Three questions to consider before monetising your newsletter

Simply turning on paid is not a strategy for long-term success.

Have you been thinking about turning your newsletter into something more than just a hobby?

You might have seen others do it. You might be newer to Substack, and you’ve been wondering whether this really is the new media (spoiler: I think so). Perhaps the ‘turn on paid’ part of your dashboard has finally got to you.

That’s great. But getting people to subscribe and pay for your writing isn’t as simple as flipping a switch. It takes a lot to run a successful paid newsletter on Substack, and you should be sure that this decision is the right one for you.

So if you’re thinking of taking that next step, take the time to ask yourself these three specific, practical questions.

The next cohort of bestsellers on Substack won’t look any different from someone like you. With a little work and consistency, there’s no reason you couldn’t be one of them.

Let’s take a look.

Do I have enough time for this?

Look, let’s be clear here. Adding a paywall to a Substack newsletter does not automatically mean you will make even a part-time income, let alone full-time. It takes time, energy and a lot of forward planning to run a monetised Substack newsletter successfully.

When I started on Substack, I was in between projects. I’d recently had some work come to an end, and had a gap before this picked up again. I was regularly pitching both freelance features and various companies for copywriting, but ultimately had a lot of free time to play around with.

I was also single and childless. It’s not lost on me that this is a luxury when it comes to running a Substack newsletter. It’s not just your professional life you need to consider. I mean, these are all factors to think about when you’re writing a book, but there are always ways to make time for this creative outlet.

To really make a success of Substack, you have to think of it more like a part-time job than you do a blog you write in your spare time. Yes, you absolutely can do the latter, but if you’re serious about turning your words into money, be ready for the sheer volume of time that you’ll need to spend to get to that point.

Because running a paid newsletter isn’t just about writing more. It’s about offering consistent value, whatever that looks like. It might mean deep dives, Q&As, video content, workshops, discounts or something else.

Whatever it is that works for your newsletter, it will take longer than you think to build out.

Be prepared that monetising, with a commitment for paid-only posts, is a serious thing. Unless you’re prepared to refund, you have to be prepared to keep producing content even when it doesn’t feel worthwhile. And trust me: It won’t always feel like that.

Be honest with yourself. Can you deliver paid-only content regularly, without resentment, guilt or panic? If not, you can always wait. There’s no deadline to doing this, and free newsletters can be extremely successful on their own.