On Twitter, I often see advertisements for various newsletters, whether independent creators or from legacy publication like NYT and Economist. In your view, what is the most effective paid marketing for driving subscriptions (whether paid/free).
What opportunities exist for monetizing casual consumption of content and why haven't pay-per-read solutions taken off?
It seems to me like there's a big unaddressed pool of casually-engaged users who aren't engaged enough to buy a subscription, yet would gladly pay 50 cents to read an article (assuming payment friction is sufficiently low. That's much more revenue than I could expect from advertising. What's missing to capitalize on this kind of consumption?
I think the market for purchasing 50-cent articles is much smaller than you think it is, and I also think juice wouldn't be worth the squeeze for most publishers. I did the math over here:
I created a really transparent landing page for potential sponsors that has every morsel of information they'd want to know, and then I regularly promote that page within the newsletter itself:
The barrier for entry is literally zero. Using completely free tools, you could have as much reach and influence as the most powerful media moguls from the early 20th century. That kind of potential is incredible to contemplate.
Apologies if you've already covered this topic. I'm curious about the future of news media. My impression is that people are increasingly turning to newsletters for insight into domestic and international news vs a reliance on traditional media outlets. Is this an accurate impression, or am I extrapolating too much from anecdotal evidence?
So I certainly think niche, independent newsletters are rising in influence and importance, and they'll probably continue to do so as the Creator Economy matures. At the same time, the vast majority of news consumption still happens on traditional channels, and I don't think that's going away anytime soon.
Thanks, Simon. Perhaps there will be more outlets like Puck (which you recently profiled). The country is better served by more thoughtful coverage than WaPo and NYT.
I haven't heard anything like that from my readers. It might be a sign that it's time to clean your list and remove inactive subscribers.
I don't know if you've been doing this, but I've had several Substack writers add me to their distribution list without my permission. That kind of behavior will get someone added to spam lists pretty quickly.
If you were about to start a niche publication, which platform/format would you pick first?
Hi Simon, what's your take on the future of professional publishing? (think Reed Elsevier, Bloomberg, etc.). Thanks!
I'm not sure I understand the question. What is professional publishing?
On Twitter, I often see advertisements for various newsletters, whether independent creators or from legacy publication like NYT and Economist. In your view, what is the most effective paid marketing for driving subscriptions (whether paid/free).
Great question! Just added it to the queue.
If you had to pick three media companies that you think have succeeded particularly in finding product-market fit, who would those be?
I think I sort of answered that in this week's newsletter:
https://simonowens.substack.com/p/what-the-next-crop-of-media-startups
Yes!! First thought I had when I read this week’s newsletter!
Was going to ask something similar -- new media company you’re most optimistic about (ex. Puck, Punchbowl, Semafor, etc!)
I think I sort of answered that in this week's newsletter:
https://simonowens.substack.com/p/what-the-next-crop-of-media-startups
Is it necessary for a creator to embrace video and Tiktok/YouTube shorts? What's the future for creators that wish to continue with the written word
What opportunities exist for monetizing casual consumption of content and why haven't pay-per-read solutions taken off?
It seems to me like there's a big unaddressed pool of casually-engaged users who aren't engaged enough to buy a subscription, yet would gladly pay 50 cents to read an article (assuming payment friction is sufficiently low. That's much more revenue than I could expect from advertising. What's missing to capitalize on this kind of consumption?
I think the market for purchasing 50-cent articles is much smaller than you think it is, and I also think juice wouldn't be worth the squeeze for most publishers. I did the math over here:
https://simonowens.substack.com/p/the-4-hurdles-micropayment-platforms
How do you get newsletter sponsors?
I created a really transparent landing page for potential sponsors that has every morsel of information they'd want to know, and then I regularly promote that page within the newsletter itself:
https://simonowens.substack.com/p/advertise-in-this-newsletter
If you could say one thing to inspire students to get into the media, marketing and preferably magazine industry, what would it be?
The barrier for entry is literally zero. Using completely free tools, you could have as much reach and influence as the most powerful media moguls from the early 20th century. That kind of potential is incredible to contemplate.
Is substack a medium killer??
I think Medium is a Medium killer. The site has made so many mistakes that it failed to gain crucial momentum.
Here's what I wrote on the subject:
https://simonowens.substack.com/p/why-medium-failed
How do you monetize your newsletters?
1. Paid subscriptions, charging for both exclusive newsletter content and also access to live office hours Zoom calls.
2. Sponsorships, limiting it to one sponsor per newsletter.
3. Mixture of public speaking, online courses, and some strategy consulting.
What are the most promising emerging AI tools that can help (rather than hurt) the newsletter creator?
Thanks, just added this to the queue.
Apologies if you've already covered this topic. I'm curious about the future of news media. My impression is that people are increasingly turning to newsletters for insight into domestic and international news vs a reliance on traditional media outlets. Is this an accurate impression, or am I extrapolating too much from anecdotal evidence?
So I certainly think niche, independent newsletters are rising in influence and importance, and they'll probably continue to do so as the Creator Economy matures. At the same time, the vast majority of news consumption still happens on traditional channels, and I don't think that's going away anytime soon.
Thanks, Simon. Perhaps there will be more outlets like Puck (which you recently profiled). The country is better served by more thoughtful coverage than WaPo and NYT.
I haven't heard anything like that from my readers. It might be a sign that it's time to clean your list and remove inactive subscribers.
I don't know if you've been doing this, but I've had several Substack writers add me to their distribution list without my permission. That kind of behavior will get someone added to spam lists pretty quickly.
Great question, just added it to the queue.