Our community of free & paid subscribers more than doubled to 14,000 since March 2022; Revenues rose, but slower; That’s because we’re broadcasting more widely in the public interest; We’re hiring
Have a wonderful holiday - definitely we’ll earned both of you!
I just hope it doesn’t have the same effect as when Patrick Grey (Risky Business - AU based IT security podcast/media baron) goes on holiday: guaranteed something major gets hacked (his news beat). In your case it’s be something like the government announcing a major new housing, poverty and climate initiative, totally out of left field.
I was deeply concerned about the low revenue until I saw you'd cleverly clipped off the three numerals to the left of the 'x5,000s'... ;-)
I won't disclose my own working, but It's good that this is working well financially for you both - we need models of journalism like this to work well, and the market should reward high quality journalism.
Congratulations Bernard (and Lynn!) for your well-deserved and growing success, and enjoy your break.
Thanks for sharing your stats and keeping us all a genuine part of the narrative. You should know, you are a key inspiration for me starting my own journey on here, and that's likely true for others on your list... Keep up the amazing work!
Having just paid for a sub, it is a little galling to see others having access for nought. I fully understand that you must experiment but broad scale continuation of this experiment will surely result in a subs drop off. ... The other obvious route is commercialisation via advertising. I suspect that would collapse your following overnight. At least it would for me.
Word of mouth got me hear. Quality of writing and a balanced view opened my wallet. Loyalty can be a bitch 😊
I’m happy to pay my subscription and even happier when it gets opened up. Wouldn’t want it for for every article because then there’s no point, but I’m happy for Bernard yo spread certain useful information far and wide. I feel like it’s money well spent - an investment in (hopefully) a decent country for us to return to one day and raise our kids in
Monetisation is hard! I think it would be worth your while to understand exactly what the core value(s) your paid subscribers feel they are getting or want to get when they subscribe, especially the ones that are more than happy for you to open up a lot of your content. This could help you narrow down how you balance reach vs revenue. An example here would be if a majority of subscribers value access to exclusive content.. could that translate to "early access" rather than "permanently exclusive access"?
Also, I know substack sees the value of 'direct access' to the writers and interaction with the community as both highly valued and often why people pay. Both of those could easily be exclusive to the subscription while the content itself is open.
Others may see their subscription as a version of Patreon where they are happy to pay just to financially support your work and the value is in seeing it influence the mainstream media and public conversation.
Anyway, feels like it shouldn't be too hard to send a survey that asks people what they value the most about their subscription and what they would keep paying for if the content was open? Then you could experiment with a more nuanced approach.
Have a fantastic, well earned break away!
Very exciting about taking on staff! What a wonderful opportunity for someone.
Enjoy a well deserved break!
Have a wonderful holiday - definitely we’ll earned both of you!
I just hope it doesn’t have the same effect as when Patrick Grey (Risky Business - AU based IT security podcast/media baron) goes on holiday: guaranteed something major gets hacked (his news beat). In your case it’s be something like the government announcing a major new housing, poverty and climate initiative, totally out of left field.
And of course I can’t edit the typos. Duck.
Well, Boris resigned. Does that count?
You are doing a great service bringing informed and objective reporting and discussion on the real issues facing the country. Big thanks
Bernard, you're not old. I'm old. You're middle aged and Lynn is obviously young.
Tova O'Brien might be looking for work.
Enjoy your break, it sounds fantastic. Will be looking forward to the updates.
I was deeply concerned about the low revenue until I saw you'd cleverly clipped off the three numerals to the left of the 'x5,000s'... ;-)
I won't disclose my own working, but It's good that this is working well financially for you both - we need models of journalism like this to work well, and the market should reward high quality journalism.
Congratulations Bernard (and Lynn!) for your well-deserved and growing success, and enjoy your break.
Thanks for sharing your stats and keeping us all a genuine part of the narrative. You should know, you are a key inspiration for me starting my own journey on here, and that's likely true for others on your list... Keep up the amazing work!
Love your work, Bernard! Hope you and Lynn have a wonderful break, and I'm really excited to see your election coverage when you're back.
Have a great break!
Enjoy the break!
Having just paid for a sub, it is a little galling to see others having access for nought. I fully understand that you must experiment but broad scale continuation of this experiment will surely result in a subs drop off. ... The other obvious route is commercialisation via advertising. I suspect that would collapse your following overnight. At least it would for me.
Word of mouth got me hear. Quality of writing and a balanced view opened my wallet. Loyalty can be a bitch 😊
I’m happy to pay my subscription and even happier when it gets opened up. Wouldn’t want it for for every article because then there’s no point, but I’m happy for Bernard yo spread certain useful information far and wide. I feel like it’s money well spent - an investment in (hopefully) a decent country for us to return to one day and raise our kids in
A good news day. Thank you. Wishing you both safe travels, and a restorative holiday break.
Monetisation is hard! I think it would be worth your while to understand exactly what the core value(s) your paid subscribers feel they are getting or want to get when they subscribe, especially the ones that are more than happy for you to open up a lot of your content. This could help you narrow down how you balance reach vs revenue. An example here would be if a majority of subscribers value access to exclusive content.. could that translate to "early access" rather than "permanently exclusive access"?
Also, I know substack sees the value of 'direct access' to the writers and interaction with the community as both highly valued and often why people pay. Both of those could easily be exclusive to the subscription while the content itself is open.
Others may see their subscription as a version of Patreon where they are happy to pay just to financially support your work and the value is in seeing it influence the mainstream media and public conversation.
Anyway, feels like it shouldn't be too hard to send a survey that asks people what they value the most about their subscription and what they would keep paying for if the content was open? Then you could experiment with a more nuanced approach.