people have invested huge amounts of money in Spain and to have someone to get advice from, 50 Euros isn't a lot of money.


Ricardo said:
Wednesday, November 10, 2010 @ 3:03 AM

I believe having ads on your website is a way for you to generate some much needed income. It could also be a service for some readers who's particular needs and interests may be accomodated by ads.

But for some who don't want any ads, if they're willing to have a paid subscription, and if this would be sufficient to fund this endeavor, why not?

You could have two options,

1. A free subscription
2. A paid one (with more content)

Whichever way you go, wish you the best!


Summer said:
Wednesday, November 10, 2010 @ 3:32 AM

I have no problem with the ads thanks :)
You have to make a living from this and pay your hosting bills, so why not?
But the prices for supporters sound reasonable for those who would like the extra advantages plus no ads (those who haven't already got javascript disabled or are using an ad blocker...).


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