These interviews are quickly becoming part of my Newsletter research Reid. I just wish there was a YouTube channel where I could watch Newsletter operator interviews all day long from a variety of sources.
Very informative discussion on the methods used to financially sustain, over the long haul, what is mainly a "free-to-read offering to readers" business model.
One of the main take aways: in the pre-amble in an email-blast, the "call-to-action to financially support the mission" (caveat note: as always, this is just one piece of the overall strategy; other factors need to be taken into account, such as: consistency in publishing cadence + a multitude of other things + all of this then taken in 'various contexts', of course)
I see that Judd is using chat to cover live events and offering that as a value add to paid subscribers -- which makes sense. And, when I read Judd's sale letter on this, I'm saying to myself, as a reader, of course if I want this extra, I have to pay (meaning, the sales letter does not come off as annoying):
One thing I would like to see in the future, when discussing a "free-to-read offering to readers" business model -- especially when it comes to a publication that has over 10k paid subscribers, is a discussion about the publications journey to finally going to "a reader must be a paid-reader to be able to leave comment".
For example, at what point / at what list-size did it become too time consuming to manage the troll commentors (creating a foul experience for the readers who just want to legitimately discuss, in a respectful manner, the issues raised in the article posted)? And many, many other questions could be asked about how the publication owner "views commenting". "What's your strategy with respect to comments?"
I think Judd always had commenting as a paid-only benefit. It probably was initially aimed at combatting trolls, but it seems to have become a pretty decent value prop for people who deeply care about Pop Info & want to leave a comment.
So from that viewpoint, I think you could introduce paid commenting fairly early on, especially if you can get some benefit from it being a moderation tool.
It seems like it would be beneficial to listeners, if "how has your comment strategy on substack evolved since you launched? Or, has it remained the same since you launched?" is explicitly part of the discussion/question stack with the guest.
These interviews are quickly becoming part of my Newsletter research Reid. I just wish there was a YouTube channel where I could watch Newsletter operator interviews all day long from a variety of sources.
Love it, thank you, Michael!! Really appreciate the kind words - means a lot to me!
And totally agree on the YouTube channel point.
Very informative discussion on the methods used to financially sustain, over the long haul, what is mainly a "free-to-read offering to readers" business model.
One of the main take aways: in the pre-amble in an email-blast, the "call-to-action to financially support the mission" (caveat note: as always, this is just one piece of the overall strategy; other factors need to be taken into account, such as: consistency in publishing cadence + a multitude of other things + all of this then taken in 'various contexts', of course)
I see that Judd is using chat to cover live events and offering that as a value add to paid subscribers -- which makes sense. And, when I read Judd's sale letter on this, I'm saying to myself, as a reader, of course if I want this extra, I have to pay (meaning, the sales letter does not come off as annoying):
https://popular.info/p/a-better-way-to-watch-the-walz-vance
One thing I would like to see in the future, when discussing a "free-to-read offering to readers" business model -- especially when it comes to a publication that has over 10k paid subscribers, is a discussion about the publications journey to finally going to "a reader must be a paid-reader to be able to leave comment".
For example, at what point / at what list-size did it become too time consuming to manage the troll commentors (creating a foul experience for the readers who just want to legitimately discuss, in a respectful manner, the issues raised in the article posted)? And many, many other questions could be asked about how the publication owner "views commenting". "What's your strategy with respect to comments?"
Thanks!
Hey Tom, thank you for dropping the comment!
I think Judd always had commenting as a paid-only benefit. It probably was initially aimed at combatting trolls, but it seems to have become a pretty decent value prop for people who deeply care about Pop Info & want to leave a comment.
So from that viewpoint, I think you could introduce paid commenting fairly early on, especially if you can get some benefit from it being a moderation tool.
Thanks. Yes, agree on all fronts.
It seems like it would be beneficial to listeners, if "how has your comment strategy on substack evolved since you launched? Or, has it remained the same since you launched?" is explicitly part of the discussion/question stack with the guest.