Congrats! That's amazing. I turned off Pledges almost immediately because I was worried people would get confused as to what they were and think that I was asking for money.
Congrats! That's amazing. I turned off Pledges almost immediately because I was worried people would get confused as to what they were and think that I was asking for money.
Yeah, I was worried about that, but then I thought... you never know. I mean, clearly, two pledges, you never know. So I decided that my approach would be to not include any upgrade-subscription prompts anywhere except at the very, very bottom after I've already signed off, and I led with a "looking for more?" kind of spiel, and then I explained that "my newsletter is and always will be free (substack is supplementary to my primary writing, not my primary writing), but if you're looking for more, make a pledge and I'll see what I can do." And I wrote it in third person, which I think helped distance me from the ask, like it was substack doing it, not so much me. Anyway. Apparently it's not turning anyone off, and it's even enticing a couple people. So you might consider turning it back on. Hope this helps!
I think part of the reason for me was also the fact that this is a side hobby (albeit one I'd love to turn serious at some stage), so it didn't feel necessary to have pledges. But, maybe you're right and maybe I will consider at some stage toggling that switch back on.
Congrats! That's amazing. I turned off Pledges almost immediately because I was worried people would get confused as to what they were and think that I was asking for money.
Yeah, I was worried about that, but then I thought... you never know. I mean, clearly, two pledges, you never know. So I decided that my approach would be to not include any upgrade-subscription prompts anywhere except at the very, very bottom after I've already signed off, and I led with a "looking for more?" kind of spiel, and then I explained that "my newsletter is and always will be free (substack is supplementary to my primary writing, not my primary writing), but if you're looking for more, make a pledge and I'll see what I can do." And I wrote it in third person, which I think helped distance me from the ask, like it was substack doing it, not so much me. Anyway. Apparently it's not turning anyone off, and it's even enticing a couple people. So you might consider turning it back on. Hope this helps!
Thanks Megan, that's really great to hear.
I think part of the reason for me was also the fact that this is a side hobby (albeit one I'd love to turn serious at some stage), so it didn't feel necessary to have pledges. But, maybe you're right and maybe I will consider at some stage toggling that switch back on.