Huge Savings on the Richard Hanania Newsletter!
30% off FOR LIFE for new paid subscribers
I’ve long resisted the idea of offering a discount for paid subscribers. It sort of makes me feel like a mattress salesman. But I recently saw my intellectual hero and spiritual guide Matt Yglesias do it, and decided if it’s good enough for him…
Plus the following contrast really bothers me.
Rob has the very special checkmark telling the world he has thousands of paid subscribers next to his self-satisfied mug, while I am stuck with a badge of shame that says I have mere hundreds. The thing is I’m really close, over 950, and as long as I receive the magic number of 1,000, I will get the much more attractive checkmark and people will assume that I’m very successful and important.
When I started this Substack the hope was to keep everything free indefinitely, and mainly live off donations. That’s still what I want to do for the more important articles, but I have gradually been paywalling more content. Now, for the price of the subscription, you get,
weekly or biweekly articles that are of a more personal or self-help nature
weekly Clown Car podcasts, usually with Inez but sometimes with other guests, now including transcripts
monthly mailbag
monthly links to the best subscriber-only Tweets
highlights of comments to previous essays, and my responses (forthcoming)
discounts on personal meetings
I may add more content as time goes on, but that’s quite a bit for now.
In order to bring in new subscribers, I’m running a special where you can get 30% off a one year subscription by clicking on the link below. This deal will expire at the end of the year.
30% off FOR LIFE subscription to the Richard Hanania Newsletter
If you subscribe through this promotion, you will always be able to renew at the same discounted rate. I might be doing this for decades, so it could be beneficial to lock-in the savings. Betting markets currently predict that I’ll live well into my 80s. As already noted, I hope to always keep the most important work available for free, but the trend is going to be towards paywalling more content, not less.
I continue to be blown away by the success that I’ve had over the last three years, and thankful that I can express myself so openly on such a wide variety of topics. I don’t believe I could ever work for a large institution — even the most free thinking among them have taboos and audiences to manage. Beyond wanting to be able to say what I think, I have a style, a voice, and quirks that I don’t want to compromise on. Luckily, I haven’t had to so far, and that is thanks to my audience. If you appreciate all that I’ve done, not just the Substack but also the X account, the books, CSPI, and the rest of my activities, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.
Richard,
Continuing the thread from above...I think every major post should contain three buttons.
1. Share this post
2. Subscribe
3. Upgrade to paid (through a custom button?)
Probably best to space the buttons out in the post or put two at the end of each post. Keep in mind that readers are receiving an endorphin shot at the “high points” of your posts, i.e. your best paragraphs and punchlines, and they might naturally want to subscribe, share or upgrade based on that high, so make it easy for them. That high only lasts 30 seconds and then they’re off to something else.
Also, consider that readers might upgrade to a paid subscription for a while, like a month or two, then cancel for any number of reasons; some having little to do with you, then go a month or two unpaid and then revert back to paid again if they see or hear some good stuff from you.
The buttons make it easy for readers to sign back up again.
I’m constantly canceling my subscriptions because I get too busy to read or can’t remember who this guy is, or why I signed up. Or I just want to try a new Substack, and limit myself to N paid subscriptions.
Also, keep in mind that Substack is brand new. Most people and almost all newcomers still aren’t aware of most of its sharing functionality. For example, you might want to occasionally remind people that by highlighting a block of text in a post they can
1. Restack the highlighted block
2. Restack with a note
3. Share (via text message or email)
Most people are too busy to write blog posts, but these Twitter-like sharing features are convenient and can be private or anonymous. So I would occasionally encourage people to highlight and Restack their favorite excerpts from your posts or share blocks of text privately.
Keep in mind that there is a silent majority that only share within their own family over email and text. Make sure those people have an easy way to share and subscribe.
Also keep in mind the millions of seniors out there that might love to read your stuff, but don’t have a clue about Substack or how to use it. How could you reach those old folks and get them Restacking and sharing your stuff? They all have phones and most watch TV.
Easier said than done, but one idea is to tour like a politician from townhall to church, to senior citizen center, advertising your Substack. Tell them that things will only get better through education and Substack is one of the best new ways to educate.
Also, keep in mind the high volume of notifications and emails people are getting from Substack. I would focus on quality. If I follow five big Substacks I can barely keep up with the volume. There’s too much to read. Too much volume is annoying even if all your stuff is great. This might lead to cancelled subscriptions. You’re competing for our time.
I would aim for “poetry,” high quality, low or medium volume. Definitely not high volume.
Thanks Richard, much appreciated!