My New Founders’ Level Subscription

I think securing a few ‘major gifts' might be the key to Substack viability.

I just found this cartoon a couple of weeks after I wrote an essay on the exact same subject.

I recently changed the Founder’s Level Subscription price from $250 to $1,500, which is probably one of my boldest marketing moves in the 18 months since I started this newsletter.

I didn’t pick the figure $1,500 out of the air. I selected it because that seems to be my monthly living-expense shortfall these days. 

Also, Introducing ‘Project Two Subscribers’

I could actually reach $1,500/month “new” revenue if I averaged just two new paid subscribers with every article I publish. I now publish about 15 original articles/month. At an annual subscription of $50/month that equals $1,500 (30 new paid subscriptions/month).

In the future, I’m probably going to add a blurb at the end of every story asking just two non-paid subscribers to consider upgrading to paid status. I’m going to call this “Project Two Subscribers.”

Two paid subscribers per article would represent only 2-in-5,471 of my current free subscribers upgrading to “paid status.” This is just 0.036 percent of my subscribers converting to paid. (This minuscule percentage is about the same as the real Infection Fatality Rate of Covid!)

I currently have 275 paid subscribers out of 5,746 total subscribers. 

A few people have probably done very well in life …

Another reason I introduced the $1,500 Founder’s level is that it occurs to me that some citizens might be able to afford such an incredibly-generous gift. It also occurs to me that just about every big organization is actually funded … not by many small donations, but by Major Gifts.

For example, Bill Gates is spending billions of dollars every year to bribe/subsidize mainstream news organizations to write the stories he wants (and not write the stories he doesn’t want anyone to write).

It occurred to me that there might be a small number of people who have done well in life who are not fans of the Gate’s agenda, who would be willing to support a Substack author who is trying to harpoon his myriad toxic agendas.

Indeed, I now think the future of Substack might be decided by the 1-in-1,000 who can afford to provide much-larger gifts to writers they think are deserving.

(Maybe share this with any freedom-loving millionaire uncle you might have?)

No great perks except maybe lunch at Sister’s

and a tour of Troy University’s beautiful campus ….

I wish I could offer any of these major donors special perks, but I can’t think of anything I can offer. I don’t have a stadium I can name after a generous donor or I can’t invite anyone on a personal falcon-viewing excursion like I’ve seen RFK, Jr publicize for lucky donors to his campaign.

In the future, I do hope to meet more of my generous subscribers. I often tell people if they ever pass through Troy, Alabama - perhaps on the way to the beaches of the Florida panhandle - to let me know and I can take you to lunch at Sister’s or The Half Shell.

I’d also love to give you a tour of my college alma mater, Troy University, which I think is “Alabama’s Most Beautiful Campus.” (Now is the perfect time as the azaleas are starting to bloom).

I think I’ve recently published some important and original stories, but I have many more I’ve yet to write. Who knows? One of these stories might be the narrative-changer I dream of one day writing.

As I wrote in my last subscription drive article, fund-raising (sadly) is part of the deal. If you don’t do it, you’re not going to be be able to continue doing what you’d prefer to do.

Anyway, I’ve yet to get my first Founder’s Level Subscriber at my new $1,500 level, but - then again - I haven’t asked anyone to consider this either. As a good friend always tells me, “Bill, You’ve got ‘no’ in the pocket. Go ahead and ask.”

So here goes:

Donor options:

$6/month; $50/year; $1,500 Founder’s Level or Ko-Fi gifts (which can range from $3 to any figure - I guess even more than $1,500).

Paid subscriber or not, I appreciate everyone who reads my Substack newsletter!

Sincerely,

Bill