Don't Paywall Your Content, Do This To Monetize Instead

Turn Substack into a course platform.

Photo by Kaleidico on Unsplash

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Turn Substack into a course platform.

Paid subscriptions and paywalled content are popular ways to monetize Substack.

I mean, it’s pretty simple…

You connect Stripe and write posts for paid subscribers. It’s one of the simplest ways to collect a few dollars online. And, for some? It might be the best option.

However, it may come at a cost.

When your content moves behind a paywall it may limit growth potential. And, content alone may be difficult to sell for a monthly fee.

I believe this will only be amplified as the platform grows. More users mean more competition in your niche and to remain competitive, it shifts you from ‘writing’ to a ‘paid newsletter business’.

So then,

If you’re using Substack for business and want to leverage paid subscriptions?

Allow me to propose an alternative way.

One that I feel is overlooked.

Sell solutions, not subscriptions.

It changes everything.

People are no longer paying for ‘content’.

They’re paying for access to solutions to their problems.

And, if you’re looking to build your business on Substack using paid subscriptions…

…Crafting an irresistible offer is the most powerful way.

It keeps your content (or most of it) free…

Allowing you to tap into the growth potential of the growing Substack platform.

It bolsters the value of your paid subscription…

Giving people a better reason to open their wallets rather than paying to read what others may be offering for free.

Sell solutions, not subscriptions.

Turn Substack into a course platform.

Deliver your product and collect your first dollar.

To deliver a product we need a way to provide access to it and a way to collect payment. Both of which can be done with Substack.

Substack is free.

Giving it an edge (especially for beginners) over fancy and complex software that costs 100s of dollars per month.

While it isn’t natively built to deliver courses we can make it happen with a little creativity and a few clicks of the mouse.

This is a great option if you want to keep your business within a single platform.

However, it’s a little “less intuitive” than other platforms but if your primary audience is on Substack this may be perfect. I’ll let you decide.

In Substack, we use a paid subscription to deliver our product.

To start, we enable payments, and paywall a post that contains our training.

Go to Settings > Payments to enable Payments.

Substack uses Stripe.

Once enabled, you’ll be prompted to list the ‘Benefits’.

(This also becomes a section under Settings > Payments after it’s enabled)

This is where you let them know what they get when they become a paid subscriber.

Under Paid Subscriber Benefits, list access to your product.

Create your course within Substack.

It’s time to create your ‘product’.

For this example, I will use a workshop/video training as the demonstration but it can be single or multiple posts, text or video posts, and you can even leverage the Chat.

Create a new video post (if it’s a video training).

Enter your workshop/product title and upload the video.

Under your post settings, we will paywall the post.

Additionally, add a unique tag that allows us to ‘categorize’ the product for linking people directly to it.

Once published, you’re all set.

You now have a page(s) that people will only get access to once they subscribe.

Generating more sales.

You can do a couple of additional things to ‘Bolster’ its effectiveness.

• Add a unique cover photo for the post.

• Link to it from your homepage.

• Add a link in the navigation.

Go to Settings > Branding > Edit theme.

Enable Advanced Layouts.

Then add a ‘Feature’ block using the unique tag you created.

Then the image displayed will be the cover photo you chose.

Lastly, you can add a link to it.

Go to Settings > Website > Navigation bar links.

You’re all set.

You just turned your Substack into a course platform.

Well done ;-)

Two things now happen…

#1 When people are prompted to become paid subscribers, it’s to gain access to your product(s) rather than your content.

#2 When you promote your product(s), all people need to do is become a paid subscriber.

Hope this helps.

Landon

PS.

Want to turn your Substack publication into a monetization machine? Even if you have no idea what to sell yet?

Inside my new workshop Subliminal Selling, you'll learn the 3-step process to validate, create, and deliver your first digital product, and make your first dollar, using zero-cost tools.

More than 17,000 writers are already getting paid on Substack. Imagine waking up to Stripe notifications while sharing what you love. Subliminal Selling is your guide to breaking out of the echo chamber and creating a real, sellable product that your audience needs, without the complexity of expensive software or paywalling your content.

You can get access right here.

https://landonpoburan.gumroad.com/l/subliminal-selling-substack