Ideas you should consider before you turn on paid subscriptions
In many ways, this was written to go hand-in-hand with How to set up a killer subscription model. If you haven’t read this one yet, stop reading this and go read that one. This article will still be here and I’ve gone ahead and linked THIS very post you’re reading at the end of that one so you can get back here easily…
Okay, so this is for anyone who:
- Has turned on paid subscriptions recently on a platform (ex. Patreon, Substack, Buy Me A Coffee, etc.) already
- Is considering turning on paid subscriptions but isn’t sure what rewards to offer
- Has had paid subscriptions turned on for a while but seen little to no growth at all
Before I get started I do want to give a brief disclaimer/warning: I am not a guru when it comes to paid subscriptions. Please DO NOT follow my advice and then come at me if it doesn’t work. This is how I game-plan rewards for myself. I have seen results but it does not mean you are guaranteed to see results. Do your own research, homework, and experimentation. I am acting as a guide and I hope what I share will be of some benefit to you.
I want to go back to the very beginning of my journey with paid subscriptions in the hopes that my story might sound familiar to you and you can better relate to how I came to the conclusions I came to: My first exposure to the “paid subscriptions” model was through Patreon over a decade ago. Before then, I knew how paid subscriptions could be built into a website using plugins via WordPress but they always seemed so complicated and I could never understand how it would even work. I mean, I would’ve needed to have traffic to my site in the first place and that was never going to happen to my tiny blog in the corner of the world. But I came across Patreon way back in 2015 and with literally zero idea what I was doing I went ahead and created a page. Pretty soon I realized I needed to at least emulate what other creators like me were doing.
At the time I was big into streaming on Twitch. I had discovered this platform because of Bob Ross, believe it or not, when Adobe partnered with them and I somehow ended up in the world of watching illustrators streaming themselves illustrating. I was fascinated. Then I saw that writers were doing much of the same. Before long I was streaming my writing seven nights a week for a couple of years. In that time I did what I always do, I did some homework. And this will be the first assignment I give to you, as it was how I started:
HOMEWORK #1
Go out into the world and find others who are doing what you are doing but are more established than you are. In other words, they are further along than you in the journey. You’ve seen their paid subscription page somewhere in the wild and you thought “I want that too” but you never did anything about it. Now is your chance. Go back to their page and write down what they are offering and for how much and how often. See if they have a Patreon and a Substack and a BMAC. Find 3 – 5 different people to observe. Observation is the best way to learn. It helps fuel ideas. It also helps to set your own personal expectations as you’ll learn later on.
If, for some reason, you don’t have anyone who you’ve admired from afar who is ahead of you on this journey, then it’s high time you found someone. It’s always a good idea to know who else is in the game with you and to see them not as competition but as a potential ally and source of great inspiration and information. Trying to pave your own way and go it alone and follow no one won’t get you very far. I’m not suggesting you copy what someone else is doing, but observe. Take note. Let’s press on…
REWARDS SHOULD COST YOU NOTHING (BUT TIME…)
Many years ago, when I first created my Patreon account, I naively thought to myself, “I’m going to offer a print copy of my book to my lowest tier!” And at the time it wasn’t the worst thing in the world to offer. That is, until I realized my lowest tier on Patreon was $1/m and that simply would not be enough to get my book printed, shipped to me, and then pay for postage to ship it to my patron, even if I made them wait 12 months before sending it! Not to mention the fact that I then felt obligated to provide an even more lucrative reward to the higher tiers, otherwise, why would someone pay more? How wrong I was!
Turns out there are plenty of rewards a broke a$$ writer who barely has any expendable income can provide that only requires my time and not my wallet.
Here are some you might want to consider:
Ebooks – Now, I’m not the biggest fan of ebooks. In fact, my 100 Word Stories collection of books are only available in print form. However, it’s the easiest one to do and to offer. And if you’re already creating an epub file for publication you can easily provide that link to your patrons at zero cost to you.
Acknowledgements – In just about every fiction published book there is an acknowledgements page. And whether or not you already know who you want to thank, and why, you can easily spare a few lines to thank your patrons. You can even just include their “First name, Last Initial” in that section and that would be more than sufficient. Immortalizing them forever alongside the work they helped fund in some small way.
Public thank you – Saying Thank You to a paying subscriber goes a long way, but sometimes, doing it on your social platforms can be even nicer. On your newsletter perhaps?
Tell a Story – Sometimes the best reward you can give is to use the talents and passions you already have! As a fiction writer you can offer to perhaps write a short short story including that person in it or let them name a character in your longer narrative.
Discounts – You might consider having merchandise some day? And if you do, a great reward you can offer is a discount towards merchandise purchases.
As you can see, all of these rewards cost you nothing, which is great, and only require a little bit of your time to do them.
A FEW REWARDS WORTH THE COST
Now that we looked at a few rewards you can offer that cost nothing, how about looking at a few that will cost you something, but as long as you price your paid subscription plan correctly, then you shouldn’t have any out-of-pocket costs. Remember, whatever reward you provide, especially one that costs money, you need to make sure you have more than enough funds to cover it, and up front!
Sure, it’s great to be able to offer a paid subscription with a discount so steep that it only amounts to $3/m or $3/yr, but then don’t offer to deliver something that costs money. However, if you price your model right, here are some ideas you might want to consider:
Print book(s) – You can offer just one or all of them. The choice is yours. I recommend that you set the time of delivery after they have been a paid subscriber for a set number of months. That way you’re not fulfilling something after one month and they should cancel. Their contribution will never end up making up the cost.
Personalization – If you’re going to be sending a book in the mail, you might as well personalize it to the person it’s going to. Or sign it at least.
Handwritten note – I offer a 100 word story that is exclusive to the paid subscriber and no one else will ever see it. Gives that touch of personalization and connection with my subscribers. But even just sending a thank you note on a post card is enough. And perhaps the post card is an image of your book?
Goodie Bag/Box – This would be a one-time send and perhaps for your higher paying subscribers. Get a nice sized box and put a few things in there: a copy of your book, bookmarks, stickers, etc. If you have merch, maybe keep extra on hand, usually, if you order items in bulk they are cheaper for you, and then add them to a box whenever you get a new subscriber.
HOMEWORK #2
You may have guessed it already, but it’s high time you really sat yourself down with pen and paper and DID THE MATH!
That’s right, if you intend on providing something tangible that must go in the mail, you need to know the cost, even if it’s not a definite answer. Some things are easier to calculate than others but take the following into consideration:
- Packaging. Buying in bulk can save a lot of money, but don’t go buying 100 envelopes or boxes unless you know you’ll be using them! Best to just buy a pack of 10 to start and unless you see an influx of dozens, that should hold you.
- Packing materials. Buying the envelope or the box sometimes isn’t enough. If it’s a box you might need bubble wrap or tissue paper. And without question you’ll require at least one roll of tape! And you may not have thought of this, but whether you are taking this to the post office or not to ship, you’ll need a marker to write the person’s address on it. Yes, this step should NEVER be skipped because it helps to keep this organized. Trust me.
- Shipping(and handling?). Now we come to the trickier to understand part. If you have a scale, that can help, otherwise you might be driving blind here.
- Media Mail – most carriers have a similar option if you are sending just a book. It makes the cost considerably less.
- International Shipping – this is always much more expensive if you are shipping to a country that isn’t your own. Taking this into account is imperative. In my case, I leave international shipping for Annual and Founding members only, this way I know I’m getting at least the cost of shipping up-front from the subscriber. I would NEVER offer this option for monthly subscribers. It’s just not cost effective.
- Different carrier prices – in the states (where I live) using USPS (United States Postal Service) is the cheaper option. If you live in another country you may have an equivalent or you may need to compare multiple carriers to find the best one. Sometimes shipping in bulk can be cheaper using another option.
- Travel time – gas costs money so if you can get the carrier to pick up what you are shipping (meaning you are printing the label at home) that is obviously the better option. But I much prefer taking my packages to the post office and having them input the information (especially if it’s international) themselves. Also, for media mail, I have to go to a Post Office to avail myself of this cheaper option. I think it’s to confirm what is being shipped is actually media. People might try to game the system! Go figure!
I suggest trying to price out one local shipping cost, taking into account all of the above items, shipping, etc. Then do the same for an international package. this will help you decide a couple things:
- Is it worth it to have a physical reward. (ie time spent away from your creative work)
- Does your subscription amount (monthly, annual, founding member) more than cover the cost.
IT’S THE COST TO YOU THAT COUNTS
Whatever you decide to offer as a reward, always remember the cost to you in order to provide that reward:
- Whether it’s valuable time that you might otherwise be spending on your creative endeavors.
- Or monetarily, and making sure you never have to dip into your own pocket to cover the cost.
One last thing to keep in mind when coming up with rewards to give paid subscribers, a larger percentage of them will become a paid subscriber and require nothing in return but what you are already providing! Yes, I know, crazy to think! But it’s true!
Case-in-point: I give free print books, personalized. Of the ten paid subscribers I have who are entitled to this reward, only three “accepted” it (meaning they provided me with their address). This was after I reached out to them no less than 5 times reminding them of this offer they are entitled do have. Do with this information what you will, but it tells me that I needn’t stress as much as I have done in the past about the rewards aspect of my paid subscription model.
So take it easy on yourself! At the end of the day, they chose to become a paid subscriber because of your already marvelous creative work. Let them and be thankful!