The Case for the Paid Newsletter (HUZZAH)

I believe in digital products the way most people believe in god.

To this DAY, I haven’t found a better way to:

• Be seen as a leader in your industry
• Help wayyyyyy more people without burning yourself out
• Scale your business and make it profitable & fun to run
• Own real and tangible intellectual property (that’s a business asset)
• Work smarter, not harder

It’s that last one, though, that really gets me jazzed. Because I’m the kind of girl who wants to eat her cake and have it, too, right? I love business. I’m obsessed with creative writing. I’m obsessed with online marketing. I’m obsessed with technology. I’m obsessed with email and newsletters and reading and writing and learning and leading.

But I'm also really, really obsessed with: Travel. Being outside. Georgian architecture. Talking to strangers in pubs. Studying cultural norms like a creepy self-proclaimed anthropologist. Walking, everywhere. Taking photos. Watching people. Laughing, and laughing, and laughing. Green grass. Foamy coffees. ‘Lil whisky in that coffee. Dancing! Reading! Smiling! And enjoying my life off of the computer, too.

Which means that, if you’re anything like me, you’ve got to find a way to be able to do both. Which also means that some business models just aren’t going to be compatible with your bigger, overall lifestyle goals.

For example, I learned a long time ago that I don’t want to build a big creative writing agency full of writers, because I don’t want to manage a big, creative writing agency full of writers. Managing people is a very different skillset from actually writing.

I also don’t want to sell physical goods, because physical goods tie me to a location, and the whole reason I started a business 12 years ago was so I could have more location independence, not less.

I also don’t want to rely strictly on client work because it’s a difficult model to make work when it’s your only source of income: there are only so many hours, and only one of you, and that naturally leads to quick burnout, no matter how great your clients are. I seek more balance from my business models; I NEED that balance. Plus, it’s a healthier business overall, less dependent upon a small group of people; more capable of weathering any storm and staying flexible enough to serve me, rather than me just relentlessly serving it.

Thus, this is why I respect digital products so much: they allow you to create, to make, to serve, to lead, to contribute in a way that feels good and works well. And beyond being a tiny little dynamo on their own, they can also supplement the client work you do to create a more stable, more versatile, more healthy, balanced business overall.

At this point, I wouldn’t run a business without one.

Doesn’t matter if it’s your grandfather’s hat shop, I’d still find a way to make & market a line of digital products.

Kindle books.

Downloadable kits.

Paid tutorials.

Courses & classes.

And yes—paid newssssslett-aahhhhsss!

Because all of these are ultra scalable and ultra helpful to your clients. And all of these allow you to offer value in a way that does not require you to always exchange more time in order to provide that value. You’ve broken free from the time=money continuum. You expend the same amount of time each week, independent of how many subscribers are subscribed. It costs you the same in time if there are 5,000 subscribers or only 500. Which is excellent scale. And that means you can have fun working on your business, you can have fun working with a few select clients, you can have fun writing a newsletter….AND you can also have a life.

This is not always the case. Many people in business for themselves are working day and night and night and day and taking. every. single. breath. of. air. just. to. get. through. the. sludge. Been there! Been there a bunch of times! But one thing I’ve done right, in order to get myself out of it, is to continue to focus on the biggest goal of all: contribution and freedom.

Therefore, I’m forced to put all of my ideas through a litmus test:

Does this make me more free or less?

The money isn’t worth it if you can’t see straight.

Today, however, I wanted to highlight one type of digital product in particular: the paid newsletter. That’s because it’s one of my favorite kinds, it’s one of the coolest kinds, it’s one of the most profitable kinds, and it’s also one of the easiest to deploy. (Sounds pretty great, right? It is!)

A paid newsletter is a gated column you write for paying subscribers only, typically offering advice, perspective, or ideas on a narrow topic.

Perhaps one of the biggest benefits is that you don’t have to procrastinate for 40 years and attempt, by some way of grace, to “finish it” before you launch it—because this is a living, breathing thing you are offering week-by-week. And therefore, sometimes it’s easier for people to launch, because they don’t have the pressure of writing an entire non-fiction how-to book BEFORE they make it live. They don’t have to write and record and edit 50 professional videos for a classroom before the product is viable. They don’t have to do that thing where they say they’re going to make a digital product, once and for all, but then trip over their own insecurities and fears and time constraints. (Thereby, never actually launching.)

Instead, a paid newsletter is produced little by little each week. And that’s what makes it great! You commit to writing once a week, and you can sell it now. The product is the once a week deliverable. So as long as you can keep your promises, this is a wonderful digital product for you to start—and not just because it helps you egg that imposter syndrome right in the face!

But ALSO because….

…paid newsletters are a charged as a monthly fee. Which means that you’re setting your business up for monthly recurring revenue, rather than just a one-time charge (like selling a book). This is really, really helpful for small business owners who want their top fans to have something special, but who also could benefit from the stability of that predictable monthly revenue. (Like, who can’t.) It’s like a pact you make with each customer: I’ll be here for you every week. And in return, you help support my effort.

But also, notice another really strong pro to the paid newsletter: it allows you to be there for clients across the globe, without actually, physically killing yourself. (A tendency among creative people pleasers.) A strict, client-only business model involves a heavy amount of emotional labor as well as the creative labor you’re providing, and that’s simply the reality of the service industry—but, it’ll kill you if you don’t manage your energy correctly.

This is just one more reason why I champion the paid newsletter as a revenue stream: it’s a smart, modern compromise. You showing up in someone’s inbox every week (or day or month or whatever) IS you showing up to be there for them…but it’s done in such a way that allows you to replicate your effort. It is a modern technological lever, and every business should have one. And it lets you show up consistently for your clients instead of just one time. And THAT means that you are not only supporting them and contributing positively to their lives, but you’re also forming a relationship with them. And god, if we aren’t in it for that, what are we in it for? Paid email newsletters are an excellent way to hang out with your peeps while simultaneously serving them and having an inside joke.

And finally, the last reason why I’m so ride-or-die?

Because you can write them real-time every week, and it’s a wonderful creative practice that’s fun and useful.

ORRRR, you can write each week, and each week as you do, you add your last email to an automated email sequence, so all new paying subscribers will start from the beginning of the series, thereby eventually freeing up your time entirely…because eventually the series will be complete. And then you’ve got a paid product that runs on autopilot.

This last option is really neat, as long as you are teaching something contained that doesn’t depend on real-time happenings in order to depart value. The pros of doing it automated is obvious: you don’t have to keep recreating the wheel each week until eternity. The cons, however, are that the format doesn’t work for every topic, and also sometimes you can lose the magic of the feeling of live. There’s a LOT of magic in live. I know that sounds silly, but it’s true: people are more responsive when they know you’re there with them, week-by-week.

However, both can be a great addition to your business model. Neither is wrong, just different!

So, Like, How Do You Get Started? Should You?

I mean, SHOULD YOU EAT FOOD? Because yes, that is the same exact question.

Sort of. ;)

There are a few occasions when I think a paid newsletter is not a good idea:

• If you’re JUST launching your business and don’t have any non-paying subscribers yet. Focus on getting those first. Otherwise, you’ll end up having to write a weekly column for $0 in pay every week, on top of the one you’re already writing to your regular email subscribers, also for $0. The only benefit to doing it that way would be if you wanted to turn what you’re doing into a book later, and you’re using this structure to keep you accountable. That would totally work like a charm, as you might not keep promises to yourself, but you’re definitely going to keep them to paying subscribers. (Even if there are only 2!)
• You loathe writing, and by loathe, I mean LOATHE. This will only make you rage-y.
• Your audience is extremely un-tech-savvy. (Think: carpenters who are never online.) A paid email subscription is likely not to be as appealing to someone who is more “in the space.”

Other than that though, I think it’s worth seriously considering this format.

Then, it’s just really about coming up with an angle that people are willing to pay for. Typically, it’s better if you can offer a specific outcome, like “I’m going to teach you how to do X,” rather than “join the X club!,” where the benefit isn’t obvious. It should also offer a distinctly different angle from your regular, free content.

So that’s one option for you: consider in your own business what information people are looking for already, and what information they don’t even know to look for, but need. Another way you can approach it: your free content is meant to inspire, while your paid content is meant to teach the “how.” Or: the free content is inspirational; the paid content goes deeper into one topic.

And all three of these are awesome!

From there, it’s only a matter of writing a beautiful sales email sequence to encourage your subscribers to upgrade—and then making sure every subscriber gets pitched the upgrade at certain key points during their free subscription. You can put this part on autopilot, if you want.

Neat, huh?

Sometimes this way is better because it takes allllllll the procrastination and fear out of the sales process and allows you to just focus on your customers instead. But it’s also good to put your sales on autopilot, once in a while, because it helps to create a solid business system. Different from freelancing where you must exert 100% of your effort up a hill to make anything happen, when you learn to build a smart business that has real systems in place, the business works for you.

Systems are my other god. ;)

And I highly recommend trying ALL OF THIS: a paid newsletter, a sales sequence, and sexy, sexy systems in your business.

They say you’re only as strong as your systems, and more and more, I’m beginning to think that no truer words have been spoken.

Seriously, try it! Get excited! Get into it! Imagine how awesome life will be when you’ve got a SALES SYSTEM IN PLACE. Total game changer…and it can all start with a baby paid email subscription. That you make with love. And that you sell with joy. And that you show up for week by week.

Because you aren’t just showing up to write a newsletter.

You’re showing up for people.

And you’re showing up for yourself.

Until next week, my friend!

Ash