Why Should You Pay?
A little background on why I went paid, and what it means for you, dear reader.
A couple of weeks ago, I unceremoniously shouted into the internet that I was going to start allowing my audience to pay for my writing. But, I didn’t really say what that would mean.
Truthfully, it’s because I didn’t know.
I only knew that my stable full-time job (and income) had disappeared, I was freelancing again and, in a panic, started to look around for more revenue streams. Why not just turn on the ability to monetize my newsletter?
Since then, only a handful of people have become paid subscribers. Fair! My sales pitch sucked. (To those few people, thank you for trusting that I knew what I was doing.)
Let’s back up a little first. I want to address why it took me two years to pull this lever.
I’m not just a writer; I am also a reader! I love subscribing to other newsletters and getting intelligent people’s thoughts and words in my inbox. I’m always in awe of my fellow writers who can commit to frequent and regular updates, rarely letting my appetite for new content go hungry, even to the point of excess at times. Setting and consistently meeting this expectation is worth paying for. It’s really no different than a magazine or newspaper subscription if you think about it.
When I launched my Substack in 2021, I was instantly enamored with the platform’s mission and capabilities. Previously, I had produced a newsletter since 2016 off and on, while also maintaining a separate blog.
They served different purposes for me, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit how hard that was to keep up with both. As I began to use Substack more, the two sort of merged. This is a result of the platform’s robust capabilities, and my curtailed bandwidth as a mom of two small kids. Economically, it makes more sense just to pick one. Now, this is where I write, and my website’s blog is pretty dusty-looking. Sorry, blog!
The opportunity to monetize has always been appealing to me––says the grown-up little girl whose mother used to call her Alex P. Keaton, after Michael J. Fox’s teenage money-obsessed character on Family Ties. But as enticing as a new revenue stream was, I felt nervous about my ability to produce enough quality content on a consistent basis. I didn’t feel comfortable charging money when I didn’t know what expectation to set, or if I’d be able to meet whatever that ended up being.
I think it was
who recently reminded me of Seth Godin’s definition of a good brand, “A brand is a set of expectations, memories, stories, and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer's decision to choose one product or service over another.” I didn’t want to be a bad brand!So I decided that I would only write and send a newsletter when I had something really important to say. No pressure. Whatever came out, whenever, was fine. Sometimes it was a couple times a month, or often it was left untouched for weeks. Part of me liked this! Less, at the time, meant MORE. The quality of my essays showed the hours it took to craft them. I am proud of what I have written here in the past couple of years. It’s maybe some of my best work. And, I enjoyed feeling like my newsletters were yummy little treats people only got once in a while when they least expected it.
But two years later things have shifted for me. Thanks to losing my job, I have more bandwidth. Going to graduate school, I have more to say. And, after two years of observing how my colleagues have used Substack, I have some inspiration to push myself past only writing when I feel moved to do so and a community of reciprocal creative support.
Even excellent brands rebrand themselves from time to time.
So moving forward, I’ll still be posting my regularly unexpected, special treats of deep thoughts, available for everyone to read. Maybe a little more about what I’m studying, depending on how prolific I manage to become. We’ll go with the flow.
But as long as my paid subscribers remain a quaint pool of a community, I feel compelled to keep things behind the paywall intimate. Think deeply about honest diary entries. Stuff I’d normally never publicly write. Juicy gossip. Super insider career tips. Unsolicited and solicited advice (you can anonymously ask here). Maybe I’ll fuck around with podcasts. Video? I don’t know yet, but I think it’s going to be a fun way to get a peak inside my brain and provide a platform to have discussions where I can see inside yours as well.
Anyway, that’s my pitch! Take it. Leave it for later. I am a Substack overconsumer, so I get that it’s financially impossible and imprudent to upgrade to paid for every writer whose content you want, or even those you just want to support. I know that a paid subscriber means it. That said, I do not want financial hardship to be an obstacle if you’re dying for more but can’t pay. If this is you, please email me!
Otherwise, maybe I’ll see you in my private diary …
Thanks for the shout-out! Another Seth Godin line, related to that one, is "A brand represents a person's willingness to pay MORE for your good or service than comparable options." Giving people a reason to commit to YOU, and YOUR WAY, is a great way to think of it -- what does your story and your writing unlock in someone else that makes them want to PAY MORE (than zero) for it?
Appreciate the bravery. Keep it up.