Great question! I've sold a few ads in my newsletter. And I do consider doing classified ads -- would actually love to think about it more someday. Right now I kind of have my hands full!
If I do start running classified ads, I'd like to do it the way Ann Friedman and Josh Spector do theirs -- clear pricing and scheduling, with ways to buy their ads on their sites, so you can make the request and buy them online (without having to email back and forth with me).
I wish I could tell you I had a strategy! I started a few of them in the second half of 2019, and it just snowballed from there. Once you get a rhythm of doing them every week, people start showing up as a habit.
One more thing I'd add is, I try to get readers to share themselves and what's going on with them. I've experimented with a number of different kinds of topics (all related to running), and I've found the simplest questions usually elicit the best responses from readers -- there's a great principle from UX design called "don't make me think" and I think it holds true. Questions that allow me as a reader to share a little of who I am are the ones that get me thinking, you know?
How do you interact with your paid subscribers? Are you just sending them running plans? Or have you fostered a sense of community where they can interact with each other?
Hey Simon! One way is through weekly discussion threads -- I do those (almost) every week on Fridays, and they're just a blast as a way to connect and "hang out" with my readers virtually. We also have a private Strava group that we train together through, with a leaderboard of who's run the most miles every week, and running challenges there. I post weekly training plans there (and in the newsletter), so it gives us a sense of doing our running together, even though we're spread all around the world.
Your free email list is pretty large. Do you have any plans to sell sponsorships or classifieds there?
Great question! I've sold a few ads in my newsletter. And I do consider doing classified ads -- would actually love to think about it more someday. Right now I kind of have my hands full!
If I do start running classified ads, I'd like to do it the way Ann Friedman and Josh Spector do theirs -- clear pricing and scheduling, with ways to buy their ads on their sites, so you can make the request and buy them online (without having to email back and forth with me).
I've noticed you use Substack's threads feature. What's your strategy there?
I wish I could tell you I had a strategy! I started a few of them in the second half of 2019, and it just snowballed from there. Once you get a rhythm of doing them every week, people start showing up as a habit.
One more thing I'd add is, I try to get readers to share themselves and what's going on with them. I've experimented with a number of different kinds of topics (all related to running), and I've found the simplest questions usually elicit the best responses from readers -- there's a great principle from UX design called "don't make me think" and I think it holds true. Questions that allow me as a reader to share a little of who I am are the ones that get me thinking, you know?
How do you interact with your paid subscribers? Are you just sending them running plans? Or have you fostered a sense of community where they can interact with each other?
Hey Simon! One way is through weekly discussion threads -- I do those (almost) every week on Fridays, and they're just a blast as a way to connect and "hang out" with my readers virtually. We also have a private Strava group that we train together through, with a leaderboard of who's run the most miles every week, and running challenges there. I post weekly training plans there (and in the newsletter), so it gives us a sense of doing our running together, even though we're spread all around the world.