Why Paid Newsletters Will Make You Poor (If You Don't Know This Math)

Saw guy pulled over on side of road, scooping up snow to put on windshield in lieu of wiper fluid.

First day of hunting season! Kids have off of school! Tradition still going strong.

Car left running in the Dollar Store parking lot. This surprises me. It’s like when you see someone smoking inside??? Like a mirage???

Being able to live & work from anywhere is great because you can live & work from anywhere. I want more millennial nomads to come back to their small, rural hometowns and do a project. Thinking about organizing. Already have name.

Yes, it’s a fun, quirky name! Do you know me?????

Would love to do newsletter around small-town development. Newsletters are always the first thing you should make. No one gets this. Look at newsletters as afterthought. But much smarter to be publisher first. Then, your perfect people come straight to you.

Have caught 14 mice now. All in crawl space. All on second floor. All NEXT TO MY HEAD.

Looked outside and noticed gap in siding; closed it up, and haven’t caught a mouse since.

Painted the kitchen door Farrow & Ball’s Parma Gray. It is the world’s most beautiful pale blue. Something about it screams “rich people cottage paint!!!”

I must say, Farrow & Ball paint has the delicious consistency of hot, melted brie. That’s because it’s made from the French people who surrendered. And, it’s only $200 a gallon! But wow, is it a treat.

That said, Little Greene is COMING FOR THE TITLE. It’s like syrup from a cherub. And their selection of paint colors by historic period really turns me on.

I wish these kinds of companies had better newsletters. Do you know what kind of fun we could have??? But, like most companies, they think like a company, not like a publisher.

Have been having lots of conversations about newsletters in my Farmhouse Sessions. Client yesterday confused as to whether she wanted to start a paid newsletter, or an online course. Of course, I know the answer. (And, it’s prooooobably not what you think,)

Here is the crazy creator math that will change your perspective on this forever. Ready?

DO NOT SHOOT THE MESSENGER.

The creator math is as follows:

• You sell a paid newsletter for $90 a year.
• On a great day, you’re converting 5% of your free subscribers into paid subscribers. (The research shows this.)
• In order to hit $100,000, then, you’ll need 1,111 sales per year (at $90/year).
• 1,111 is 5% of what number? 22,220.
• That means you’ll need 22,220 free subscribers.
• 22,220 free subscribers, converting at 5% into paid, equals 1,111 sales per year at $90/year.

That sounds intimidating, but you can 100% do it. However, here are my caveats: (1) You gotta be a good writer, or no one’s going to want to read it; (2) You gotta bring a strong POV. Nobody wants to read a neutral Wikipedia article. They want to know what YOU think. If you don’t have the guts to say what you think, then you don’t have a product. Unless… (3) What you’re writing about is super useful and practical and well-researched and your readers want to subscribe so they can keep up with industry trends. Then you can get away with being boring, but only marginally.

Now let’s look at an online course.

• You sell an online course for $500
• On a great day, you’re converting 5% of your free subscribers into buyers
• In order to hit $100,000, then, you’ll only need 200 sales per year.
• 200 is 5% of what number? 4,000.
• That means you’ll only need 4,000 free subscribers.
• 4,000 free subscribers, converting at 5%, equals 200 sales per year at $500/sale.

Cool! Here are my caveats: (1) You gotta be a good presenter; (2) You gotta be comfortable on video; (3) You gotta have enough upfront resources to be able to invest, e.g. time to do it all, money for production).

So, which one’s the winner???

On the subject of online courses:

• Online courses are forever going to be more profitable than paid newsletters.
• Online courses can be profitable with a small email list
• Online courses are made once and can earn repeatedly.
• Online courses are one of the smartest no-brainer products any business can sell.
• You can sell them on autopilot with the right systems.
• But they’re also not a good fit for introverts, word lovers, and the creatives who prefer to remain out of the spotlight
• And, they also don’t lend themselves to personal brands & influencers who don’t necessarily have something to “teach.”

On the other hand, paid newsletters:

• Paid newsletters are great for when you’re just starting out and don’t have a ton of experience or a reputation in a field yet, so you’re just focused on sharing what you’re learning along the way / running experiments / interviewing key industry players who DO know what they’re talking about
• They’re also great for getting started NOW. You can launch in a matter of minutes!
• They’re also so much less intimidating, esp if you’re struggling to JUST START without overthinking it to death (this is hard for literally everyone)
• You really can make writing your full-time job
• Even though requires ongoing effort, if you have to put your effort somewhere, it might as well be on something you’re proud of
• But know that it’s not going to make you rich overnight, and you will have to work hard at growing it
• But then again, you have to work hard at anything you do!

Final Verdict???

Start with a paid newsletter (if you have the temperment for it), so you can be profitable now and build your reputation at the same time.

Otherwise, just start a free newsletter. Remember: think like a publisher. This is non-negotiable.

The rest of the year, work on your online course.

Once it’s ready, you’ll have a ready-made group of customers.

Launch!

Then, you can have both a paid newsletter AND an online course. Because why would you only have one??? ;)

Ugh, just ate way too much Wickedly Habanero cheese while writing that. Why do I like the torture?

By the way, if you’re freaking out about what kind of content should be free vs paid, Substack actually has a feature for paid newsletters where every newsletter you send out is free for all subscribers, but they “lock” after, say, 24 hours. Or 1 week. Or whatever you set it to. So a person can always get your emails, but if they want to access the archives or read the other parts of a series or go down a rabbit hole, they’ve got to upgrade. This is a very good model for someone who’s building a paid newsletter that can serve as some kind of reference library, like this one from Jo Thompson called The Gardening Mind. See how she’s got everything organized by topic, so you can easily find what you’re looking for, and even go through her mini written courses on a variety of gardening-related things??? VERY well done. (My recommendation here would be to make sure you have a number of other posts linked at the bottom of each email, to encourage people to want to dive deeper into your pub & upgrade to a paid subscription.)

Okay, I’ve got to run and shower.

Have another Farmhouse Session today, and finishing up editing for the new Meat & Hair class launching Friday!

Also need to hang my new fabulous Pooky sconces that—get this—don’t need to be hard-wired. It’s a miracle! They are so Drunk Rich British Aunt aesthetic, which happens to precisely be my aesthetic.

Even though I might not have gone with “Pooky.” Which is absolutely the pet name my high school sweetheart and I had for each other.

Should you and I bring it back?!?!

We might have to.

Signed Your Pookster,