Hey everyone, This a mid-week post that is gonna go off script. In fact it is a bit off the rails. BUT I NEED YOUR HELP! I’m gonna get straight to the point. I want to quit my job and do this blog as my full time thing. I am on the cusp of giving my two weeks but as you can imagine there are a lot of risks.
I think the question you ask is a dangerous one. It shouldn't be either / or. Either I keep my job or I quit my job and do this blog full time. The approach I suggest you consider is building your blog up so high with free subscribers that you can ask for a lesser amount, from a larger audience. The most common substack subscription price I keep seeing, over and over again, is $50 a YEAR. So, consider that as your benchmark, meaning HOW MANY PAID SUBSCRIBERS at $50 a year do you need to replace your income coming from your current job?? And build your free blog following high enough such that even if you lost 90% of your free subscribers when you switched to a paid model, you still had enough subscribers sticking with you paying up to cover your monthly/yearly obligations. At least that's how I would do it, if it were me. Good luck!
I like your stuff. I enjoy reading it and appreciate it. Unfortunately I am a modest retired guy who invests a little here and there but doesn’t pay much for info. I subscribe to Seeking Alpha but that is about it. I wish you well and hope there are others who see the value in your writing who agree to fund it, so you can follow your passion. I am just not that guy, and I am afraid, most of your readership might be kind of like me, unfortunately. Best wishes and good luck!!!
Hello, I am a drilling and completions engineer and really enjoy reading your work, but I’m not really using it to take investment action. However, if you were to publish a book on comprehensive history of the industry, I would 100% purchase that! Thank you for all the wonderful information you share and all the work you’ve done, I hope you find a way to turn this into income.
Like what a lot of people say here, you're pricing out "retail" at $80/month. I'm willing to pay you something like $50 a year and maybe more if you provide more commodities related data that I don't get anywhere else.
I'm paying more for other substacks like Doomberg ($300 a year) and other ones that provide model portfolios with actual trades and analysis for why they make those trades. You'll find that a lot of people are willing to pay you more if you're providing more actionable information.
Doomberg doesn't provide financial advice or a model portfolio but his analysis is so good and it's not something that I can get anywhere else. You have been going in that direction. But you've been focused on historical data which is nice. What about what's happening right now?
I want to know digested information on the gas/oil production ratios of producers in the Permian basin. How much has gas been going up compared to oil for the different companies? That's actionable information. This kind of information is available only for institutions, too expensive for retail. But if somebody is willing to dig this up from SEC filings of various companies, I'm willing to pay for it.
$80 p/m prices out retail and is cheap for institutions. Sounds like no mans land of pricing to me. That said, it depends who you think your paying subscriber is, and who you want them to be.
Just came here to say that if you go paid, make sure to keep some form of recurring free segment (not just previews of paid) to allow you to grow the top of funnel.
$80/month is extremely steep. Maybe a year or $5-10/month I could justify. As good as the content is, most retail types like myself with small accounts wont be able to achieve the returns necessary to justify spending four to five digits on subscriptions....
Personally I like the .99 cents per song model Apple came up with. I suggest .99 per month and make it a truly monthly deal. I have a WSJ online sub now for $4.50 per month. It’s a 12 month special deal. Make it a high value low cost mass market deal.
I am a contributor and love your analysis but I already subscribe to almost $2k in pubs/advice a year, both focused on energy....I am up to my ears in energy....over 100 stocks in the space and I have a hard time justifying another $960 per year......
Sympathise hugely with the agony and your comments about personal/family sacrifice. Self-publishing is a truly tough gig.
In my experience, charging $30/m, you can expect 3-4% conversion rate but plan for 1-2% and build up from there. If you dive in at $80/m then you’ll be at the very lowest end of the spectrum.
Institutions will pay much more but how many are on your list and truly engaged? If your strategy is to target a few big clients, you might need to approach them directly. Totally different sell.
I think the question you ask is a dangerous one. It shouldn't be either / or. Either I keep my job or I quit my job and do this blog full time. The approach I suggest you consider is building your blog up so high with free subscribers that you can ask for a lesser amount, from a larger audience. The most common substack subscription price I keep seeing, over and over again, is $50 a YEAR. So, consider that as your benchmark, meaning HOW MANY PAID SUBSCRIBERS at $50 a year do you need to replace your income coming from your current job?? And build your free blog following high enough such that even if you lost 90% of your free subscribers when you switched to a paid model, you still had enough subscribers sticking with you paying up to cover your monthly/yearly obligations. At least that's how I would do it, if it were me. Good luck!
I like your stuff. I enjoy reading it and appreciate it. Unfortunately I am a modest retired guy who invests a little here and there but doesn’t pay much for info. I subscribe to Seeking Alpha but that is about it. I wish you well and hope there are others who see the value in your writing who agree to fund it, so you can follow your passion. I am just not that guy, and I am afraid, most of your readership might be kind of like me, unfortunately. Best wishes and good luck!!!
Hello, I am a drilling and completions engineer and really enjoy reading your work, but I’m not really using it to take investment action. However, if you were to publish a book on comprehensive history of the industry, I would 100% purchase that! Thank you for all the wonderful information you share and all the work you’ve done, I hope you find a way to turn this into income.
Like what a lot of people say here, you're pricing out "retail" at $80/month. I'm willing to pay you something like $50 a year and maybe more if you provide more commodities related data that I don't get anywhere else.
I'm paying more for other substacks like Doomberg ($300 a year) and other ones that provide model portfolios with actual trades and analysis for why they make those trades. You'll find that a lot of people are willing to pay you more if you're providing more actionable information.
Doomberg doesn't provide financial advice or a model portfolio but his analysis is so good and it's not something that I can get anywhere else. You have been going in that direction. But you've been focused on historical data which is nice. What about what's happening right now?
I want to know digested information on the gas/oil production ratios of producers in the Permian basin. How much has gas been going up compared to oil for the different companies? That's actionable information. This kind of information is available only for institutions, too expensive for retail. But if somebody is willing to dig this up from SEC filings of various companies, I'm willing to pay for it.
$80 p/m prices out retail and is cheap for institutions. Sounds like no mans land of pricing to me. That said, it depends who you think your paying subscriber is, and who you want them to be.
Just came here to say that if you go paid, make sure to keep some form of recurring free segment (not just previews of paid) to allow you to grow the top of funnel.
$80/month is extremely steep. Maybe a year or $5-10/month I could justify. As good as the content is, most retail types like myself with small accounts wont be able to achieve the returns necessary to justify spending four to five digits on subscriptions....
Personally I like the .99 cents per song model Apple came up with. I suggest .99 per month and make it a truly monthly deal. I have a WSJ online sub now for $4.50 per month. It’s a 12 month special deal. Make it a high value low cost mass market deal.
I want to support you and will, but the price point mentioned is too steep at this point.
I may support up to $100 or $200 per year. Then feel free to increase or have different tiers (something like Doomberg).
I agree totally with Mr. Edward Brown. He wrote you a very kind note, and said nice words.
I am a contributor and love your analysis but I already subscribe to almost $2k in pubs/advice a year, both focused on energy....I am up to my ears in energy....over 100 stocks in the space and I have a hard time justifying another $960 per year......
Sympathise hugely with the agony and your comments about personal/family sacrifice. Self-publishing is a truly tough gig.
In my experience, charging $30/m, you can expect 3-4% conversion rate but plan for 1-2% and build up from there. If you dive in at $80/m then you’ll be at the very lowest end of the spectrum.
Institutions will pay much more but how many are on your list and truly engaged? If your strategy is to target a few big clients, you might need to approach them directly. Totally different sell.
Agree with Roland Yoder comment