I use an interesting feature that automatically paywalls my content after 6 months. That way, the ones who follow me and are interacting with me on a weekly or even monthly basis get all my content for free, but I auto-paywall things over time because:
- I still have a chance to offer value with recent posts, so people see the quality and they check if they like it or not
- everything change very fast today. What is ok nowadays may not be in 6 months, better intentionally reduce the audience to fellow subscribers who support
- crawlers index it for enough time, if people find my content, they still have the choice of reading my new stuff
- I intentionally don’t want things that are very old being crawled and publicly available for free (I write on the internet for 20 years and it’s annoying to have content from 10 years ago being stolen for stupid social media accounts)
I wish Substack had a feature that perform the opposite though: paywall all my new posts and remove the paywall after certain time. That would allow people to do an opposite strategy, time based too.
Both these words, "generosity, and, greed" have the same value and power. They both bring results. When we speak these word seeds, we will harvest more than we have planted, later than we have planted and in agreement with the intentions of our planting. Some "words" will bring additional 'harvests' even years after the original planting. This is why I particularly attempt to never use certain words. words like "FREE," or "Just like having a real ... even the word "Extra" will inspire an immediate reaction in the majority of the listeners which is the antithesis of my reactions. These are all 'red flags' to my mind and I will seek to ascertain what the user is 'hiding' when they use them. I learned many years ago that in advertising the "big letters' promise you things and the 'fine print' takes everything away. So, we must help others because altruistically helping others will both give us pleasure and will come back to us.
My father had a 6th grade formal education, taught me to watch what people do and find out if their actions are in agreement with their words. He said that a man is only as good as the man's word. He taught me that a person that will take unjust advantage of others in small things will do that in big things. You do not need a piece of paper, you just need two people that will want to be generous with each other. He grew up South of the Mason-Dixon Line (born in 1924) and gave me many examples to ponder, most of which were of people from 'big' cities.
As soon as I went out to the streets of Bayamón, Puerto Rico, (after exiting the US Navy) I saw they also had many sayings that would raise a 'red flag' if the person was paying attention. One of the "Jibaro" (country person) sayings was "El que obra mal, le va mal" (It will go poorly for the man that works poorly or is miserly) However, they taught that in all aspects of your life you can apply this saying.
In addition to these things a person must remember they have to persevere, they can not quit. You wrote that 97% of the people do nothing with the information. We hear people saying that a trip of 1,000 miles begins with a single step, however in Ecclesiastes 7 we are taught that it is better the end of a thing than the beginning. One step at a time. Took me 7 years to obtain a 4 year Bachelors degree because I had more hurdles than most. I was learning the language and I was always seeking ways to earn enough to sustain our family while putting some aside to pay for university credits. The people say "poco a poco se anda lejo" (little by little you will get very far) BUT that only rewards us when we persevere and do not quit.
In conclusion, we need to make ourselves determined, and to take action and then to persevere every single day. I am awed by the quantity & quality of your generosity and I am certain you are and will continue to reap from the seeds you have both spoken and the actions you have done.
BTW - I have no understanding of what a 'paywall' or 'gate keeping' or 'substacking' is. LOL
Ms. Shannon - that is very kind thing you shared. I was concerned and in my heart I had convinced myself that of all people I am not qualified to tell others that what YOU have written is 100% spot on.
I definitely agree with this. I post three articles a week and they are all free. I do have a paid tier but it is only to create a private space because I am a Christian writer creating content for other Christian writers. I post one deep dive research paper in my paid tier but everything else is free. My plan is similar to your setup with consistent income coming in from digital products and my book royalties and a small bit from strategy clients.
"I’ve gone from crying almost everyday, worried sick about $$$ to crying once a week!!" - LOL, caught me off guard here 😂
Also true - focus and consistency truly is the way. I faltered and vanished in the beginning (Like May this year) because it was trial and error (lots of errors haha) but I think I have a steady path and plan now.
And thanks for replying Shannon! I appreciate this and look forward to your other posts!
I just hit 90 days, Noel and my life has changed a LOT in those 3 months. I’ve gone from crying almost everyday, worried sick about $$$ to crying once a week!! LOL seriously though, focused intent and staying the course is the only “secret” (well, maybe some good keywords thrown in for good measure ;).
I agree with you, I don't feel right about the paywall situation, but that's just me. Also believe that folks will "pay for what makes them feel good", and if that means reading someone else's ideas...great!!
It tells me there's SO many possible ways to make money on this planet & that gives me hope. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, appreciate it.
I think it’s fine to share what works for you. But I also think it’s presumptuous to imply that everyone who puts a paywall on their writing is doing it wrong. Writers should be able to make a living writing not just teaching a system or selling a different product. Maybe this gatekeeping concept only applies to people who write “how to” content but again that seems like a distinction that might not be meaningful. What template should a gardener sell instead of saying that their knowledge of gardening might be unique and useful. I don’t have a definitive answer about who should and shouldn’t use paid subscriptions. It just also seems weird to put pressure on individuals that we don’t put on corporations.
I think writers paywalling is a brilliant & well deserved way to get paid. I was explaining why I chose not to, largely because of the audience I serve. This is an individual choice, not a condemnation of the subscription model. I would also never cut off the flow of SEO I’ve built by paywalling my content, that’s what happened over on Medium when I joined the Partner Program…all that work was no longer getting traffic due to the paywall.
>Tell me I’m wrong, I want to hear the other side of the fence.
You're not wrong, Shannon. But you also have a system in place that took you all those 30 years even to recognize you needed, never mind building it, piece by painful piece. (Tell me I'm wrong about that! 😁)
How do you convince your clients to take on that monumental task if their focus is on making the cash, proving the concept, seeking the profit, not really building the business process that makes it all sustainable?
Most people in small business don't really think in terms of 'business continuity'. They just react to what's in front of them, not a mile or two down the road. This is one huge reason why they don't last.
I agree with this. As a Holistic Coach, people saw me as a failure because I didn't make programs or sell courses, PDFs or the like. I see it as incredibly extortionary. Especially when you see all of these things being pumped out one right after the other, and it's blatantly AI—not even a hint of trying to make it their own. I got so frustrated and angry over this in coaching groups that I swore it off. I even declined monetization program on my socials. It's just a hamster wheel that I don't want to be on. I still got clients, but never posted testimonials or flaunted it because I came from nursing and HIPPA was and still is a huge thing for me. Clients can post and say whatever they like, I however will not betray their trust or privacy in any manner on my end. I don't plan on paywalling my substack, but I do have an alternative "Tip Jar." Sites like Ko-fi and Buy me a coffee are great alternatives! " Like what I do? Thank you so much! And if you'd like to leave me a tip (or buy me a coffee) to support my time and expenses, I'm incredibly grateful! " It's that easy.
I won't be paywalling my Substack either. That's not why I came here. I did come here hoping to finally start building the email list I should have built years ago and I find that I am actually following through and love what I am building here. I also have a free community on Skool, though at some point in the future I might paywall that, or maybe just some of it. My income primarily comes from the emotional healing work I do with people one on one. I am putting out a book next month, but that's more a personal project, though i would love if it brought me clients and community members.
I use an interesting feature that automatically paywalls my content after 6 months. That way, the ones who follow me and are interacting with me on a weekly or even monthly basis get all my content for free, but I auto-paywall things over time because:
- I still have a chance to offer value with recent posts, so people see the quality and they check if they like it or not
- everything change very fast today. What is ok nowadays may not be in 6 months, better intentionally reduce the audience to fellow subscribers who support
- crawlers index it for enough time, if people find my content, they still have the choice of reading my new stuff
- I intentionally don’t want things that are very old being crawled and publicly available for free (I write on the internet for 20 years and it’s annoying to have content from 10 years ago being stolen for stupid social media accounts)
I wish Substack had a feature that perform the opposite though: paywall all my new posts and remove the paywall after certain time. That would allow people to do an opposite strategy, time based too.
Both these words, "generosity, and, greed" have the same value and power. They both bring results. When we speak these word seeds, we will harvest more than we have planted, later than we have planted and in agreement with the intentions of our planting. Some "words" will bring additional 'harvests' even years after the original planting. This is why I particularly attempt to never use certain words. words like "FREE," or "Just like having a real ... even the word "Extra" will inspire an immediate reaction in the majority of the listeners which is the antithesis of my reactions. These are all 'red flags' to my mind and I will seek to ascertain what the user is 'hiding' when they use them. I learned many years ago that in advertising the "big letters' promise you things and the 'fine print' takes everything away. So, we must help others because altruistically helping others will both give us pleasure and will come back to us.
My father had a 6th grade formal education, taught me to watch what people do and find out if their actions are in agreement with their words. He said that a man is only as good as the man's word. He taught me that a person that will take unjust advantage of others in small things will do that in big things. You do not need a piece of paper, you just need two people that will want to be generous with each other. He grew up South of the Mason-Dixon Line (born in 1924) and gave me many examples to ponder, most of which were of people from 'big' cities.
As soon as I went out to the streets of Bayamón, Puerto Rico, (after exiting the US Navy) I saw they also had many sayings that would raise a 'red flag' if the person was paying attention. One of the "Jibaro" (country person) sayings was "El que obra mal, le va mal" (It will go poorly for the man that works poorly or is miserly) However, they taught that in all aspects of your life you can apply this saying.
In addition to these things a person must remember they have to persevere, they can not quit. You wrote that 97% of the people do nothing with the information. We hear people saying that a trip of 1,000 miles begins with a single step, however in Ecclesiastes 7 we are taught that it is better the end of a thing than the beginning. One step at a time. Took me 7 years to obtain a 4 year Bachelors degree because I had more hurdles than most. I was learning the language and I was always seeking ways to earn enough to sustain our family while putting some aside to pay for university credits. The people say "poco a poco se anda lejo" (little by little you will get very far) BUT that only rewards us when we persevere and do not quit.
In conclusion, we need to make ourselves determined, and to take action and then to persevere every single day. I am awed by the quantity & quality of your generosity and I am certain you are and will continue to reap from the seeds you have both spoken and the actions you have done.
BTW - I have no understanding of what a 'paywall' or 'gate keeping' or 'substacking' is. LOL
Mr. George, I love your stories :) And I’m so honored that you are my subscriber. 🥰
Ms. Shannon - that is very kind thing you shared. I was concerned and in my heart I had convinced myself that of all people I am not qualified to tell others that what YOU have written is 100% spot on.
I definitely agree with this. I post three articles a week and they are all free. I do have a paid tier but it is only to create a private space because I am a Christian writer creating content for other Christian writers. I post one deep dive research paper in my paid tier but everything else is free. My plan is similar to your setup with consistent income coming in from digital products and my book royalties and a small bit from strategy clients.
"I’ve gone from crying almost everyday, worried sick about $$$ to crying once a week!!" - LOL, caught me off guard here 😂
Also true - focus and consistency truly is the way. I faltered and vanished in the beginning (Like May this year) because it was trial and error (lots of errors haha) but I think I have a steady path and plan now.
And thanks for replying Shannon! I appreciate this and look forward to your other posts!
I’m here if you start to falter again, I love to cheerlead :)
Hey Shannon, great article!
I'm new(ish) on Substack so I have a long road ahead.
But your article gave me ideas to consider on the pricing aspect for down the road.
Thank you!
I just hit 90 days, Noel and my life has changed a LOT in those 3 months. I’ve gone from crying almost everyday, worried sick about $$$ to crying once a week!! LOL seriously though, focused intent and staying the course is the only “secret” (well, maybe some good keywords thrown in for good measure ;).
I agree with you, I don't feel right about the paywall situation, but that's just me. Also believe that folks will "pay for what makes them feel good", and if that means reading someone else's ideas...great!!
It tells me there's SO many possible ways to make money on this planet & that gives me hope. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, appreciate it.
I’m also not a fan of paywalls (or gatekeeping as you call it).
thank you for this. I will be deep diving into all of your posts very soon.
Greta thoughts on this! I totally agree and I like your 3% tiers for income. Thanks for writing!
Holy Mary, I was just praying about community this morning and you popped up. Subscribed and thank you for taking the time to comment.
I think it’s fine to share what works for you. But I also think it’s presumptuous to imply that everyone who puts a paywall on their writing is doing it wrong. Writers should be able to make a living writing not just teaching a system or selling a different product. Maybe this gatekeeping concept only applies to people who write “how to” content but again that seems like a distinction that might not be meaningful. What template should a gardener sell instead of saying that their knowledge of gardening might be unique and useful. I don’t have a definitive answer about who should and shouldn’t use paid subscriptions. It just also seems weird to put pressure on individuals that we don’t put on corporations.
I think writers paywalling is a brilliant & well deserved way to get paid. I was explaining why I chose not to, largely because of the audience I serve. This is an individual choice, not a condemnation of the subscription model. I would also never cut off the flow of SEO I’ve built by paywalling my content, that’s what happened over on Medium when I joined the Partner Program…all that work was no longer getting traffic due to the paywall.
>Tell me I’m wrong, I want to hear the other side of the fence.
You're not wrong, Shannon. But you also have a system in place that took you all those 30 years even to recognize you needed, never mind building it, piece by painful piece. (Tell me I'm wrong about that! 😁)
How do you convince your clients to take on that monumental task if their focus is on making the cash, proving the concept, seeking the profit, not really building the business process that makes it all sustainable?
Most people in small business don't really think in terms of 'business continuity'. They just react to what's in front of them, not a mile or two down the road. This is one huge reason why they don't last.
I agree with this. As a Holistic Coach, people saw me as a failure because I didn't make programs or sell courses, PDFs or the like. I see it as incredibly extortionary. Especially when you see all of these things being pumped out one right after the other, and it's blatantly AI—not even a hint of trying to make it their own. I got so frustrated and angry over this in coaching groups that I swore it off. I even declined monetization program on my socials. It's just a hamster wheel that I don't want to be on. I still got clients, but never posted testimonials or flaunted it because I came from nursing and HIPPA was and still is a huge thing for me. Clients can post and say whatever they like, I however will not betray their trust or privacy in any manner on my end. I don't plan on paywalling my substack, but I do have an alternative "Tip Jar." Sites like Ko-fi and Buy me a coffee are great alternatives! " Like what I do? Thank you so much! And if you'd like to leave me a tip (or buy me a coffee) to support my time and expenses, I'm incredibly grateful! " It's that easy.
I won't be paywalling my Substack either. That's not why I came here. I did come here hoping to finally start building the email list I should have built years ago and I find that I am actually following through and love what I am building here. I also have a free community on Skool, though at some point in the future I might paywall that, or maybe just some of it. My income primarily comes from the emotional healing work I do with people one on one. I am putting out a book next month, but that's more a personal project, though i would love if it brought me clients and community members.