I'm Turning Payments On ... But With a Twist

Don't worry, my content is still free.

Hi there,

When I published my first issue 8 months ago, I discarded the idea of building a business out of this newsletter. Although deep down I thought that making some money would be nice, it was never my intention. And it’s still not.

Honestly, it’s not yet clear why I’m doing this, but if I continue doing it the why will become clearer.

For the moment, I have a place to document and share my journey with as many people as possible, hoping that somebody somewhere will find my content useful or inspiring in any way.

At the same time, this is a learning and growing journey. Writing helps me better structure my ideas and get clarity on my thoughts. This enables me to become more articulate. And being articulated is a great skill to have in life.

But life is strange and unexpected, and things don’t go always as you imagine.

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

In my efforts to reach as many readers as possible, I decided to ask my subscribers if they would be willing to recommend The Craftsman Mindset to their readers. And I got more than I could have asked.

Joelle Brinkley

, a stranger at that time, a person I had never met, who randomly reached my articles, decided that I was worthy and pledged to show her support. Life is strange and unexpected indeed, but amazing.

It made my day, but the flow of emotions was strange.

At first, I could not believe it. Then I felt l didn’t deserve it. And I ended up feeling like a fraud. This transition of emotions took only 2 seconds.

I was tempted to politely decline the offer, as the main reason I’m here is to learn and have a positive impact on the community. But, in the end, I decided not to sabotage myself and accept the pledge, and to donate the income to a charity I love and support.

There was only one thing left to do, and that was to enable the payments. Which brings us to today’s issue.

I'm turning payments on

Only one problem, turn payments on but what to offer in exchange?

Going down the rabbit hole in Substack, I’ve stumbled on

Marie Vandoorne

, who, to my wonder, enabled payments without a paywall. She got inspired by

Mika

who referred her to a note by

Anne Kadet

. It’s interesting how strong are the links in this inspiration chain.

They inspired me to enable payments while I don’t have anything behind a paywall. It feels weird, but viewing my content as a gift for my readers and treating all readers as if they are paid, removes a big pressure because I can focus on writing and learning without forcing myself into a business I don’t want.

This in turn allows my readers to support my work if they like it and wish to support it, while they don’t have to.

Since I don't charge at all for my writing, I can view the newsletter as a little gift available to all—and gifting is more fun than selling. I also love the fact that when my readers pay to subscribe, they are giving a gift to me. So much good karma flying around!
—

Anne Kadet

☝️ This up here turned my perspectives upside down. It resembles the open-source community and I love open-source. The authors get to work on what they love, and anybody can build on top of their software for free, while they can support the project if they wish to and have the possibilities. That’s how great things are made.

And here is the twist

What does it mean for you?

Well, nothing big really. My content is and will remain free. However, I will warmly accept your gift if you decide to support my work, but you don’t have to.

If you decide to support my work, two things will happen:

1. I will donate 100% of all paid subscriptions¹

2. You will receive a small appreciation gift in your inbox.

In case you are wondering, the donations will go to HoH, the charity I support and love.

Are there any plans to change this in the future?

I currently don’t have any perspectives on building a business around this newsletter, but you never know what opportunities arise. Things tend to move fast nowadays.

However, if this is the case, my content will remain free.

I like and resonate with

Veronica Llorca-Smith

’s freemium strategy. So, if I start a business around this newsletter, this is the path I will most probably take. I wish more authors took a similar approach to their subscriptions.

For the time being, I will keep my content free for all my readers.

—
Regards,
Alex from The Craftsman Mindset

1. Initially, I planned to donate only 20% of all income from paid subscriptions. As of August 2024, I will donate 100% of all paid subscriptions.