Advice From The Trenches
This writer is winning by adding an 'ask' to each newsletter
Hi there,
We’re a couple of weeks into the new year now. How did you go with your new year’s resolutions so far? Did you find any underpants gnomes in your Substack strategy?
I wrote to you about underpants gnomes a few weeks ago, and how the underpants gnomes syndrome can stop you from succeeding on Substack - and elsewhere. I published a similar story on Medium.
Andy responded with an ‘Oh my gosh’ comment and I love his response so much that I want to share it with you too. Andy said that one important thing he did to banish his gnomes was to begin adding an ‘ask’ at the top of each newsletter before he hits send.
An ‘ask’ is exactly what it sounds like… a straightforward sentence that tells your readers you would like them to pay for your newsletter and asks them to upgrade to a paid subscription.
Asking is not easy. But it is super-effective. Adding an ‘ask’ to every issue is working for Andy. Here’s what he said about it:
“OMG yes - I used to be reluctant to put an ask in most of my posts - I thought I'd just drop in a little subscribe button and only ask for $ every now and then - I had a HUGE Gnomes problem. I've started adding an ask AT THE TOP of each newsletter - guess what? I get either a new paid subscriber or a paid conversion EVERY time. I change up the ask a bit each time to keep it fresh - I went from "i'll turn on paid and make money" with no plan to "I'll turn on paid and ASK for money and then people will give.... " And they have. Thanks for this encouragement - I'll be on the lookout for more gnomes.”
Find and follow Andy on Medium: https://advocateandy.medium.com/about
Have you had any wins against the gnomes? Let me know in the comments.
Cheers!
Cover image: Denise Jans on Unsplash