I really love this advice, Landon. I find myself in a similar predicament to where you started. I started last November, and now I’ve managed to build a lovely community of 1,100+ subscribers. But like you, putting my content behind a paywall just doesn’t feel right to me either, so this is really helpful.
Grateful you found this helpful! I have a reminder on my phone to have the courage to follow my OWN path and not blindly follow what everyone else is doing. Trust me, I considering adding a paywall at least once a week!
This is exactly right. We need to do what feels right. I was against monetizing, then turned on paid as an experiment and now I’m going 100% free again. Sometimes we have to pivot—try different things—before we know which direction to take
Love it. I also think it's incredibly important to be willing test and experiment. I am tempted to turn on a paywall JUST to experience it and be able to talk about it more/better. This is why I started a second publication, why I tested posted 15 Notes a day.
This is great advice man, and it’s what I needed to read today! I have the monetization on, but I have no intention to put content behind a paywall neither.
My goal is like you to eventually generate leads and revenues outside of Substack (with coaching or digital products).
You have an interesting perspective and this read is highly valuable so thank you for taking the time to write this.
A question if I may? Most Medium publications require drafts of articles and that you haven’t previously published elsewhere (a hurdle I’m facing). How do you repurpose your Substack articles to publications that have already been published here?
The publications that I post to do not require them to be original articles. Maybe I just got lucky? Substack is my #1. Maybe see if you can find publications that don't require it to be original?
Thank you for sharing your strategies about monetizing Substack. I think I'll follow what you did because of my ideal target audience - physically disabled pet dog owners. I know money is tight for many of them and I don't want to create another barrier for them to participate in life.
Thank God! Finally! I knew that was the other unsolved "thing" hangin' about in my head that I couldn't figure out! I do recall at one point saying in my head I didn't want to sell information I wanted to give freely. The other thought is how many people don't get this information is I have to save or use it for the paid subscription.
Clarity and validation! Thank you for posting and thank you for sharing the alternatives.
Hi Natasha, I am not an expert on Medium. But here's how Medium describes it: "Medium publications are shared spaces for stories written around a common theme or topic, usually by multiple authors."
I think of it kind of like distribution. When you publish inside of a publication, its your article but you get the distribution of the pub. Also, certain publications are "boost nominators" and they can select articles and if they get boosted, that's generally when you make the money.
I really love this advice, Landon. I find myself in a similar predicament to where you started. I started last November, and now I’ve managed to build a lovely community of 1,100+ subscribers. But like you, putting my content behind a paywall just doesn’t feel right to me either, so this is really helpful.
Grateful you found this helpful! I have a reminder on my phone to have the courage to follow my OWN path and not blindly follow what everyone else is doing. Trust me, I considering adding a paywall at least once a week!
I love your approach, Landon. There are many ways to monetise. The opportunities are there, we just need to notice them .
Totally agree Deni!
This is exactly right. We need to do what feels right. I was against monetizing, then turned on paid as an experiment and now I’m going 100% free again. Sometimes we have to pivot—try different things—before we know which direction to take
Love it. I also think it's incredibly important to be willing test and experiment. I am tempted to turn on a paywall JUST to experience it and be able to talk about it more/better. This is why I started a second publication, why I tested posted 15 Notes a day.
That’s great. This is the best way to learn!
Incredible! (never seen you on Medium, though).
I'm not popular, yet ;-) It's the same content tho haha
This is great advice man, and it’s what I needed to read today! I have the monetization on, but I have no intention to put content behind a paywall neither.
My goal is like you to eventually generate leads and revenues outside of Substack (with coaching or digital products).
That's great Jeremie. It's totally possible.
What an amazing think-piece, thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you!
Is it okay if I shoot you a DM?
Hi Landon,
You have an interesting perspective and this read is highly valuable so thank you for taking the time to write this.
A question if I may? Most Medium publications require drafts of articles and that you haven’t previously published elsewhere (a hurdle I’m facing). How do you repurpose your Substack articles to publications that have already been published here?
The publications that I post to do not require them to be original articles. Maybe I just got lucky? Substack is my #1. Maybe see if you can find publications that don't require it to be original?
Thank you for replying Landon.
I’ll take a look 😊
Thank you for sharing your strategies about monetizing Substack. I think I'll follow what you did because of my ideal target audience - physically disabled pet dog owners. I know money is tight for many of them and I don't want to create another barrier for them to participate in life.
Happy I was able to spark some ideas.
Thanks for sharing! 💡
You're welcome.
Thank God! Finally! I knew that was the other unsolved "thing" hangin' about in my head that I couldn't figure out! I do recall at one point saying in my head I didn't want to sell information I wanted to give freely. The other thought is how many people don't get this information is I have to save or use it for the paid subscription.
Clarity and validation! Thank you for posting and thank you for sharing the alternatives.
Thank you for taking the time to read it.
How do you get paid on Medium if they're on other people's publications?
Hi Natasha, I am not an expert on Medium. But here's how Medium describes it: "Medium publications are shared spaces for stories written around a common theme or topic, usually by multiple authors."
I think of it kind of like distribution. When you publish inside of a publication, its your article but you get the distribution of the pub. Also, certain publications are "boost nominators" and they can select articles and if they get boosted, that's generally when you make the money.
Or at least this is how I understand it.
Thank you. 😊
On Medium, every author is the owner of his/her articles and the only one earning from reads.
Is Substack spying on me? I'm publishing a post tomorrow morning about my decision to end paid subscriptions. 😂😂😂
I could be psychic?!
Everyone is! It's just about trusting yourself enough.
Or it could be synchronicity. 🌻💜
This is a wise approach.
Can you share the links of the articles that converted?
And why do you think those article-offer pairs converted?
It's usually a combination of factors and an important one is time: how long the subscriber has been following you.
I'd be happy to. Which articles specifically? There are different ones based on the result it provided.
I mean, the ones you mentioned in this article.
These were the first two mentioned:
https://landonpoburan.substack.com/p/a-new-chapter-begins?utm_source=publication-search
https://landonpoburan.substack.com/p/how-to-quickly-vet-your-next-agency?utm_source=publication-search
My medium content can be found over there.
I want to be as smart as you.
Thanks Debra :)
This was super helpful. Thank you 😊 💜
You're welcome!
Thank you for sharing, I was precisely wondering about paths to create an income that doesn't mean becoming an internet celebrity
You're welcome.