skip to content

← back to the plays

independence6 unconnected
applies to

b2b and consumer, needs an existing audience

assumes $20 to $100

mixed results

confidence

high

evidence

7 claims · 7 articles · 4 receipts

window

2022-01-23 → 2023-03-07

6 builders who never spoke to each other

Put the paywall beside the free edition, not in front

Publishers who monetised an audience without losing it added a paid edition alongside the free one rather than locking what readers already relied on, timing the free issue to set up what the paid one answers. Leave the pages that earn commerce revenue outside any gate. The asset being built is a paying subscriber base rather than an audience, which is what an acquirer prices, and the paywall is the easy half: filling it is the half that decides whether it works.

The method

  1. 01

    Run two editions a week, one free and one paid, and time them so the free one lands first and sets up what the paid one will answer.

  2. 02

    Run a paid newsletter and still sell ads: put a sponsored slot in the free edition so you earn from the readers who never upgrade.

  3. 03

    If you do add a paywall later, price additional material behind it and leave the existing weekly edition free, so nothing readers already rely on gets taken away.

  4. 04

    Do not put content behind a membership before you know how you will fill it. Building the paywall is the easy half and promotion is the half that decides it.

  5. 05

    Leave the pages that earn your commerce revenue outside any paywall or sign-in gate you introduce.

What it returned

  • $20

    Eric Lam publishes a free Sunday teaser and a Tuesday deep dive behind the paywall, priced at $20 a month or $99 a year. Over 500 readers converted, close to 10% of the free list, which works out near $50k of annual recurring revenue.

  • $15

    Michael Houck sends a free curated Tuesday edition carrying a sponsored tool slot and a paid Saturday advice edition at $15 a month or $150 a year. Houck's Newsletter went from 18,000 subscribers in March 2023 to over 70,000 six months later and neared $1M in total revenue including $250k ARR.

  • $100

    A membership plugin costing around $100 was installed, old posts were locked, the site was rebranded around premium content, and the new members only writing was read by almost nobody. The plugin was removed and everything went back to free.

  • Chenell Basilio was weighing a paywall only for content beyond the regular weekly deep dive.

Sources

the second source

Three plays a week, for the phase you are in

No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.

One email a week. Unsubscribe in one click, and the address is used for this and nothing else.

More in pricing

all pricing plays

the second source

Three plays a week, for the phase you are in

No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.

963 corroborated plays to draw from · 3 a week

One email a week. Unsubscribe in one click, and the address is used for this and nothing else.