Hey there. I need your thoughts and advice. For a decade, I funded my blog, my writing, and my social media work through sponsored posts. But there has always been tension about the sponsored content from readers, and from me as a creator too. The general feedback I’ve received is basically: We know sponsored posts are necessary so you can make a living, but we don’t like them, and we are going to scroll past, no matter who the sponsor is, or what the content is; we’ll try to be good sports about it, but we really don’t like sponsored posts.
Honestly, I get it. I understand. The mix of personal posts and paid-posts (which are also sometimes very personal!) can feel super weird. Plus, working with sponsors means I don’t always get to choose the topics I’m writing about — so some sponsored posts can feel forced. Working with sponsors is also a huge time-consumer above and beyond the content creation — the proposals, the back-and-forth on contracts, the project management, the approvals, the reporting. I’d rather use that time to create more content and connect with readers.
So 18 months ago, when we moved back to France, I stopped saying yes to sponsored posts. And since then I’ve been looking into other options for monetizing my work, but wasn’t having any luck finding an option that makes sense for me. Then, a few months ago, the people at Substack reached out and I think their platform might be the answer.
Substack is basically newsletter software where writers/creators can offer a combination of free subscriptions, and paid subscriptions that come with perks. Sort of like when you download a free app, but then you can pay if you want to unlock all the app-upgrades. Different writers/creators use Substack in different ways, but the general format is to offer a free newsletter that’s available to everyone, and then, if people want to pay $ 5/month (or $ 50/year), they will have access to additional subscriber-only content. The paid content can take various forms — as I’ve explored Substack, I’ve seen subscriber-only discussion posts, recipes, ebooks, live Q&As, podcasts, videocasts, essays, etc. It really depends on the writer/creator and how their subscribers want to connect.
After months of research, I’m hopeful this will be a good fit for monetizing my work. My plan is to write a weekly newsletter that is free for everyone. The newsletter will have a little bit of the feel of my Friday link-list posts, and a little bit of the feel from my Random Thoughts posts, and a little bit of the feel from my Twitter rants. I’ll write about a topic on my mind, and also include other links to explore with notes on why I’m recommending them. I want it to be a thoughtful and interesting place where we can be curious about everything. Again, this will be a free newsletter.
For those who would like more connection, interaction and content from me, I’m offering a paid subscription too. From what I can tell (via emails and messages) the main things people want from me are design advice, parenting advice, moving abroad advice, and they want to talk with me about current events and religion. So for paid subscribers, I’ll be hosting subscriber-only live Q&As, and discussion posts, where the community can choose the topics. If that seems to be going well, we’ll stick with it. Or, if paid subscribers are interested in something different (like maybe a subscribers-only podcast?), I can update the paid-subscriber perks as we go.
Oh my I want to make this so good!! I want people to find the paid-subscription valuable and worthwhile. And I want to be especially flexible as I start out, so I can adapt and respond to what people are looking for.
Anyway, THIS IS HAPPENING. I actually sent out the first newsletter on Tuesday. I wrote an essay about Woody Allen and how his custody battle brought the idea of parental alienation into the courts (which has since ruined thousands of lives — not exaggerating). Did you receive the newsletter? If you didn’t receive it and you’d like read it, no worries. I’ll link to it below.
My newsletter situation is a little bit odd because I have had a “subscribe to my newsletter” box here on the blog for a decade or so. And every single day there are new subscriptions, but I haven’t actually sent out a newsletter in years and years. (I know. I know. That’s not good.) There were a couple of months back in the day when I sent out newsletters, but the timing wasn’t right and I ended up stopping. What this means is that I have a long list of email addresses from people who have subscribed to my newsletter, but I’ve never sent them a newsletter. Until this week! I’m sure there were some people who were surprised to hear from me. : )
Here’s how the Design Mom Newsletter is going to work:
-If you previously signed up for my newsletter (anytime in the last decade), you’ve already received the first one. If you think you’re subscribed but didn’t get it, you can check your spam box — it was sent on Tuesday, March 16th from Gabrielle Blair.
-If you didn’t get the first newsletter, but want to get the next one, you can sign up for the Free Newsletter here.
-If you’re interested in the paid-subscriber option, here are the details:
For $ 5/month (or $ 50 for the year), the paid subscription will include extras beyond the newsletter like subscriber-only discussions, and live interactive Q&A sessions, on topics like design and religion and life in France and parenting. When I have something new to share, paid subscribers will get the news first — early access to new projects, and sneak peeks of upcoming work. You can sign up for the Paid Subscription here.
-If you missed the first newsletter — the one about Woody Allen — and want to read it, you can find it on my Substack archive page. It’s free to read! And there are already some really interesting comments happening. I also put some of my earlier writings (oldies but goodies!) on the Substack page, so my first newsletter wouldn’t be lonely.
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Now, back to that advice from you. What are your thoughts on this type of thing? Are you already familiar with stuff like this? Maybe you support a few Patreon accounts? Or you already know about Substack? If you were thinking about signing up for a paid subscription, what kind of perks/extras are most appealing to you? Do you have any questions beyond the Newsletter About Page? I’m also curious to know, for those who have been reading here for years, have you noticed the absence of sponsored posts here on blog, or on social media?
I’ll admit, I’m very nervous about this new idea. I’m not really nervous about the free newsletter — I think it will be good and I like the first one I wrote. But I am nervous about the paid option. Maybe it’s not what people want? Will I need to abandon this after a short while because it doesn’t get enough interest? Will it be a failure and an embarrassment? On the other hand, what if it’s great?
If you were me, how do you think you would monetize my mix of work (which includes: personal writing and updates, Twitter threads, weekly link lists, discussions about current events and parenting, renovation and design, Instagram posts and Stories, travel posts, etc.)? Do you think this Substack idea is a mistake? Do you think I’m charging too much or too little? Let me know.
P.S. — For those who are curious about Substack monetization, here are all the details:
-Writers/Creators can set their price. They could pick $ 10/month, or $ 17/month, or whatever they want. The lowest price they can set is $ 5/month (which is what I’m choosing).
-The reason Substack set a $ 5 minimum, is that Substack takes 10%, and Stripe (the company that processes the credit card payments) takes a percentage as well (I can’t remember how much). Beyond this, writers/creators are also responsible for self-employment taxes on this revenue, which is approximately 30%. Because of this, Substack found $ 5/month was the minimum to make it still worthwhile to their writers/creators.
-Within Substack, the writers/creators can set 4 different price levels:
1. Free Subscription — Writers/Creators get to decide what they want to offer at this level. It’s most often a newsletter, but it could be also be an e-book, or a list of product recommendations, a podcast, etc.. Substack software can create newsletters, “blog” posts, and podcasts. In my case, for Free Subscribers, I’m offering a weekly newsletter.
2. Paid Subscription per Month — Again, writers/creators get to decide what they want to offer at this level. It can be anything beyond the Free Subscription offering. My rate for this level is $ 5/month.
3. Paid Subscription per Year — This level offers the exact same perks as the previous level, but at a discount. I’m doing $ 50/year ($ 5/month adds up to $ 60/year, so the rate I set is a $ 10 discount for committing to a whole year up front).
4. Founding Member — Writers/Creators can make this option be whatever they like. In my case, I’m not offering additional perks at this level, it’s just for people who really enjoy reading Design Mom and want to support my work beyond $ 50. (I have a $ 75 prompt listed for this level, but subscribers can choose any amount above $ 50.) But a writer/creator could also make this a really special or unusual perk, like one big sum for a personal zoom call or consultation.
If you have ideas about what you think I should offer at these levels, feel free to let me know. They’re set for now, but they are easy to change if I want to update them.
