Jancis Robinson, the famous wine expert and writer, has over the last ten years, quietly built up an impressive online content business. The several thousand members of her “Purple pages” are an international crowd (a total of more 30,000 people from more than 100 countries have been members at one time), some from the wine trade but many enthusiastic amateurs, who visit her site at least weekly and contribute to a convivial, civilised and intelligent forum. All this with minimal marketing, and no artificial boost from discounts and offers – just pure content.

So what is the secret of the success of the Purple pages, the subscription part of www.JancisRobinson.com – which cost members £69pa or £6.99 a month? Jancis is a prolific and natural writer, and members get two of her articles a day (with one extra article for the free part of the site) providing an insider’s view of the wine world. They can also search an archive of over 55,000 tasting notes, which are linked to popular cellar management service CellarTracker. Plus there’s the exclusive online searchable database for the Oxford Companion to Wine and the World Atlas of Wine – both edited by Jancis and whose hard copy versions would cost c£60. Jancis regularly adds video clips to the site via YouTube, so they're free now) Purple pages. Members, 65% of whom are from outside the UK, value the independent, opinionated comment, and the topical, frequent updates to the articles. They also love the forum; with half the members of more than 2 years standing this has created a friendly community, and they don’t want to open it to non-members. Renewal rates are over 50%.

Marketing is low key, with Jancis mentioning the site in her own articles, directing her 75,000 Twitter followers to it, and adding daily articles to the free part of the site, which attracts 64,000 unique visitors a month with average length of visit being over four minutes. She also regularly emails her database of >30,000 current visitors and lapsed members. A great example of how providing a genuinely useful resource to wine enthusiasts can build an online content subscription business.

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