A Note to Free Subscribers
To keep The Journeyman free to read, I need a little help
When I started The Journeyman newsletter a little over four years ago, I remember being nervous about clicking the “publish” button that first time. I didn’t expect anyone outside my circle of friends to subscribe, and even then, only as a courtesy. It took months before I worked up the nerve to write about subjects such as racism and inequality.
More than a few people took issue with my opinions in those early days. Some unsubscribed, others sent hateful emails. Fortunately, one of my first lessons as a trader was to accept rejection, so I kept plugging along. Over time, those who stuck around have outnumbered those who did not.
When I made Substack’s Notes app my primary communication platform a little over a year ago, the result was a noticeable spike in subscribers. The reception to my writing, my eclectic sense of humor, and even my “moments of zen” every evening is more positive than I ever expected.
This week I got a pleasant surprise. The newsletter my wife encouraged me to start during the pandemic as an alternative to shouting at our television is within striking distance of 5,000 subscribers. In writer’s terminology, I’ve found my tribe. Or, more accurately, my tribe has found me.
Many Substack publishers choose to paywall their best content to drive paid subscriptions. Unless one is a big-name writer or celebrity (I am neither), this is a counterintuitive strategy (if non-subscribers can’t read one of my essays completely, how can they know if they like my writing?)
There are other arguments against paywalls, which I’ve discussed in previous posts. The Journeyman’s archive of over one hundred essays is free to read. There is never a paywall. Whenever possible I provide gift links to trusted sources of information, both in long-form posts and comments on the app.
Newsletter sustainability requires a free-to-paid subscriber ratio of from five to ten percent. Despite The Journeyman’s increased popularity, the newsletter currently has fewer than one hundred paid subscribers, well below five percent.
Others in this situation might raise the price of a subscription, throw up paywalls, or some combination of the two. Rather than take that approach, here is my proposition: If you enjoy this newsletter, please support it by becoming a paid subscriber.
To make the decision easier, I’ve reduced the cost of an annual subscription by 25% through the holidays. That means a $5 monthly subscription is only 3.75 for the first twelve months. Likewise, an annual subscription drops from $50 to $37.50.
Whatever you decide, I thank you for supporting my media project.
~MSW
