Lessons from Failed Newsletter Content Products
I really related to this.
The author ran a newsletter for over a year. The main monetization model was free content to attract subscribers and paid content to generate revenue. Ultimately, he ended up with just over 2,000 free subscribers, almost no one paid for the premium content, and he was forced to shut down the newsletter.
Lesson 1: Don’t expect users to voluntarily pay. You need to frequently tell them about your paid content and that they’ll need to pay to access it. You have to constantly market your paid products.
Lesson 2: Don’t be afraid to actively promote your paid content on social media. Claiming you only share free content is a mistake.
Lesson 3: The format of your content product matters. People tend to think resources like eBooks are worth paying for more than a simple article.
Lesson 4: Ads pair best with free content. It’s hard to convert people who are used to free content into paying subscribers, but it’s easy to get them to watch a few extra ads.
