Doing things your own way
My 2 cents on the topic of going paid
Let me get things straight from the beginning - I DO support having paid subscriptions. I DON’T support turning them on only because you can. These are my thoughts and they might not resonate with some people, but I hope you find something useful to think about.
I honestly believe that we all crave deeper connection with each other, but the corporate landscape made us think that we are all in sort of a race for the largest number of subscribers. Now it is converting into a race for the largest number of paid subscribers.
Big companies and marketing agencies want us believe that it is possible to run a business only in a certain way. We have to think about marketing funnels, audience reach, subscriptions vs unsubscriptions, click throughs and what not.
Somehow everything is turning into a transaction instead of an act of connection.
Some people start following you only with the view that you will follow them back, for example. They are not interested in what and why you write or share, they are interested in growth.
But does that have to be the nature of our relationships with each other?
To be…
There is a big ongoing discussion about going paid on Substack - if yes - when and how, if not - why, etc. This discussion is larger than just this specific platform.
Being able to charge an audience directly for certain offerings like our art, writing, teaching, additional materials, and sharing extra content is a great opportunity that had been given to us creatives by the so-called creator economy.
Many people prefer to paywall their content which is absolutely understandable. Like we don’t expect writers to give their books away for free. We don’t expect actors and singers to perform for free. We don’t expect artists to give paintings away for free. We don’t expect photographers to give their photographs away for free. We don’t expect that all those people will teach us how to do it all for free (or do we expect that?).
It’s absolutely natural and normal to monetise your work.
There is no “right” way of introducing paid subscriptions, but it is important to have a transparent value proposition. As an artist I am mostly following those, who write about art and illustration, but there are a lot of various creatives out there with great offerings for paid subscribers.
I’ll just provide several examples of those, whose newsletters I personally enjoy reading at the moment.
( ), (), () and () - all have a great offering for paid subscribers and just offer genuinely fun and valuable writing. Some writing is accessible for everyone, but paid subscribers get access to extra content - in-depth discussions of the creative process, of the work itself, exclusive workshops and live sessions. It can also be a supportive community to join.It doesn’t mean that you have to create tons of content, if you choose to go paid. Not everyone opts for creating something extra for a paid subscription. After all it is additional work that is comparable to running a membership. There is an option to have your writing as the end in itself and restrict access to some posts (or your archive). Lorene Edwards Forkner from
sends her newsletter for free, but paid subscribers have access to the archive and some additional resources.As
puts it in When to go paid on Substack?We’re so engrained that more value means more stuff. As a consumer I don’t want more stuff. I want better stuff.
There is still another way to introduce a paid subscription - providing an option to become a paid subscriber, but not using paywalls. I love this note by
- her writing is accessible for everyone and still her conversion rate (to paid) is the same as on average for her type of newsletter.Really, there is no one way to do it.
Or not to be?
Despite the great examples from above (and there are many more), it seems that there are mindset problems around the topic. Social media transformed our way of connecting to each other and taught us seeing everything in terms of business, growth and calculating conversion rates. And I can see these trends here on Substack - the general mindset is that you need to post a lot, grow your audience as fast as you can and turn on paid subscriptions as soon as possible hoping for a certain conversion rate.
The pressure to constantly grow and monetise everything makes our connections artificial and meaningless and sucks the joy both out of our work and out of our conversations with each other.
The idea that all our precious thoughts and experiences have to be monetised and paywalled just doesn’t sit right with me. It is taking out the human part out of the equation. If Instagram decides to introduce some sort of paid subscriptions, I suppose there would be enough people willing to paywall their feeds. People may be enticed to paywall content without trying to really put value into it. It seems like because you can, then why not?
The creative economy is not only about monetisation of our creative pursuits, but also about the ability of people to connect and share their creativity with each other. The more we share, the more creativity we see around us. By sharing something for free you can reach a much wider audience and the ripple effect will be greater. The whole idea of Internet is connection and sharing. In broader business terms things such as open innovations, ecosystems and platforms don’t exist without a reason - sharing moves us forward in so many ways.
If everything is paywalled, most of the people will be just left behind the fence. Even 5-10$ a month can be a financial hardship for someone. People keep saying that the subscription comes at a cost of “a couple of coffees a month”, whereas some peoples’ hourly wage can be less than 5$. We still live in a world, where not everyone has equal access to knowledge and education (and drinking water).
Seeing every person as a potential (paid) subscriber - I don’t think this is what we should aim for. What would our society look like, if people stop sharing for free at all? Can you Imagine going to a cafe with someone and having to pay for the conversation? As a self-taught artist, I really benefited from the vast amount of free information that exists on the Internet (and I became a loyal customer for many artists).
Communication, connection and sharing are so fundamental to our society. A more authentic way would be to share what you have to share, to do it consistently, to be true to yourself. You will naturally find people who are interested in becoming a customer. So many connections are made just because people are willing to share their journeys.
And you don’t necessarily have to be everywhere or anywhere in particular. There are many ways to connect - you can choose what suits you best (
writes about it in What matters in social media marketing). writes wonderfully in this recent post “You can't run an online business without social media" (and other myths I was told).People are finding me in absolutely magical ways: through my newsletter, the Substack network, word of mouth, the occasional podcast, Pinterest, my blog and website and a handful of guest posts that I’ve done over the years.
It is exactly how I find people. And if the message resonates, I become a customer.
Imagine if Jane Blundell would paywall her blog and web-site with all the swatches and mixes that she shared throughout the years. Instead she prefers to share it for free (you can support her work with donations) and uses it as a way to attract people to her courses, workshops and books.
Many artists share parts of their process for free and then invite people for more in-depth work with some paid offerings. Nick Wilton runs a 3-month art course - the Creative Visionary Program, which is extensive and rich in information, but quite expensive and not accessible for everyone. So he offers a free 5-day workshop in the run up to the main course. For sure, it serves as a promotional event, but it’s still packed with practical lessons, live meetings and valuable information.
If our message is authentic, original and unique there will be enough people willing to pay for our work. It is possible to reach publishers, art collectors, potential students without the necessity to obsess all the time over numbers and conversion rates. Some prefer not to be subscribed to a lot of other accounts on the premise that it’s not possible to meaningfully engage with a large amount of people (which in itself is absolutely reasonable). But at the same time these people are focused on growing a large audience (preferably invested in their work).
At some point the math isn’t going to add up. May be we need to stop thinking about ourselves as “the creators” versus “subscribers” or “potential subscribers”? This mentality is exactly about relationships as transactions.
I like Substack, because many of us are both readers and writers, which means that we are alternately in each others’ shoes. We are all equal parties in the conversation and sometimes we choose to become customers, if a certain message resonates with us. It is a more humane and meaningful approach.
May be the goal isn’t always to reach as many people as you can and try to turn 5% of them into paid subscribers for 5$ a month? There is nothing wrong with that goal, btw, it’s just not the only way. The important questions are - what value you can give your readers / students / buyers? But also what value can you provide to the community in general? How can you meaningfully connect with other people? What other benefits are in connecting with others apart from business metrics?
Offering companionship and support, sharing experiences and ideas, creating something together, building new friendships and communities of interest - you name it - these all are valid and worthy goals.
Again, I am not against paid subscriptions. I myself think about it in the future and I am grateful that such possibility exists. But I am in this for the long haul and I want to do everything with intention. I am OK with slow growth and I prefer to take my time to figure things out (I laughed so hard reading this post by
).May be nothing written here makes sense to you. I have been quite hesitant to post it. May be I’ve been overexposed to works of Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut, Philip K. Dick, Isaac Asimov and (many) others in my teens (and my brain is just slightly damaged).
I’ll leave you with this citation from
(Things software can't do)If you find all of this a bit overwhelming and depressing, I suggest that you leave the virtual reality headset you got for Christmas at home and go for a long walk in no particular direction to nowhere in particular for no particular reason. I’ll meet you there. While we’re walking, let’s think about all the things we can do that software can’t.
Let’s be there for each other. Thanks for reading!
Thank you for mentioning my post, and thank you for sharing your reflections Lisa! Like anything, going paid is something that is best--if at all--when done intentionally I'd say. Have a good week!
Great reflections Lisa and thanks for the mention ❣️ if when and how to go paid are definitely inevitable questions for anyone who has the aspirations to turn their creative side gig into the main deal!