Thank you for sharing the different options and perspectives and including mine.
I love the paid without a paywall and the philosophy behind is lovely. It depends on what your goal is and I'm with you: the more you write, the more clarity you will have.
Until then, my suggestion would be to enable the "Pledge your support" option. That's how I started mine because I lacked the confidence to charge for my writing. Once the first person pledged to pay, I turned the paid function on and it was a huge confidence-builder.
I am just putting the finishing touches on my Substack diary where I tackle some of the same things you have touched upon. I’m also excited about donating too! Looks like we are on a similar path.
How exciting to get a pledge! 🍾
And I just want to acknowledge the bravery of doing something uncomfortable. 🥂
Oh I love you are giving 20% to charity! That's very inspirational and makes me think to do it too 😊💭 Funny how quickly you can fall into a rabit hole here and meet other cool creators.
Good luck Alex!! We are both finding our way here - I love to follow your journey!
Hey Selda, the best part is that I don't have to think about this anymore.
My main focus is on growing my writing skills and my secondary on building a community of people who resonate with what I publish. I try to enjoy the process as much as possible and make small steps every day.
Thank you for sharing this perspective. I really feel strongly about keeping my posts accessible and free to all. I have payment options set, but nothing paywalled and I don’t think I will. I really love the thought of my writing being a gift to those who read it and any monetary contribution as a gift to me. Thanks again. I wish you well in all you do.
Hey Christine, thank you for sharing your approach and your kind words. The gift metaphor helped me move forward with this decision and I hope will also help others who are in doubt.
Yup, I decided to go the “no paywall” route as well. Kinda like NPR — you are either a free subscriber or member supporter. I’ve been on Substack since January of 2020 and can attest that it works.
That's exciting to hear, Michael. Your experience is reassuring the rest of us who are new to this that it works. Thanks for sharing your journey and insights 😊.
Alex, Thank you for sharing your path, thoughts and for confirming my decisions, too. My work is free, without a paywall, and has pay options. I also give to charitable causes, and have paid subscribers. Wildlands mission is to reduce harm, increase love/ connection, with health/well-being and environment focus. I hadn't read about others who are doing the same style of "doing business", and it is nice to find community with a resonate approach.
Hey Robin, thank you for your kind words and for sharing your journey. It's inspiring to hear about your mission with Wildlands and your commitment to making a positive impact.
I'm pleasantly surprised to see how many writers chose the freemium path and I only wish there were more joining. It's feels amazing to connect with others who share a similar approach and values.
Hi, Alex, your welcome, and I also appreciate that you shared your path. Keep going, keep believing in your vision. Thank you for replying, grateful we share the same values, and would love to hear an update of how it is going for you.
Alex, what a great idea, man! I am doing the same thing for my podcast. My listeners have a way to support the show and I don’t provide any extra content because of it. I just try to show my appreciation every so often.
I’ve thought about turning payments on here as well, but didn’t necessarily want to commit and then completely end up overwhelming myself with feeling the need to pump out content to paying subscribers which in turn could easily water down what I put out. And I definitely don’t want to do that! This seems like a really great solution.
Hey Tyler, thanks for the encouragement! It's awesome to hear you're using a similar approach with your podcast and considering it for your newsletter, too. It feels nice to find out that I'm not alone in this.
The support from listeners and readers can be incredibly motivating, especially when it comes without the pressure to constantly create extra content.
I spent yesterday tinkering with my settings and turned on payments for all of 3 seconds before turning off again. Accessibility is important to me - I don’t want to make anyone ever feel like they can’t read my words because they can’t afford it… this plan free for all and a paid option for those who WANT to pay us for our work is the perfect compromise.
I think I too, would donate to charity- that makes it feel so wholesome.
I'm very so familiar with the rollercoaster you've been through. I really hope you decide(d) to keep payments on 😊.
Balancing free access with an optional paid model is indeed a great way to ensure everyone can benefit from your content while still allowing those who want to support you to do so. It was a hard call, but I would do it again.
This is a similar idea I’ve had with my newsletter. It’s always unfortunate when I come across a writer that I enjoy or someone writing about a topic I’m interested in only to find many of their posts are behind a paywall. Good to know I’m not the only one with payments on with other intentions for paid subscribers! Thank you for sharing this perspective Alex!
Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Katie! It’s great to hear that you have a similar approach with your newsletter.
I also share your feelings when you’re genuinely interested in someone’s work, but are under a paywall. I wish more authors would offer free access while providing an option for paid support.
Thank you for sharing the different options and perspectives and including mine.
I love the paid without a paywall and the philosophy behind is lovely. It depends on what your goal is and I'm with you: the more you write, the more clarity you will have.
Until then, my suggestion would be to enable the "Pledge your support" option. That's how I started mine because I lacked the confidence to charge for my writing. Once the first person pledged to pay, I turned the paid function on and it was a huge confidence-builder.
Good luck!
Thank you for the good wishes and support. I agree, the first pledge did help me build my confidence, it was a game changer.
The next step is to turn on the button ;)
Oh, it's on 🙌. And it feels amazing.
I am just putting the finishing touches on my Substack diary where I tackle some of the same things you have touched upon. I’m also excited about donating too! Looks like we are on a similar path.
How exciting to get a pledge! 🍾
And I just want to acknowledge the bravery of doing something uncomfortable. 🥂
Hey Mika, thanks for the support and pushing me to do this 🥂.
I love this. Definitely a road I’m considering as well.
Hey Derek, I'll be here cheering for you 🙌
Perfect! This is so inspiring!
I’m so happy to hear that I got to inspire you 😊.
Oh I love you are giving 20% to charity! That's very inspirational and makes me think to do it too 😊💭 Funny how quickly you can fall into a rabit hole here and meet other cool creators.
Good luck Alex!! We are both finding our way here - I love to follow your journey!
I'm thrilled to hear that the idea of giving back to charity has inspired you—it's amazing how small actions can ripple out and make a big difference.
Thank you so much for the support.
So great you turned on the payments, Alex. I hope you get lots of support!
In a series of fortunate events, you contributed to this decision. Thanks for the support and inspiration.
Paid without a paywall and a donation to charity? I’m all in friend. Thanks for taking this courageous step and asking good questions!
Hey Joelle, thank you for being my greatest supporter. I'm grateful for your support; you greatly impacted my motivation to continue doing this.
Hey Alex, a very interesting perspective. How is it working out for you?
Hey Selda, the best part is that I don't have to think about this anymore.
My main focus is on growing my writing skills and my secondary on building a community of people who resonate with what I publish. I try to enjoy the process as much as possible and make small steps every day.
I hope I manged to respond to your question. 😅
Thanks Alex! Sounds like it’s working really well :)
Thank you for sharing this perspective. I really feel strongly about keeping my posts accessible and free to all. I have payment options set, but nothing paywalled and I don’t think I will. I really love the thought of my writing being a gift to those who read it and any monetary contribution as a gift to me. Thanks again. I wish you well in all you do.
Hey Christine, thank you for sharing your approach and your kind words. The gift metaphor helped me move forward with this decision and I hope will also help others who are in doubt.
Wishing you all the best in your journey as well.
Yup, I decided to go the “no paywall” route as well. Kinda like NPR — you are either a free subscriber or member supporter. I’ve been on Substack since January of 2020 and can attest that it works.
That's exciting to hear, Michael. Your experience is reassuring the rest of us who are new to this that it works. Thanks for sharing your journey and insights 😊.
I'm starting down this rabbit hole and I really like your approach! In the future I'll probably go this same way. Freemium ftw
I’m happy to hear you’re finding this approach valuable, Francisco. The freemium model is really a middle ground for both worlds.
Best of luck as you board on this journey — I’m excited to see where it takes you! Freemium FTW indeed!
Alex, Thank you for sharing your path, thoughts and for confirming my decisions, too. My work is free, without a paywall, and has pay options. I also give to charitable causes, and have paid subscribers. Wildlands mission is to reduce harm, increase love/ connection, with health/well-being and environment focus. I hadn't read about others who are doing the same style of "doing business", and it is nice to find community with a resonate approach.
Hey Robin, thank you for your kind words and for sharing your journey. It's inspiring to hear about your mission with Wildlands and your commitment to making a positive impact.
I'm pleasantly surprised to see how many writers chose the freemium path and I only wish there were more joining. It's feels amazing to connect with others who share a similar approach and values.
Hi, Alex, your welcome, and I also appreciate that you shared your path. Keep going, keep believing in your vision. Thank you for replying, grateful we share the same values, and would love to hear an update of how it is going for you.
Alex, what a great idea, man! I am doing the same thing for my podcast. My listeners have a way to support the show and I don’t provide any extra content because of it. I just try to show my appreciation every so often.
I’ve thought about turning payments on here as well, but didn’t necessarily want to commit and then completely end up overwhelming myself with feeling the need to pump out content to paying subscribers which in turn could easily water down what I put out. And I definitely don’t want to do that! This seems like a really great solution.
Hey Tyler, thanks for the encouragement! It's awesome to hear you're using a similar approach with your podcast and considering it for your newsletter, too. It feels nice to find out that I'm not alone in this.
The support from listeners and readers can be incredibly motivating, especially when it comes without the pressure to constantly create extra content.
I spent yesterday tinkering with my settings and turned on payments for all of 3 seconds before turning off again. Accessibility is important to me - I don’t want to make anyone ever feel like they can’t read my words because they can’t afford it… this plan free for all and a paid option for those who WANT to pay us for our work is the perfect compromise.
I think I too, would donate to charity- that makes it feel so wholesome.
Thank you for this, Alex!
I'm very so familiar with the rollercoaster you've been through. I really hope you decide(d) to keep payments on 😊.
Balancing free access with an optional paid model is indeed a great way to ensure everyone can benefit from your content while still allowing those who want to support you to do so. It was a hard call, but I would do it again.
This is a similar idea I’ve had with my newsletter. It’s always unfortunate when I come across a writer that I enjoy or someone writing about a topic I’m interested in only to find many of their posts are behind a paywall. Good to know I’m not the only one with payments on with other intentions for paid subscribers! Thank you for sharing this perspective Alex!
Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Katie! It’s great to hear that you have a similar approach with your newsletter.
I also share your feelings when you’re genuinely interested in someone’s work, but are under a paywall. I wish more authors would offer free access while providing an option for paid support.