7 Comments

$20 for a private consult seems incredibly low!

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I restacked this post

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$20 for 40 minutes to solve a problem I have is cheap at the cost. I wouldn't hesitate.

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So much goodness in this issue Karen. First of all, if you had had that deal going previously I would have used it by now for sure. Second, the ad-free subscriber pitch is indeed genius. Thanks so much for sharing it. Of course one has to be big enough to have advertisers before it can work. For now, I can add it to my list of benefits, that ALL my posts are ad free!!

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Thanks for the vote of confidence, Rick. You know, you can actually use an 'ad-free' offer with a small list and no sponsors. For example, the writer I mentioned in my post, Zulie Rane, only 'advertises' her own products and services. You can do that too with only a tiny list.

So if I start pitching my Substack book to readers of this newsletter, you might all get sick of it pretty quickly and want to opt out of the 'ads'..... at that time I could apply the strategy even if I never got any external advertisers.

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Brilliant solution! A downside is that advertisers won't get access to the writer's most dedicated readers. Would that hinder the ad sales effort? Is there a way to acknowledge advertisers in the paid version, but in a way that doesn't interrupt the flow of reading?

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Hmm yes, I agree, Margie, about hindering ad sales.

In the example I used from Zulie Rane, her ads are for her own products and services. So she wins either way... she has 'permission' to pitch to her free readers whenever she wants AND she can still make revenue for her hard work from readers who want to opt out of her ads.

I agree that this strategy might make selling ad space to external advertisers more tricky, but as long as the open rates and engagement rates on the free version are okay then it shouldn't worry them too much.

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