Preference and flexibility. For my tech abilities, and what I am building, I chose a different path. But in this article I provide Substack as an option. I am just here to help people see different perspectives and alternative ways of doing things that are aligned. I didn't have an interest in my business of "recurring payments" with what I am creating (at this time). And I always acknowledge that things can and will change.
Yeah, I think this is a great idea because some of us don't really want to pay for a platform or have the ability to pay for a platform and right now. But we do have content, we'd like people to see. I looked at several other platforms for my courses. Since they all have monthly recurrent costs, it was not really an option right now. I think substack is very basic, but it would probably work for me right now. And without a monthly fee, I could possibly create content slowly. While having it available and then move that content to another platform, if I thought this one wasn't working.
What if my product(s) are more materials? Documentary (sheets, documents) .. it is very challenging to put them similar to video content behind paywall. Because these materials are sharable (global), no?
Technically, yes. But, in most courses I've bought they provide Google doc links which technically can be shared. If it is a document and you want to implement this, I'd likely paywall the post that provides the link. You could still leverage a video as a walk through of the document kind of like a how-to. Personally, I wouldn't stress to much over someone sharing it. That stuff happens regardless of how hard we try. People share passwords to courses they've bought all the time.
Yeah I agree with everyone else. If your subscriber is going to steal it and share it, there's not much we can do. But most people are going to use it the way you intended. I'm working with someone right now who wants to put stuff on their website but they're worried about that. I just tell them that they're probably gonna get ninety percent of the people to pay. But you have to accept that there are people out there, that won't.
Your post came just in time. I've been thinking about this for the past days. As much as I like to have one single CTA, I find that the perception of people can't be easily changed. Substack is a blog/newsletter platform. When I come accross mini courses inside of the substack subscription of other writers I immediately think that the student experience won't be as great as if the content was hosted at a course platform such as Kajabi.
I don't disagree. I don't think the experience is as good. But, if we look at it from a different context... A) Creating an "offer" around your paid subscription vs offering a paid subscription. And B) It's free. So the experience might not be as good but it can be a great stepping stone to making your first dollar especially if your audience is already on Substack.
I'd also add to that: if it's a 'low ticket' item, I think you might even benefit from keeping your potential buyer on Substack - the overall experience is likely to feel more seamless.
I love this, I just started on this sharing journey and I want to be able to share with as many as resonates. This is a beautiful initiative way to still bring in an income. Thank you for your creative solutions. Now I have an idea to explore. Which you a blessed day. X
I love how you side step the whole palaver of setting up landing pages etc. with this set up. I was just wondering about price, though. Can you edit the price ecah time you put up a new digital product?
Why would you? It's recurring revenue that people pay every month and when you post a new course people are getting more value that they are happy to continue paying for. Otherwise people would "subscribe", take your course, and then unsubscribe. That's a great way for customers, but not a good business.
I have been wondering about this for a while, as I am developing products to sell, such as courses, mini books, and mini courses. Thanks for clarifying and providing guidance.
I am not familiar with payments for unsupported countries with Substack. I apologies I couldn't be of more support. My recommendation would be to review their knowledge base and see if its something they provide information on.
Becoming a paid subscriber gives them access to all paid-only posts/courses? There's no way to limit their access in some way so that they don't get access to everything the moment they pay a single month's fee?
That is correct. That's why I think it would be cool for them to roll out tiered subscriptions. However, you are correct and for some it might not be a viable solution. The key premise of my post sits in selling solutions (creating offers) vs selling your content. A shift in mindset around increasing the value of the subscription. And for a beginner, launching a course in Substack could be super easy, while for someone else might not work for the nature of their business.
In another example, it "could" be treated like a "Membership". Many paid membership communities are where people pay and get access to everything. Courses, trainings, etc. This could be done here since they get access to everything that is paywalled. But there is less flexibility compared to a platform designed for these purposes.
I'm a huge fan of not gating regular posts, and also of solutions that don't require a learning curve, so I like this. I want SubStack to get their 10%, so linking out to another way to buy doesn't feel right. But if they required outgoing links to, say, Gumroad to have their affiliate code on it set to 10%, that would be a fairly simple solution for them until they decide to set up something of their own.
Would it be at all viable to take newsletters that are specifically “coaching” in a specific area and instead of pay walling them, make them available for purchase through another platform such as kit? That way they get the content without immediately getting access to every single piece of content. And they could choose specifically the content that applies to them. Maybe charge $5 per post or something?
Correct, charging on Kit. It would be a bit less of a content funnel, which wouldn't be ideal, but I much prefer the idea of selling a product that I can create multiple offers for and sell multiple times than a subscription service. The same person can buy multiple products but only one subscription.
There's nothing saying you cannot sell products on Substack. Not "directly" on the platform. This is what I do. I don't have a paid subscription, everything is monetized off-platform. So I think we're aligned, right?
CURRENTLY Gumroad. Why? because it's free and I like to demonstrate free tools for my community. This one is text-first and I have a video walkthrough for people that prefer that medium. But I have experience leverage numerous others like kajabi, teachable, circle, clickfunnels, thrivecart, etc.
I had this idea this week sometime. I have been on Substack for the past three weeks. I have done everything for free. Just value, value, and more value. This week I thought of a couple of products I could actually sell or like a mastermind group or something that would help people even more than I'm doing right now.
This posts gives so much insight and I appreciate the step-by-step!
Happy it helped!
Curious why you didn't sell your workshop on Substack? :) (Probably because you already had it on gumroad)
Preference and flexibility. For my tech abilities, and what I am building, I chose a different path. But in this article I provide Substack as an option. I am just here to help people see different perspectives and alternative ways of doing things that are aligned. I didn't have an interest in my business of "recurring payments" with what I am creating (at this time). And I always acknowledge that things can and will change.
Yeah, I think this is a great idea because some of us don't really want to pay for a platform or have the ability to pay for a platform and right now. But we do have content, we'd like people to see. I looked at several other platforms for my courses. Since they all have monthly recurrent costs, it was not really an option right now. I think substack is very basic, but it would probably work for me right now. And without a monthly fee, I could possibly create content slowly. While having it available and then move that content to another platform, if I thought this one wasn't working.
Love it 🤞
What if my product(s) are more materials? Documentary (sheets, documents) .. it is very challenging to put them similar to video content behind paywall. Because these materials are sharable (global), no?
Technically, yes. But, in most courses I've bought they provide Google doc links which technically can be shared. If it is a document and you want to implement this, I'd likely paywall the post that provides the link. You could still leverage a video as a walk through of the document kind of like a how-to. Personally, I wouldn't stress to much over someone sharing it. That stuff happens regardless of how hard we try. People share passwords to courses they've bought all the time.
Even your paywalled articles and videos can be easily downloaded. You have to accept this.
I'm paywalling Notion templates. Everyone can just reshare them as their own products 😱
There's even walkthroughs on how to swipe Wistia embedded videos. It's the age we live in.
Yes, I may have used one of them to save a webinar replay. 😂
🤫
Yes many of materials are on notion or presentation frameworks, and not easy to create videos for each template
Thank you so much for this. I had been wondering how to do this as I have a lot of course on Insight Timer which I plan to share on paid Substack.
That's fantastic. I wish I already had stuff that I wanted to share. I'm gonna have to create it still.
Yeah I agree with everyone else. If your subscriber is going to steal it and share it, there's not much we can do. But most people are going to use it the way you intended. I'm working with someone right now who wants to put stuff on their website but they're worried about that. I just tell them that they're probably gonna get ninety percent of the people to pay. But you have to accept that there are people out there, that won't.
Your post came just in time. I've been thinking about this for the past days. As much as I like to have one single CTA, I find that the perception of people can't be easily changed. Substack is a blog/newsletter platform. When I come accross mini courses inside of the substack subscription of other writers I immediately think that the student experience won't be as great as if the content was hosted at a course platform such as Kajabi.
I don't disagree. I don't think the experience is as good. But, if we look at it from a different context... A) Creating an "offer" around your paid subscription vs offering a paid subscription. And B) It's free. So the experience might not be as good but it can be a great stepping stone to making your first dollar especially if your audience is already on Substack.
I'd also add to that: if it's a 'low ticket' item, I think you might even benefit from keeping your potential buyer on Substack - the overall experience is likely to feel more seamless.
THIS is the post that literally just made me open my notifications for Substack.
That's amazing! Glad you enjoyed it Anna.
I love this, I just started on this sharing journey and I want to be able to share with as many as resonates. This is a beautiful initiative way to still bring in an income. Thank you for your creative solutions. Now I have an idea to explore. Which you a blessed day. X
That’s a great idea- I’ve always resented the idea to paywall my entire content…
Me too. That's why I am always trying to find new/innovative ways to do things and present people with alternative ideas
I love how you side step the whole palaver of setting up landing pages etc. with this set up. I was just wondering about price, though. Can you edit the price ecah time you put up a new digital product?
I replied to the 'Note' version of your reply. If you didn't see let me know and I can respond here as well.
Why would you? It's recurring revenue that people pay every month and when you post a new course people are getting more value that they are happy to continue paying for. Otherwise people would "subscribe", take your course, and then unsubscribe. That's a great way for customers, but not a good business.
I have so much content that I want to make video lessons on. Thanks for giving me a process to share it via my Substack.
No problem Chris! Happy to help.
I have been wondering about this for a while, as I am developing products to sell, such as courses, mini books, and mini courses. Thanks for clarifying and providing guidance.
You bet Chris. Hopefully this helps get the wheels turning.
What of those resident in countries that's not supported by stripe.
How would they replicate what you've just done?
I am not familiar with payments for unsupported countries with Substack. I apologies I couldn't be of more support. My recommendation would be to review their knowledge base and see if its something they provide information on.
Okay
Just one thing I'm not clear on-
Becoming a paid subscriber gives them access to all paid-only posts/courses? There's no way to limit their access in some way so that they don't get access to everything the moment they pay a single month's fee?
That is correct. That's why I think it would be cool for them to roll out tiered subscriptions. However, you are correct and for some it might not be a viable solution. The key premise of my post sits in selling solutions (creating offers) vs selling your content. A shift in mindset around increasing the value of the subscription. And for a beginner, launching a course in Substack could be super easy, while for someone else might not work for the nature of their business.
In another example, it "could" be treated like a "Membership". Many paid membership communities are where people pay and get access to everything. Courses, trainings, etc. This could be done here since they get access to everything that is paywalled. But there is less flexibility compared to a platform designed for these purposes.
I'm a huge fan of not gating regular posts, and also of solutions that don't require a learning curve, so I like this. I want SubStack to get their 10%, so linking out to another way to buy doesn't feel right. But if they required outgoing links to, say, Gumroad to have their affiliate code on it set to 10%, that would be a fairly simple solution for them until they decide to set up something of their own.
Great explanation and idea too.. ding ding ding 😂
Appreciate that
Would it be at all viable to take newsletters that are specifically “coaching” in a specific area and instead of pay walling them, make them available for purchase through another platform such as kit? That way they get the content without immediately getting access to every single piece of content. And they could choose specifically the content that applies to them. Maybe charge $5 per post or something?
Idk just an idea I’ve been considering
Hmm, I think I would need more details. What I am unsure on is, the goal of charging for them on Kit but not Substack?
Correct, charging on Kit. It would be a bit less of a content funnel, which wouldn't be ideal, but I much prefer the idea of selling a product that I can create multiple offers for and sell multiple times than a subscription service. The same person can buy multiple products but only one subscription.
There's nothing saying you cannot sell products on Substack. Not "directly" on the platform. This is what I do. I don't have a paid subscription, everything is monetized off-platform. So I think we're aligned, right?
I’m curious, what platform do you use? Also, text based products or courses with videos etc?
CURRENTLY Gumroad. Why? because it's free and I like to demonstrate free tools for my community. This one is text-first and I have a video walkthrough for people that prefer that medium. But I have experience leverage numerous others like kajabi, teachable, circle, clickfunnels, thrivecart, etc.
Yeah that’s what I was getting at.
I had this idea this week sometime. I have been on Substack for the past three weeks. I have done everything for free. Just value, value, and more value. This week I thought of a couple of products I could actually sell or like a mastermind group or something that would help people even more than I'm doing right now.
Love this Christian!
Thanks I appreciate that!
this is so helpful.
I just started on Substack and wanted to keep the content free and invite subscribers to go deeper through my paid offerings.
(I have a whole eco-system set-up on my site and classroom platform.)
But i love the idea of experimenting with a 'course' inside Substack as a entry perhaps?
Thank you.
So happy you found it valuable :)