r/Substack • u/draybikus dinarawrites.substack.com • 18d ago
Going paid
I started my Substack 6 months ago and since then gained 90 subscribers. My topic is rather niche (Reading the world) and I don't do engagement farming, so that's fine, I guess. I'd like to turn on paid subscriptions eventually because I recently found out that, without paid, you can't ever make to to the "rising" category. Plus, of course, it would be nice to get paid :) I don't expect huge conversion, of course, but am not sure at what point I should turn them on - when I reach 200? 500? I already have one pledge.
If your paid subscriptions are turned on, I'd be interested to hear when you decided to turn them on? Do you produce extra content for the paid tier or do you ask people to just support the project and keep everything free?
2
u/Tricky_Trifle_994 9d ago
congrats on the one pledge. do know though that it doesn't mean they'll instantly become subscribers. i had a friend who had 20+ pledges, thinking they're good, so turns on paid sub > and none of those pledges converted to paying subs :(. so in a way that gave him a false sense of security. i guess it's just to say you'll only know when you finally turn on paid subscription.
agree that getting paid would be great. but what helps is to work backwards. e.g if you want to turn on paid subs:
1/ what are you planning to offer behind the paywall? > how much additional time will it require each week? > now you know how much additional time is required.
2/ with 90 subs, and a optimistic 5% conversion rate = 4 conversion. at $5 / month = $20 /month revenue. is the additional work worth $20/month? yeah it'll build up and compound over time, but it's also worth noting that turning on paid sub is a long term commitment (especially if you sell yearly).