I stumbled in here like Kramer in Seinfeld and put the paid option up with zero signups. Just do it. People out there want to support your work. Paid content can be like small tokens of thanks or the thanks may be your consistent performance. Whether turning on the option from the start or building a huge audience (which a lot of people do), go with what you feel. There is no right answer.
I like the comments in the Substacks. I teach remotely and Substack comment sections inspired by the writer's ideas are the best human interaction I have since COVID. I subscribe to a few for the content but mainly the ones with insightful comments sections.
To pay or not to pay? I started a paywall right off the bat, and discovered my free content competed inside my brain with my paid content. So I made everything free. When I did, i have been able to attract 25 paid subs. I want more, but it has been just over a year, and i am learning to take credit for good news. Or at least acknowledge it! I am jealous when I see something like 100+ paid. How? slow but steady? I am in for the long haul. But if anyone wants to offer some free advice abut or on my platform, I am all ears!
I just got word that my grandmother is launching her Substack next week. And her friend Stella, who loves needlepoint, is launching her Substack after Easter.
This all mirrors the early days of the Internet when EVERYONE had to have a website. They would then pay to have a website built and then wonder why they weren't being inundated with readers or sales or whatever widget thing they were trying to do online. They did not properly evaluate their skills (or lack thereof) as a writer, salesman, etc. Too many had fond memories of the movie Field of Dreams ("If you build it, they will come.")
If a Substacker hopes to garner paid subscribers they had better be an incredibly entertaining writer -- with a command of grammar, style, self-editing and self-copy editing skills. And also have a topic that people find irresistible due to the readers own interests, concerns, hobbies, past times, politics, whatever.
Creating a Substack that is 'just about things on my mind today or whatever' isn't going to create a stampede of paid subs.
Finally, if the creator can offer some sort of service within the flow of their written content (for paid subscribers) that will up their chances of garnering more paid subscribers.
My readership was nurtured and built over fifteen years via my website and by consistently writing engaging posts, that I published with regularity -- thus I'd already proven myself as someone reliable within my field.
My readers then followed me over to Substack and gladly took out subscriptions when I explained to them that I could no longer support myself as a writer with the limited monetization options I had with my website.
True, Substack is a cinch to set up and get running, but it's quite complex as to how to make it a successful enterprise. It's a job, and it's hard work and it's doubly difficult if the creator doesn't have SOME sort of track record that trails behind them as they hitch their star to the Substack firmament.
I interviewed a Substack publisher with 35,000 free subscribers, and has just announced they are going paid in 2 months. (as of March 2,2022)
January, 2022:
Here is the answer to the question of how they have decided when to go paid?
A: Going paid is the toughest decision for us. We are growing so fast (we grew 29% month-over-month again in December, 36% in January, and 24% February, 2022) that it seems like turning on the paywall now would be a mistake. Our original intent was to stay free until growth slowed, thereby letting the market define our total addressable market. It is more difficult to grow once you have the paywall up. At the moment, we have made no final decisions.
I'm curious what they thought was the biggest factor slowing growth once they had the paywall up, or if anyone else has experience about how growth has been once making this decision
Perhaps. I also think Woodruff's comment nails it. There are a ton of stacks. Standing out can be hard without a defined niche, presentation style, and voice.
I stumbled in here like Kramer in Seinfeld and put the paid option up with zero signups. Just do it. People out there want to support your work. Paid content can be like small tokens of thanks or the thanks may be your consistent performance. Whether turning on the option from the start or building a huge audience (which a lot of people do), go with what you feel. There is no right answer.
I like the comments in the Substacks. I teach remotely and Substack comment sections inspired by the writer's ideas are the best human interaction I have since COVID. I subscribe to a few for the content but mainly the ones with insightful comments sections.
To pay or not to pay? I started a paywall right off the bat, and discovered my free content competed inside my brain with my paid content. So I made everything free. When I did, i have been able to attract 25 paid subs. I want more, but it has been just over a year, and i am learning to take credit for good news. Or at least acknowledge it! I am jealous when I see something like 100+ paid. How? slow but steady? I am in for the long haul. But if anyone wants to offer some free advice abut or on my platform, I am all ears!
Substack is the new black.
I just got word that my grandmother is launching her Substack next week. And her friend Stella, who loves needlepoint, is launching her Substack after Easter.
This all mirrors the early days of the Internet when EVERYONE had to have a website. They would then pay to have a website built and then wonder why they weren't being inundated with readers or sales or whatever widget thing they were trying to do online. They did not properly evaluate their skills (or lack thereof) as a writer, salesman, etc. Too many had fond memories of the movie Field of Dreams ("If you build it, they will come.")
If a Substacker hopes to garner paid subscribers they had better be an incredibly entertaining writer -- with a command of grammar, style, self-editing and self-copy editing skills. And also have a topic that people find irresistible due to the readers own interests, concerns, hobbies, past times, politics, whatever.
Creating a Substack that is 'just about things on my mind today or whatever' isn't going to create a stampede of paid subs.
Finally, if the creator can offer some sort of service within the flow of their written content (for paid subscribers) that will up their chances of garnering more paid subscribers.
My readership was nurtured and built over fifteen years via my website and by consistently writing engaging posts, that I published with regularity -- thus I'd already proven myself as someone reliable within my field.
My readers then followed me over to Substack and gladly took out subscriptions when I explained to them that I could no longer support myself as a writer with the limited monetization options I had with my website.
True, Substack is a cinch to set up and get running, but it's quite complex as to how to make it a successful enterprise. It's a job, and it's hard work and it's doubly difficult if the creator doesn't have SOME sort of track record that trails behind them as they hitch their star to the Substack firmament.
I interviewed a Substack publisher with 35,000 free subscribers, and has just announced they are going paid in 2 months. (as of March 2,2022)
January, 2022:
Here is the answer to the question of how they have decided when to go paid?
A: Going paid is the toughest decision for us. We are growing so fast (we grew 29% month-over-month again in December, 36% in January, and 24% February, 2022) that it seems like turning on the paywall now would be a mistake. Our original intent was to stay free until growth slowed, thereby letting the market define our total addressable market. It is more difficult to grow once you have the paywall up. At the moment, we have made no final decisions.
I'm curious what they thought was the biggest factor slowing growth once they had the paywall up, or if anyone else has experience about how growth has been once making this decision
I think just market saturation is my guess. I'm sure they will have a free section as well, so new subscribers will still find them.
Perhaps. I also think Woodruff's comment nails it. There are a ton of stacks. Standing out can be hard without a defined niche, presentation style, and voice.