Are we undervaluing and undercharging for our work on Substack?

And the testing topic of “value added”

Why do we pay for things? We think that we can’t be without them. We think that they’re “worth it”, that they’re “good value” and that they’re set at the market rate. And–with small businesses at least–sometimes we pay for things because we simply want to support others.

This post doesn’t discuss in depth why we believe that we need the thing we want to pay for: there’s a series on marketing coming later this year. Nonetheless I do want us to consider the thoughts that go through our mind before we press “buy now”, particularly as that’s ultimately where this piece leads.

And so to Substack. Substack, where the community is a the purest gift. Substack, where we read, and learn, and cry, and laugh, and think. Substack, where many are experiencing profound creative highs. Substack, where so much of the platform is a wonderful experiment at the moment.

Substack, where, after an hour of my own research into accounts I deeply admire, I find that the highest annual “paid” charge is £70, and the average paid charge is closer to £35 (that’s without taking Substack/ Stripe fees into account).

I’ll just type that again. The average annual charge per subscriber (based only on the research of c. 30 accounts I looked at) is £35 gross per annum.

I’ve been agonising about paid options on Substack, because (deep breath) I’ve been wondering if many of us are undervaluing our work on here, and I’ve been feeling all tangled up and confused about it.

I published a note on Substack earlier today:

…and I’ve been feeling slightly sick ever since (but spoiler alert, this story does have a happy ending…)

For the past few weeks and months I’ve been looking at:

1. what I charge for all of my services, and why that’s the case;

2. what others charge for similar services, and if I think it’s worth it (and what the comparable market rate is);

3. what my gut tells me.

That lovely, squashy post-Christmas gut has been whispering this:

“we give too much of ourselves away here if we’re not careful, because we worry we’re not giving enough “good value” or that it’s not “worth it.”

Urgh, there’s that nausea back. Have you felt it too? What to do, Laura, what to do?

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In my case: STICK TO THE FACTS and then COMMIT TO A DECISION. Here are six of them¹, before I get to my offer to you.

(Stick with me: I think you’ll enjoy the facts and the offer.)

FACT 1:

Substack is a creative force of good for me, and a wonderful place to make friends, but importantly also it is part of my business funnel. For those not familiar with business jargon, the traditional “funnel” starts wide and open, perhaps with a free or very low-cost offer, and gradually narrows. As it does so the financial ask from the customer/ client is greater, but the desirability/ offering grows in value/ desire.

In my coaching and mentoring offering this looks like starting with dozens of valuable free PDFs that people can download from my website (use the code CHRISTMAS at checkout), my value-packed social posts online and my podcast, and gradually narrows from online workshops, to group courses, to my intimate group coaching community to working 121 with me/ employing me as a speaker/ corporate coach for your company).

Therefore I need to work out where Substack fits in my “funnel.”

FACT 2:

Some people are “just” offering their essays and writing on here, without any additional extras like workshops, community threads, live events, paid podcasts. Other people are using it to host whole courses, provide weekly online meet-ups, host live events. Neither of these approaches are wrong, but which feels right to me?

I would never host a course that cost £35 a year. I feel it undervalues my work and creates an unsustainable market rate.² I am very uncomfortable charging less than £29 full-price for one of my workshops (early-bird prices are less and I always offer a pay what you can afford. At key points in my business year I also use free workshops to form part of my funnel). Therefore it seems completely counter-intuitive to me to charge £35 a year when I want to include workshops as part of a paid offering.

FACT 3:

I don’t know what writers get paid per word/ per book. I know it’s not enough in nearly every single instance. It’s the same in my world of professional music: yes we’ve democratised music with streaming platforms, but we’ve also made it very hard to make a living from creation alone. What I believe is: “just because some devalue the work of writers doesn’t mean I should devalue my work and the work of others.”

FACT 4:

I am happy to pay to subscribe to few publications here, because “a few” is all I have time for. Those who are around £3.50 a month have made me gasp, because I can’t believe it’s the same price as a flat white (it’s Surrey, U.K. and we pay too much for hot milk and caffeine here). Those that are more, I’m fine with also.

Am I loaded? No. Particularly in January, when singing is verrrry quiet and people are–quite understandably–debating if they can afford to work with me 121 or in Simplicity Unlocked (the two majority streams of my coaching and mentoring income).

I don’t have an abundance of income, and I have three kids to support (which is a great privilege and a choice I was lucky enough to make). But subscriptions on here are a justifiable business expense for me, a source of nourishment for my soul, and absolutely worth it.

FACT 5:

Just because my research showed that the average annual charge was £35, doesn’t mean that this is a hard and fast rule. Some with massive lists are tearing up their rule-book and charging £10 a month. Others are putting everything on here for free, because it feels right for them.

The privilege of a large list makes it easier to make choices. And it isn’t whinging or complaining to suggest otherwise. Some bring over massive lists. Others write about something of the zeitgeist and just “get it right.” Others graft and graft and it eventually clicks. But there is no doubt that the volume of subscribers = greater financial success is the most popular model for Substackians right now, more so if they were already loyal and committed readers.

FACT 6:

We have to be very, very clear about what we’re offering “of value” here, as we do in all our transactional services, and we have to be comfortable with saying our prices out loud, to others and to ourselves.

My 6 month 121 coaching and mentoring package is priced at £2200 (no-interest payment plans are of course used in many instances). I’m very proud of this offering. I love working with my clients and they’ve had absolutely incredible outcomes as a result of our time together. I might raise the price in future, but right now it feels brilliant, and it’s my most popular service, closely followed by Simplicity Unlocked (which is an £150 a month service, though most people in the group right now are on a no-interest payment plan/ have completed a payment for lifetime access at closer to £1100).

I have no qualms about sharing this with you, because I know my value I offer is brilliant, that the price is of comparable market value and because I believe in it.

And so, to the offer.

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the offer

My darling reader: I invite you to join my paid membership on Substack: Life, Unlocked.

This is a precious community, where we explore what it means to live a life unlocked. It’s a community in which you can share openly and with real honesty, without feeling judged or embarrassed. It’s where we’ll discuss the things that matter to me, and that I think matter to you: what it means to be creative, how we feel about money, goals, the juggle, our family, our work choices, our energy, the seasons…

In detail you’ll get as part of the paid membership:

• a weekly “Life: Unlocked” diary post, including a weekly exercise/ affirmation/ reflection for you (this might be on goal setting, a money reflection, an exercise on clarity, or a journalling prompt, or a poem…)

• weekly chat threads for us to share called “My Weekly Inspiration and Frustration” (my zone of genius is creating communities you treasure, and these will have brilliant prompts, ideas, affirmations…)

• guest posts entitled: “The Creative Spark: Unlocked” from Substackers you won’t want to miss (and hopefully some video Q and As with them!)

• all comments turned on

• a monthly Q and A based upon the workshop I’m offering that month, with a discount to attend the workshop in full and gain access to all resources aligned to it.

When I’m happier still with this I’ll turn it into a graphic, because I’m a visual and kinaesthetic learner and the former helps me (so it might do you, also).

Simplicity Unlocked community: you get free access to all of this (I’ll put it in an email to you), plus our weekly coaching and co-working, Voxer/ Whatsapp chat and never more than 15 of us including me. I love you loves.

As a founder you get all the above, plus a 90 minute 121 call coaching and mentoring call (the Unlock Intensive).

As a free subscriber if you’re part of my coaching and mentoring world you’ll still get emails from Flodesk and sometimes on Substack about all that wonderful stuff. You’ll get a fortnightly post about the crux of my Substack: Life Unlocked, and a monthly chat thread.

The cost? Life, Unlocked membership is £7 a month or £70 a year for now, because the monthly rate is the equivalent to two coffees a month in Surrey, and I want to feel like we’re always sharing a cuppa or a flat white together in this group experience.

Founding members pay £165, which is the equivalent of one of my 90 minute 121 intensive sessions (one of which we’ll have together when you sign up).

Ok, exhale. This feels good. What do you think? Will you come and join Life: Unlocked? (oh yeah, I changed the whole name of my Subby, but what’s in a name?!)

Laura x

1. I refer entirely to “THE FACTS” as I find them for MYSELF, not for you, though perhaps some of them will resonate with you. I also observe that I am not trying to make myself or you comfortable in this piece of writing. The people-pleaser within is unhappy about this.

2. (It’s akin to the lifestyle coaches and mentor who “do a bit on the side” but “don’t need the money” and so don’t really charge for their time - because it’s like a hobby to them - sweet, but what about the rest of us who need to pay for stuff with our income from coaching and mentoring?)