4,000 Subscribers & The Quest for Conversions ⚔️
So this morning, I passed 4,000 subscribers for The Product Person.
To me, subscriber count is more of an ego thing. The real metrics are revenue & views.
But, seeing that 4 in the thousands place means a lot to me. It shows me that my content is resonating with people & that they're taking the time to share my content with others.
The Quest for Conversions 🛡️
Going forward, my plan is to start converting readers into paying readers. I'm doing so by offering incentives like:
- An exclusive Sunday issue
- A private slack chat
- Discounts to courses of product courses & bootcamps like General Assembly or Thinkful (currently in discussions to make this happen 🤞)
I'm shifting my mindset to running my newsletter like a TV Network.
To acquire more readers, I'll create content that takes a long time to make but will attract eyeballs even if they're not a fan of me and my newsletter (yet).
Then, I'll retain those eyeballs with my newsletter content. I'll make 'em love me & convince them to become paying readers.
And finally, my money will be made from paying subscribers as they consume my sunday issues and participate in slack discussions —which will be useful but much easier content for me to make, so higher margins.
The Quest Continues 🏰
I already have one reader paying the yearly subscription (Quentin, you da best). The goal for March is to convert at least 20 more people to either monthly or yearly.
The quest for conversions continues! Will keep IH updated.
Wish me luck! 😊
🤔 : What do you think of the TV Network model? If your newsletter has paying readers, how have you been converting readers from free to paid?
Congrats @antdke! Your newsletter is great; I'm one of those 4,002 subscribers :)
I remember you had a sponsor for one of your issues. Are you planning on moving away from the advertising/sponsorship model and into having subscribers pay you directly? If so, I'm curious as to why that is - has it been difficult acquiring sponsors even with 4K subscribers?
That's a great question.
I'm not too sure yet. I haven't put in any effort into acquiring sponsors. They've come from casual conversations. I probably should increase my efforts there. My main concern is that I'm not sure about the ROI for sponsors via newsletters ads. I suppose I could just lower my prices.
It's not difficult to get sponsors. Just be appealing to them. It's just that the acquisition effort can be tedious. I've only had 2 explicit conversations about it and both said yes.
Sponsorships require me to act as a "sales team". Subscriptions require me to keep pleasing my audience.
I'm not exactly "switching" models. I'm currently experimenting with which one will be more sustainable over time.
I think I'll just experiment with both for the next couple weeks and see which works best.
Hope that answers your question.
Hey Anthony! I remember seeing your newsletter on PH. How are you acquiring new subscribers now that the launch effect is over?
Very slowly.
Readers sharing with others.
New readers reading my stuff on HN or Twitter and then subscribing.
Currently planning big "stunts" that'll acquire lots of readers at once and over time. But they need to be excellent and that takes time.
For a second I thought that said Corona Virus and not Conversions 😂 too much social media for me.
For a hot sec, I thought I wrote that too lol