Thanks Karen for sharing the interesting data 📊 certainly helps. I’m grateful for you contributing to my new Substack in 2025. I’m glad we found each other. Merry Christmas and Best wishes for 2026 & beyond! 😊
Ok this was hugely helpful, as I was paining over what kind of content to offer as a paid feature! Very few are doing the combination that I offer as well so it makes it that much more challenging to configure. Thank you!✨
This is fascinating, thank you. Especially interested in the difference in pricing tolerance between business/hobby content. As a knitter my publication is definitely in the hobby side so this is great food for thought as I do a bit of festive contemplation.
I took part in this poll. It was interesting to see how "average" I am in relation to others.
And, I fully agree there will always be people who NEVER pay, no matter what you offer. And there will always be people who try to sneak in the back door to access the author and their knowledge, but will never pay for that access.
I probably would pay for your content, Karen, but it feels like a kind of setup that Substack is so ridiculously difficult to figure out that old timers can easily charge for a how-to. I use the last line of your post as an example. As I'm reading that you would like me to "restack", I'm thinking, "I googled how to restack on Substack and got a big zero! I don't even know what that is or means!"
And then I read the very next line which is a how-to restack note. Of course! Bless you for realizing that little message is very much needed! It's a bit like driving up US Highway 1--where it's illegal not to stop and help those in need. And of course, there are crooks who stop and pretend need, along with those who stop and pretend to have help.
It might be profitable also to write about WHY it's so blatantly difficult here, but it seems kinda clear, actually. Thanks for your kind-hearted giving soul! Once I'm sure I'm even staying in this lonely highway, I will donate to this effort you make free for the rest of us. 🤍
Thanks for sharing not only the data but also your takeaways. I wonder what's the age group of the people that "would never pay" versus the ones more open to pay for different reasons. My suspicion (based in nothing but my own habits) is that Millennials were used to not pay for TV, radio or online content. Anything you'd pay feels like extra. While younger people, who paid for apps and are comfortable with micro-transactions. Again, just a generalization based on personal experience. Do you think this might be "true-ish" or your experience shows a more complex scenario?
Yeah, there would definitely be age differences in willingness to pay, but also very strong cultural divides too.
As an Australian who travels widely and shares a city with people from all over the world, I can tell you that attitudes to paying for content, microtransactions, tip jars and "support the author" are wildly different among different cultures and demographics.
Even in the US, east coast people have different attitudes to west coast...
We could try to capture these nuances in more polls and surveys but any I run will never be properly representative of the Substack readership at large.
I would hate for people to extrapolate my audience to theirs based on solid-looking data that's riddled with sampling bias...
This is primal stuff for some of us...I never push people to pay...but I make a simple "consider becoming a paid subscriber" after each weekly post. I have a very modest amount of paid subscribers. I do not promise what I cannot deliver (exactly what I dislike about some marketing methods!) Coming from my own background of being a member of the working poor for 40+ years, I do NOT pressure people in any way, as I do not assume their finances. Sometimes even $1 is more than someone can pay. I recently had one paid subscriber withdraw their support, I immediately made sure they got their funds back posthaste, although I did not understand their reasoning, as I certainly did NOTHING to not provide the product. Regardless, now on each completion of weekly post, I simply say "you are under NO pressure to remain a paid subscriber. If you decide, for whatever reason that you want to stop, contact Substack directly or send me a D-M and I will assist you." Perhaps that is heresy...but from my point of view as a person of very modest economic means, I respect every single penny. Also, having Ko-fi or Buy Me a Coffee to the side is a helpful thing, as someone can donate a small amount and not be signed up for monthly fee. Just my thoughts in the big scary world of economics...and the work it takes to create a valuable Substack each week. Blessings to all, Wendy
Access — which is why you HAVE to use your face because no one actually cares about content, they want to see if being associated with your will raise or lower their social status… also where already being an established media figure comes in handy
Info they can use to raise their social status.. whether that’s how to make more money, or succeed on Substack, how to be popular, etc… as long as it’s directly impacting them
In other words: people only care about themselves.
Thanks Karen for sharing the interesting data 📊 certainly helps. I’m grateful for you contributing to my new Substack in 2025. I’m glad we found each other. Merry Christmas and Best wishes for 2026 & beyond! 😊
Merry Christmas to you too, Anney!
Thank you Karen ☺️
Ok this was hugely helpful, as I was paining over what kind of content to offer as a paid feature! Very few are doing the combination that I offer as well so it makes it that much more challenging to configure. Thank you!✨
This is fascinating, thank you. Especially interested in the difference in pricing tolerance between business/hobby content. As a knitter my publication is definitely in the hobby side so this is great food for thought as I do a bit of festive contemplation.
I took part in this poll. It was interesting to see how "average" I am in relation to others.
And, I fully agree there will always be people who NEVER pay, no matter what you offer. And there will always be people who try to sneak in the back door to access the author and their knowledge, but will never pay for that access.
I'm in the average category too and I was pleasantly surprised at how many "willing to pay" folk there are.
I'm considering opening up paid subscriptions soon, so this post came at the perfect time! Super insightful, thank you very much 😊
I probably would pay for your content, Karen, but it feels like a kind of setup that Substack is so ridiculously difficult to figure out that old timers can easily charge for a how-to. I use the last line of your post as an example. As I'm reading that you would like me to "restack", I'm thinking, "I googled how to restack on Substack and got a big zero! I don't even know what that is or means!"
And then I read the very next line which is a how-to restack note. Of course! Bless you for realizing that little message is very much needed! It's a bit like driving up US Highway 1--where it's illegal not to stop and help those in need. And of course, there are crooks who stop and pretend need, along with those who stop and pretend to have help.
It might be profitable also to write about WHY it's so blatantly difficult here, but it seems kinda clear, actually. Thanks for your kind-hearted giving soul! Once I'm sure I'm even staying in this lonely highway, I will donate to this effort you make free for the rest of us. 🤍
Thanks for sharing not only the data but also your takeaways. I wonder what's the age group of the people that "would never pay" versus the ones more open to pay for different reasons. My suspicion (based in nothing but my own habits) is that Millennials were used to not pay for TV, radio or online content. Anything you'd pay feels like extra. While younger people, who paid for apps and are comfortable with micro-transactions. Again, just a generalization based on personal experience. Do you think this might be "true-ish" or your experience shows a more complex scenario?
Yeah, there would definitely be age differences in willingness to pay, but also very strong cultural divides too.
As an Australian who travels widely and shares a city with people from all over the world, I can tell you that attitudes to paying for content, microtransactions, tip jars and "support the author" are wildly different among different cultures and demographics.
Even in the US, east coast people have different attitudes to west coast...
We could try to capture these nuances in more polls and surveys but any I run will never be properly representative of the Substack readership at large.
I would hate for people to extrapolate my audience to theirs based on solid-looking data that's riddled with sampling bias...
That's a really thoughtful comments. I was wondering that too.
This is primal stuff for some of us...I never push people to pay...but I make a simple "consider becoming a paid subscriber" after each weekly post. I have a very modest amount of paid subscribers. I do not promise what I cannot deliver (exactly what I dislike about some marketing methods!) Coming from my own background of being a member of the working poor for 40+ years, I do NOT pressure people in any way, as I do not assume their finances. Sometimes even $1 is more than someone can pay. I recently had one paid subscriber withdraw their support, I immediately made sure they got their funds back posthaste, although I did not understand their reasoning, as I certainly did NOTHING to not provide the product. Regardless, now on each completion of weekly post, I simply say "you are under NO pressure to remain a paid subscriber. If you decide, for whatever reason that you want to stop, contact Substack directly or send me a D-M and I will assist you." Perhaps that is heresy...but from my point of view as a person of very modest economic means, I respect every single penny. Also, having Ko-fi or Buy Me a Coffee to the side is a helpful thing, as someone can donate a small amount and not be signed up for monthly fee. Just my thoughts in the big scary world of economics...and the work it takes to create a valuable Substack each week. Blessings to all, Wendy
The only thing people will pay for is:
Access — which is why you HAVE to use your face because no one actually cares about content, they want to see if being associated with your will raise or lower their social status… also where already being an established media figure comes in handy
Info they can use to raise their social status.. whether that’s how to make more money, or succeed on Substack, how to be popular, etc… as long as it’s directly impacting them
In other words: people only care about themselves.
I really appreciate de insights and takeaways from your work. Have a great 2026 ✌️😁
You too, Angel, happy holiday season and best wishes for the new year.
Wow, that was so informative. Thank you.