Springing Off the Dreaded Plateau

I did it!

Have you experienced the dreaded subscriber plateau? I have and it sucks. Whether it’s a pause in the growth of your whole list or a long-stretch with no new paying subscribers, it can really smash your confidence as a writer.

A plateau is a period of time in which you see no growth… your numbers are not going up but they are not decreasing either. You’re just flat-lining.

I just experienced a 6 week plateau in the number of paid subscribers in my main publication. SIX WEEKS with no new paying readers, not a one. That publication takes up a big proportion of my working week and I have thrown a humungous amount of energy into it over the last year. I also pay an assistant to help me do the research for it, which means that I need paying subscribers to keep it from dragging the rest of my business down.

The plateau was de-moralising 😔. It made me question EVERYTHING about my publication and its value. It made me question whether I should just give up on it.

Great news, though. I finally popped up from the plateau, with a bunch of new paying subscribers in the past week. (I did have to beg* for them!)

It’s a relief to see some growth again, hopefully I can keep up the momentum.

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*It’s hard to write a “begging for subscriptions” email. Stay tuned for suggestions/templates.