Okay, I'm Doing It
A few years ago, I hired a business coach.
During our first session, she asked me what I wanted. I thought about it, and I said “I’ve always wanted to have a paid newsletter.”
“Why?”
“Because my dream is to be a writer, and I always wanted to get paid for my writing.”
It’s been years since that day, and I think about it often.
Well guess what? The time has finally come. On Monday, 11/13/23, The Blank Page will officially become a paid newsletter. But first, there are some announcements I must share with you.
1. Yes, You Will Be Getting Access
All of the current subscribers, meaning you, will be comped access to the paid membership. Frankly, if I didn’t tell you, you wouldn’t even know this was happening. For those of you who read my essays every morning, thank you. I would never make you pay. You can expect the same morning emails that you’ve always been getting.
For new subscribers, I am going to start by charging $5 a month or $50 a year.
2. There Will Be A Free Version
Every Friday, I will send out a curated newsletter that will be free. This issue will be very short and to the point. It will mostly be a collection of cool articles, videos, or podcasts that I found during the week.
I still enjoy sharing some of my finds, and so I’ll save those for a Friday newsletter.
3. The Purpose Of The Newsletter
First and foremost, the purpose of selfish. I write every day because it helps me think and I like doing it. But I think a little more direction is warranted.
There is a Japanese concept that I’ve followed for a ling time. The concept is called “Kaizen”, the literal translation is “continuous improvement.” That will be the basis of my essays.
Every day, I will try to highlight an area of improvement. That may be an improvement within myself, or an opportunity to improve, or an idea I had that could give a new perspective.
4. The Subject Matter Will Be As Follows
Business
Parenting
Relationships
Creativity
Marketing
Experiences
Getting the most out of this short and beautiful life
5. Why Am I Doing This?
The main reason is because of what I said above. I’ve always wanted to do it, and I’ve always been scared to do it.
“What if no one subscribes?”
But the reality is that I already write these short essays every day, and I might as well make something out of it. I’ve never promoted this brand. Not ever. No one even knows about it. It’s time I stopped publishing into the void and shared my ideas with the world.
I get about 40 new email subscribers to TimStodz.com every day, so I can present this product to my subscribers at the end of my email automation. I’m pretty confident I can get 100 paid subscribers by the end of the year.
That’s $500 a month.
I might as well. Because as of right now, no one is subscribing anyway. So I have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
6. Small Improvements
The reason I haven’t done this sooner is because I know myself. I get ideas and then they run away from me. It’s imperative that I stay completely focused on what I am working on right now with my team at Stodzy and Copyblogger.
Our company ethos of “no silver bullets, only golden BB’s” has been serving us very well as of late. So I will take that approach to The Blank Page as well. Meaning …
I will keep it on Substack.
Maybe a month from now I’ll create a better sales page.
After that, maybe I’ll add new features like an audio version of every essay.
But nothing happens yet. The only thing that happens is I will check the “send to paid subscribers” box instead of the “send to free subscribers” box when I schedule the email every evening.
7. Let’s Go!
Starting Monday, I will be a paid writer.