56 Comments

Instead of a % discount, what about 1 month/week of paid subscription?

One thing I believe brings a lot of value for future paid subscribers is to understand what is the benefit they will take.

If they are able to taste, more chances they come back.

Does it make sense?

Expand full comment

Yes! From the special offer page, you can chose to offer a free trial for up to 90 days https://write.substack.com/publish/offers/new

Expand full comment

Did you see that approach in the past? Might sound wild, but in my mind it makes a lot of sense.

Expand full comment

Yes, free trials can be an effective tool to build trust and interest with subscribers. We've even automated free trials in some places with a feature that automatically allows you to offer a 7-day free trial to subscribers when they hit the paywall. https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/4418620510100-Can-I-add-a-free-trial-offer-to-a-paywall-on-my-post

Expand full comment

Thanks Katie!

Expand full comment

As a reader that makes fantastic sense to me. There is no way I can afford to spend tons of money to read all of my favorites. I only have two subscriptions at this point and my limit is five for my budget. Occasionally a writer will have something amazing that I just have to read but then the rest of what they write is not so interesting. Many have been writing about elections but know that they are over I need to know what they are going to write about going forward before subscribing. And this is unfair to the people who I read often but know they aren't hurting in the pocketbook, I will choose people who are less well known first. Spreading the wealth, I hope. Also, I would consider giving a contribution in order to read a story without subscribing. One of the ladies I follow has something on her site that says buy me a coffee. I have bought her a couple. I want you to be able to make a living writing. We need you and you're all doing a fantastic job. I am certainly not opposed to paying you for it. And spreading the word with shares and talking about substack with people I meet. I hope this helps with some ideas.

Expand full comment

This feedback is gold for all writers that have a paid option on their newsletter.

Reader (we) are not rich, and we want to read something meaningful for us.

And we need to know what is that "extra mile" before paying for it.

Expand full comment

Buy a coffee is a great idea - often I would like to read a post without subscribing - it may be a one off topic of specific interest to me - I know I can pay for a month in some cases, but not always and then I have to remember to cancel.

Expand full comment

My sentiments exactly!!

Expand full comment

I think it's important to note for anyone reading that if you don't have a consistent upgrade rhythm throughout the year, drastically discounting your newsletter during the holidays is just putting a bandaid on a bigger problem.

For those of you who have a solid upgrade rhythm, here are a few pieces of data that could be helpful (they're from my Substack Reader Survey this summer).

The price range where respondents said things began to "feel pricey" was the $50/year - $75/year mark. I've tested this with clients who were struggling with upgrades, and any time they clarify their product/value proposition AND get inside or just dip below this window, their upgrade rhythm improves. (I know it sucks to hear "lower your price" but the reality is that if upgrades aren't coming in, it's your product, your nudge cycle or your price that's the problem.)

Also here's a helpful note on formatting your promotion: Make sure you are writing the FINAL PRICE of a yearly subscription in your upgrade buttons and links. This is what the data says is the FINAL determining factor for most upgrades; and this bears out in other pricing scenarios I'e worked in. In a cost conscious economy, the cash out of a reader's pocket is what matters most. And just make sure if you're at or above that price range ($50 - $75 a year) that you have the archive, onboarding sequence and skills to back it up.

Expand full comment

Last year in December I did a Buy One, Give One offer. For everyone who purchased or renewed an annual subscription, I gave them one free annual gift subscription to give away. It was really popular, although a little difficult to track on my end. I also started a Scholarship Program for those unable to pay. I gave away about 50 scholarships; to enter I asked that they email me and tell why they were applying. Again, a bit cumbersome for me to track but worthwhile in the end as it is on mission for the kind of work I do.

Expand full comment

I need to look into how to do that free gift subscription...

Expand full comment

Really great idea!

Expand full comment

Thank you so much for including me!

Expand full comment

I told you I was logging on to reply. I am a reader, not a writer. Fuck.

Expand full comment

I'm a reader as well but I'm going to reply anyway.

Expand full comment

Sounds like you got subscribed my mistake. You can unsubscribe here: https://on.substack.com/account?utm_source=user-menu

Expand full comment

Katie, just an FYI: When people try to highlight a commenter's sentence in order to respond to it, the entire comment is condensed into a little arrow. Sometimes the merest brush of a finger collapses a comment.

Worse, one can no longer copy, delete, and paste and then correct one's own comment (soon enough to avoid a "deleted" label). This happened after the most recent update.

Expand full comment

I consider giving away a mini poetry collection 😁 But don't tell my subscribers, its a surprise 🤫

Expand full comment

Quick question, the other day a substacker emailed saying I could give for free 3 paid subscriptions to her newsletter. This is not available for everyone?

Expand full comment

Hey Talia, these are likely gift referrals, which you can manage from your settings page. We use our data on your behalf to offer your most engaged subscribers the option to give your publication to friends. More info: https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/8946512015892-Does-Substack-have-a-referral-program

Expand full comment

If I could afford any i would . Yet having cancer and heart disease makes it impossible . My thanks giving will be turkey tv dinner if lucky . Yet good offer for all

Expand full comment

One of the things that I absolutely 'abhor' about substack:

Unless you name the person you are replying to (by writing in their name)' Comments get lost.

I am so sick and tired of having to write in the names.

Get it together substack.

Expand full comment

Substack, if you don't fix this. I follow Tim Snyder and Joyce Vance. This morning THIS happened - with the election, death in my family, I can't take this shit. The link did not present any fixes.

Expand full comment

Here's a question: is there a way to *get* a gift subscription if you exclusively access Substack on desktop? (I was gifted a subscription a little while back, and was unable to redeem it as a pre-Y2K person who doesn't have access to the Substack app. Was very sad to leave that gift unopened!)

Expand full comment

We've been experimenting with Substack-funded gifts with participating publications, but you have to download the app to redeem it. We do not currently have a program like this for web. More info here: https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/31646054622740-What-are-Substack-funded-gifts

Expand full comment

Good reminders for serious Substackers ...

Expand full comment

I want to have a special offer for Founding Member only plans. Is there a way to create a subscribe link that defaults to the Founding Member plan instead of the Annual subscription?

Expand full comment

There is no way to set a special offer to founding members. We think of founding membership as a way for subscribers to pay more than the listed price as an extra show of support, similar to a donation. You can set this price at whatever you’d like, as long as it’s higher than your annual plan price.

You might consider lowering the founding tier price for a short period of time as a workaround.

Expand full comment

I'm able to lower the price as you said. In fact, I've done it in the past. What I can't figure out how to do is to create a "Become a Founding Member" button that links directly to the option to become a Founding Member. The Subscribe option always seems to default to the Annual plan. Am I just missing something?

Expand full comment

Awesome! Thanks - that's exactly what I was looking for. I'm planning to cut the price to $360.00 for a period of time. Do I need to update the plan id to reflect the new cost when I do that?

Expand full comment

I believe so. If you run into any issues, please feel free to write support and the team would be happy to assist

Expand full comment

Will do. I appreciate the super-quick and helpful response.

Expand full comment

Thank you for the shout-out! I love offering a discount every now and again xo

Expand full comment