Honestly, I think writers could use two more options: Bundling subscriptions and a "donate" button.
In bundling, a reader could pre-load their Substack account with $50, for example, and pay either for individual posts or to support/subscribe to up to 10 newsletters of their choosing. This way the writers of the newsletters get some mone…
Honestly, I think writers could use two more options: Bundling subscriptions and a "donate" button.
In bundling, a reader could pre-load their Substack account with $50, for example, and pay either for individual posts or to support/subscribe to up to 10 newsletters of their choosing. This way the writers of the newsletters get some monetary support, and the readers can have access to the full Substack catalog for one low price.
An additional option is the "donate" button on all posts, so that readers can easily just pay per post.
While we're here, a better discovery system, like a "Hacker News" style front page that has text links of all the recent individual posts being published on Substack, plus a tag system per post so that readers can search Substack based on a category or topic, e.g. "humor" "comic strip" "movie recommendations" "life hacks" etc.—would also help.
Here is an article that makes the argument for micro-payments as an addition to subscription payments:
"A person who wants one day’s edition of a newspaper or is enticed by a link to an interesting article is rarely going to go through the cost and hassle of signing up for a subscription under today’s clunky payment systems.
The key to attracting online revenue, I think, is to come up with an iTunes-easy method of micropayment. We need something like digital coins or an E-ZPass digital wallet–a one-click system with a really simple interface that will permit impulse purchases of a newspaper, magazine, article, blog or video for a penny, nickel, dime or whatever the creator chooses to charge."
If Substack implemented "Substack bucks" to allow payment of individual posts rather than only having the option of annual subscriptions, I think more people would be willing to pay.
"In addition, our two most creative digital innovators have shown that a pay-per-drink model can work when it’s made easy enough: Steve Jobs got music consumers (of all people) comfortable with the concept of paying 99¢ for a tune instead of Napsterizing an entire industry, and Jeff Bezos with his Kindle showed that consumers would buy electronic versions of books, magazines and newspapers if purchases could be done simply."
I've often thought about this, Katie, and I was curious if market research is being done to consider how bringing in a secondary Ko-fi model for individual donations might dissuade people from subscribing monthly. The default thinking is it's an untapped market to make more money, but I'm curious if it will do more damage than good.
I like the "tag" idea you're suggesting because it gives writers control over how to label their work. Substack already does this on the level of publication. It would be great to extend that to posts so the platform is more searchable. Including a limit of, say, three tags would force writers to stay specific and improve reader experience.
I also think it would be nice to have a "pay per post" option. That would allow writers using paywalls to make money without asking readers to commit longterm. Wondering if Substack's UX team foresees any negative side-effects to offering this kind of thing…
Apparently substack is working on the tagging system which beehiiv already has. Anything like a pay per post system just doesn't really enable writers to monetize properly and would dilute the business model. It's hard enough to scale paid subscriptions without flat face sponsored ads complementing monetization.
To clarify a couple of things further: The reader who preloads a Substack account with $50.00 would have access to ALL free content on Substack, but to access the payed content the reader would have to "pay" an amount per post, set by the writer, to read the full article, e.g. $0.05 or #1.00, or anything. The reader then has the choice to pay for the single post, subscribe to that newsletter/writer, or keep exploring. The writers participating in this program can choose to have all or some of their content behind a paywall, but the free content can also have a "donate" button, again open to any amount set by the reader or writer, to allow the opportunity for casual readers to also support the writer financially.
People already have access to all the free content on Substack. The $50 preload would be spent on individual paywalled posts rather than one subscription? I'm wondering what the benefit of the preload is, if they're differing the decision of what they want to pay for later anyway. Is it to avoid money transfer fees?
It helps us narrow down our niche, and even our niche within our niche, also for discovery it has super interesting possibilities with their app. But typically a keyword approach is algorithmic which they want to deemphasize. So when a product is limited by ideology it's an interesting dilemma.
Ultimately Creators deserve the best of both and all worlds. For instance I can understand and respect Substack is against Ads. I value that, but when the biggest influencers on Substack find platforms to gamify Ads to double their revenue, why shouldn't we? It becomes tricky.
Writers have to weigh the pros and cons of each platform and monetization model, just like Substack. I know Substack writers who are outspokenly against accepting sponsorships to generate income and see the idea as being against their ethos. They probably appreciate Substack's stance against ads and might leave the platform if that stance changes. There's a lot of give and take on both sides.
i love this idea. i'm trying to figure out how to go paid right now and i keep thinking from my own perspective as someone who would love to pay many substack writers, but i can truly afford so little. the idea of another monthly cost among many just feels stressful and unmanageable. i would love the option to do one off payments on a case by case basis. i would spend so much more money on substack if i had that control.
Honestly, I think writers could use two more options: Bundling subscriptions and a "donate" button.
In bundling, a reader could pre-load their Substack account with $50, for example, and pay either for individual posts or to support/subscribe to up to 10 newsletters of their choosing. This way the writers of the newsletters get some monetary support, and the readers can have access to the full Substack catalog for one low price.
An additional option is the "donate" button on all posts, so that readers can easily just pay per post.
While we're here, a better discovery system, like a "Hacker News" style front page that has text links of all the recent individual posts being published on Substack, plus a tag system per post so that readers can search Substack based on a category or topic, e.g. "humor" "comic strip" "movie recommendations" "life hacks" etc.—would also help.
This is good feedback. Our team has been thinking about other payment models more.
Hi Katie,
Here is an article that makes the argument for micro-payments as an addition to subscription payments:
"A person who wants one day’s edition of a newspaper or is enticed by a link to an interesting article is rarely going to go through the cost and hassle of signing up for a subscription under today’s clunky payment systems.
The key to attracting online revenue, I think, is to come up with an iTunes-easy method of micropayment. We need something like digital coins or an E-ZPass digital wallet–a one-click system with a really simple interface that will permit impulse purchases of a newspaper, magazine, article, blog or video for a penny, nickel, dime or whatever the creator chooses to charge."
https://time.com/3270666/how-to-save-your-newspaper/
If Substack implemented "Substack bucks" to allow payment of individual posts rather than only having the option of annual subscriptions, I think more people would be willing to pay.
"In addition, our two most creative digital innovators have shown that a pay-per-drink model can work when it’s made easy enough: Steve Jobs got music consumers (of all people) comfortable with the concept of paying 99¢ for a tune instead of Napsterizing an entire industry, and Jeff Bezos with his Kindle showed that consumers would buy electronic versions of books, magazines and newspapers if purchases could be done simply."
A donate button would be great!
I've often thought about this, Katie, and I was curious if market research is being done to consider how bringing in a secondary Ko-fi model for individual donations might dissuade people from subscribing monthly. The default thinking is it's an untapped market to make more money, but I'm curious if it will do more damage than good.
I like the "tag" idea you're suggesting because it gives writers control over how to label their work. Substack already does this on the level of publication. It would be great to extend that to posts so the platform is more searchable. Including a limit of, say, three tags would force writers to stay specific and improve reader experience.
I also think it would be nice to have a "pay per post" option. That would allow writers using paywalls to make money without asking readers to commit longterm. Wondering if Substack's UX team foresees any negative side-effects to offering this kind of thing…
Apparently substack is working on the tagging system which beehiiv already has. Anything like a pay per post system just doesn't really enable writers to monetize properly and would dilute the business model. It's hard enough to scale paid subscriptions without flat face sponsored ads complementing monetization.
To clarify a couple of things further: The reader who preloads a Substack account with $50.00 would have access to ALL free content on Substack, but to access the payed content the reader would have to "pay" an amount per post, set by the writer, to read the full article, e.g. $0.05 or #1.00, or anything. The reader then has the choice to pay for the single post, subscribe to that newsletter/writer, or keep exploring. The writers participating in this program can choose to have all or some of their content behind a paywall, but the free content can also have a "donate" button, again open to any amount set by the reader or writer, to allow the opportunity for casual readers to also support the writer financially.
People already have access to all the free content on Substack. The $50 preload would be spent on individual paywalled posts rather than one subscription? I'm wondering what the benefit of the preload is, if they're differing the decision of what they want to pay for later anyway. Is it to avoid money transfer fees?
I really like this idea. Especially the tag system.
It helps us narrow down our niche, and even our niche within our niche, also for discovery it has super interesting possibilities with their app. But typically a keyword approach is algorithmic which they want to deemphasize. So when a product is limited by ideology it's an interesting dilemma.
Ultimately Creators deserve the best of both and all worlds. For instance I can understand and respect Substack is against Ads. I value that, but when the biggest influencers on Substack find platforms to gamify Ads to double their revenue, why shouldn't we? It becomes tricky.
Writers have to weigh the pros and cons of each platform and monetization model, just like Substack. I know Substack writers who are outspokenly against accepting sponsorships to generate income and see the idea as being against their ethos. They probably appreciate Substack's stance against ads and might leave the platform if that stance changes. There's a lot of give and take on both sides.
Yes there should be more customization options. Tips for example. Contests per Category, etc...
i love this idea. i'm trying to figure out how to go paid right now and i keep thinking from my own perspective as someone who would love to pay many substack writers, but i can truly afford so little. the idea of another monthly cost among many just feels stressful and unmanageable. i would love the option to do one off payments on a case by case basis. i would spend so much more money on substack if i had that control.
I love this idea!!