EPL Talk Pro FAQ

UPDATE: Scroll down to read more about the RSS feed change and to find out how you can get the complete contents.

Q: Why has EPL Talk decided to charge a monthly fee for additional exclusive content?

A: Since EPL Talk launched in 2005, we’ve published more than 6,400 articles and more than 300 episodes of the EPL Talk Podcast. Each article and podcast episode has been free of charge. We’ll continue to publish articles (on a daily basis) as well as the twice-weekly EPL Talk Podcast at no charge.

For those readers and listeners who want more quality content, we’re offering it to you as a subscriber of EPL Talk Pro for just 16 cents a day ($4.99/month). For approximately the same cost as one large Frappuccino, you’ll gain access to exclusive content that you won’t be able to find anywhere else.

Plus, the exclusive content will be high quality premium content. Just as one example, the video documentaries created by producer and director Laurence McKenna will give you a birds-eye view into the world of English football. Laurence will be our boots on the ground, bringing us remarkable video pieces that we would never otherwise see.

While Laurence will be carrying his camera equipment and traveling through England to bring us a brand-new video documentary each month, EPL Talk Pro’s Richard Farley will be creating NPR-quality audio stories that elevate the discussion of the Beautiful Game into unchartered territories, or will delve deeper into fascinating topics that are often short-changed even by the better podcasts out there.

These are just two examples of how EPL Talk Pro is different. There are many more. But the main point is that to create these exclusive pieces of content, it takes time, creativity and resources. The end product will definitely be worth $4.99/month.

Q: Why the 180 on paying for content? In the past you criticized The Times for going to a paid model.

A: The Times of London moved from a free website to a paid one, which was a far more drastic move than the one that EPL Talk has taken. With EPL Talk Pro, you gain access to high-quality premium content for a low price. But whether you become an EPL Talk Pro customer or not, you can still enjoy the site, for free, to access the articles you’ve been accustomed to reading.

Why even offer a paid option at all? There are three reasons. One, to bring readers content that they otherwise would not have received, that is high quality and nothing like anything else that is out there today. Two, it’s costing us (EPL Talk) more time, money and resources to produce this premium content (in the form of travel expenses, production time, etc). And third, the advertising model is broken. Despite record-breaking numbers of visitors during the 2010 World Cup, the amount of revenue we made from banner advertising was a pittance especially when you consider all of the expenditures we have to pay on a monthly basis. If The Times did one thing right, that was that they realized that the advertising model online is severely inefficient to growing a business.

Q: Why have you decided to change the RSS feed for EPL Talk so it features an excerpt from each new post instead of the post in its entirety?

A: Unfortunately there are dozens of nefarious websites out there that scrape EPL Talk’s articles and then publish them on their own sites. They’ve automated this by taking the contents from the RSS feed and then automatically publishing the posts on their website as their own. They then surround the articles they stole with advertising. EPL Talk doesn’t get a dime from these adverts. And the sites, sometimes, end up ranking higher in search engines than EPL Talk does for its own content.

The only way to prevent other sites from stealing our content is by including an excerpt from the post in the RSS feed. Clicking on the headline from the RSS feed will then take you to the article.

As a special benefit for EPL Talk Pro members, EPL Talk Pro subscribers will be provided with a private RSS feed where they can continue to receive the entire article in their RSS reader. Making the feed private will prevent other websites from scraping EPL Talk’s content and claiming it as their own.

Q: Why can’t EPL Talk just have readers register to access the site for free. EPL Talk could share the e-mail addresses and customer demographics with marketing partners to subsidize the site.

A: EPL Talk’s policy is that we will never rent or sell your e-mail address to anyone. We would much prefer to keep EPLTalk.com as open and free as it is now, and then reward those readers who become EPL Talk Pro subscribers by providing them high-quality premium content above and beyond what is now provided. To register for EPL Talk Pro, readers will need to subscribe.

Q: Will the EPL Talk Twitter account that streams Premier League news 24/7/365 be shut down?

A: No, the @epltalk Twitter account will continue to provide Premier League news each day. However, breaking news will be sent first to EPL Talk Pro subscribers via the @epltalkpro Twitter account. Followers of @epltalk will still get the news via Twitter (and Facebook), but on a delay.

Q: What will I miss if I don’t subscribe to EPL Talk Pro?

A: On EPLTalk.com, you’ll continue to receive the daily news and analysis of the Premier League you’re accustomed to since we launched the site in 2005. The major difference is that as an EPL Talk Pro subscriber, you’ll receive exclusive high-quality content each month such as a:

• One feature-length audio story,
• One top quality video documentary,
• One roundtable discussion per month on a hot topic (featuring a debate between Richard Farley, Laurence McKenna and Kartik Krishnaiyer),
• Two to three feature-length articles each month that delve into meaty Premier League-related topics,
• One interview per month with a high-profile guest (conducted by either Richard Farley or The Gaffer),
• Access to breaking news tweets via a private Twitter account,
• Access to a private RSS feed which contains each EPL Talk post in its entirety,
• A monthly prize giveaway of Premier League-related items, that are only open to EPL Talk Pro subscribers (one prize per month),
• And plenty of surprises each month.

Note, however, even if you don’t sign up for EPL Talk Pro each month, you’ll still have access to the free EPL Talk posts and EPL Talk Podcast episodes you’ve grown accustomed to reading and listening to each day/week.

Q: What makes EPL Talk Pro different than other paid subscription sites?

A: The biggest difference between EPL Talk Pro and other paid sites is the quality of exclusive content. EPL Talk Pro’s content will be far superior than the competition. Not in quantity, but quality.  You will see, hear and read exclusive content, specifically created for intelligent die-hard Premier League fans, that you won’t be able to find elsewhere.

Q: Who will be creating content for EPL Talk Pro?

A: The EPL Talk Pro crew features Richard Farley, Laurence McKenna, Kartik Krishnaiyer, Jesse Chula and The Gaffer, as well as special guest columnists. To learn more about their expertise, read their bios.

Q: Will the exclusive EPL Talk Pro content ever be made available to regular EPL Talk readers?

A: EPL Talk Pro members will always gain access to EPL Talk Pro content as soon as it’s released. Some of the EPL Talk Pro content will be made available on the public site, but it’ll only be released on EPLTalk.com approximately one-to-three weeks after launch.

The only way to see, read and hear EPL Talk Pro content as soon as it’s released, including interviews with some of the biggest names in the Premier League as well as behind-the-scenes video footage you can’t find anywhere else, is to become an EPL Talk Pro subscriber.

Q: I’m interested in subscribing to EPL Talk Pro. How do I sign up, and what payment methods do you accept?

A: Sign up for EPL Talk Pro today. Just enter your e-mail address and then pay $4.99 for your first month via PayPal or use a major credit card (Visa, Mastercard, Discover or American Express) or your debit card. The transaction is conducted via a secure server. A PayPal account is required (even if you pay via credit or debit card).

PayPal protects your financial information with industry-leading security and fraud prevention systems. When you use PayPal, your financial information is not shared with EPL Talk Pro. Once your payment is complete, you will be emailed a receipt for this transaction. You’ll also receive a welcome e-mail from EPL Talk Pro.

Q: Who is Tinyletter?

A: Tinyletter is the e-mail newsletter company that EPL Talk Pro is using to handle subscriptions. It’s a reputable company that has several notable clients including Kevin Rose from Digg.com fame.

Q: How do I cancel my EPL Talk Pro subscription?

A: To cancel a subscription, log in to your PayPal account, click ‘Profile’ at the top of the page, click ‘My Preapproved Payments’ in the ‘Financial Information’ column, click ‘View the Agreement’ next to the merchant agreement you want to cancel, then click ‘Cancel’ or ‘Cancel automatic billing’ and follow the instructions.

Q: How do I contact EPL Talk Pro?

A: E-mail us.