I come today bearing GIFTS :-)
(More on that in a moment.)
First, while this may come as a surprise…
In a typical week, it takes me a full day to write this newsletter.
And last week, for [#029] An EPIC Look Back at 2024 it actually took me a full two days to write.
In other words, to produce a newsletter like this every single week – it is a commitment.
(And not a small one.)
And now that we’re 30 weeks in, I’ve been thinking about the future of The Digital Contrarian and the possible paths ahead to make it viable to continue this newsletter going forward…
* * *
As I’ve mentioned previously, my word for this year – 2025 – is Discovery.
(If you don’t have a “word” or theme for your year, I highly recommend considering adopting the practice – as I wrote about in [#027] Your Strategic Content Ecosystem. And now that we’re just a few days into the new year, no – it’s not too late.)
In the context of The Digital Contrarian – “discovery” this year means introducing my work and writing to new readers.
In other words, for this newsletter to be discovered by significantly more people.
That’s my goal.
This goal ties to the book I’m working on currently, and my goal of getting this next book into the hands of (and read by) as many people as possible when it’s released…
Now, in terms of this newsletter going forward…
There are three basic options to make a newsletter like this economically viable…
Option #1
You can sell advertising. This is what Tim Ferris does.
The move here is that you sell advertising in your newsletter (i.e. the typical ad-supported content model) and then take the ad revenue you generate, and spend that revenue on ads you run to drive people to your newsletter.
Economically, this can work. But editorially, it can be restrictive (you can be beholden to the advertisers you ultimately serve.)
And often, the advertising can become over-the-top and egregious.
(I mean, have you read or listened to Tim Ferris’s stuff recently?? It’s ad after ad after ad after ad… )
And this isn’t the type of reader experience I want to provide to you. (Nor do I think it’s one that you would enjoy.)
Which brings us to…
Option #2:
You can charge for it. This is what Anne Helen Petersen does with her newsletter.
The model here is to charge anywhere from $5 to $50 / month (or in some cases, significantly more) to get access to content as a paid subscriber.
This allows you to produce a publication like this and not have to run advertising to support it.
A number of people have recommended that I do this.
And I’ve thought about this as a possibility.
BUT – as I’ve previously written, information wants to be free.
And with a few exceptions (e.g. books, for instance) when a creator / writer charges for information, because of this unspoken law that “information wants to be free” – it can create resentment with your readers…
(After all, how many times have you been forwarded an online article from something like the Economist or WSJ or NYT from a friend – only for it to be gated content. Super annoying, right?)
So this also isn’t the reader experience I want to provide for you…
Which brings us to…
Option #3:
You can subsidize a free newsletter by periodically offering paid programs and opportunities to your readers – which a small number of readers will invest in.
Like for example, the intimate, high-level “Return to Real” event I’m hosting in-person March 8-9th in Boston, for 8-10 people for $5K (which is almost filled up already by the way…)
AND my virtual Strategy Advisory Group Mastermind that meets together every month starting at $1K/month – which I’ll be opening 2 spots into later this month…)
BTW – If you’re interested in either of these opportunities, be sure to send me an email, because I expect the remaining spots in both of these to go quickly as soon as I offer them up publicly in the coming days…
* * *
Now, if you’re a reader of this newsletter – and you’re not in a position to either invest in attending the upcoming live, in-person event or apply to join my paid virtual mastermind this month…
How can you help ensure that The Digital Contrarian continues to be a free publication – and isn’t overrun with advertising?
Well, this brings me to my simple ASK (and my corresponding GIFT) for you here today.
First, my GIFT to you is this:
Over the last few weeks, my team has been working really really hard to make the past issues of The Digital Contrarian available so you can go back and read (and reference) the ones you’ve missed.
Some people suggested that we charge to get access to all the back issues – but as a valued reader and subscriber, I ultimately wanted to make these available to you for free…
And I’m excited to announce that we now have the most recent nine (9) issues available for you to read starting today.
In fact, here are the LINKS to each of these nine (9) issues:
Farm. Books. Travel. Business. And What’s Next…
The Secret to Financial Success, Living Authentically & The “Return to Real” Movement Taking Shape in the World Right Now…
The Nature of Secrets, 3 Controversial Marketing Predictions, & How to Design Your “Strategic Content Ecosystem” for 2025…
Three Surprising Observations, And A Simple (But Powerful) AI Prompt…
Contrarian Thinking, & The “Scaleability” of Half-Baked, Unpopular Ideas…
A “Loophole” that’s Closing, & The Future of Commerce…
Play-by-Play Panic (& The #1 Marketing Lesson from My Whirlwind Trip to the UK…)
And A Simple Morning Routine that Could Change Your Life…
And The BIG Decision I Made Earlier this Week…
* * *
Now, my small ASK of you is this:
If you’ve enjoyed or benefited from this free newsletter at any point over the last few weeks or months, my humble ASK is this:
That you share it.
(I’ll explain how in just a moment.)
First, here’s how this benefits you:
When you share this newsletter, it means that I don’t have to pay to run advertising to drive people to subscribe…
And if I don’t have to run advertising, then I can keep this newsletter free for you to read…
(And I don’t have to clutter the reading experience by selling a whole bunch of advertising in it…)
Which I think is an overall winning equation…
So…. How DO you share it?
Simple :-)
Step 1:
Scroll through those links that I just shared with you above….
Step 2:
Pick one issue that you’ve enjoyed or that catches your eye…
Step 3:
Copy / paste the link and forward it to a friend by email, text, or message…
In your note, let them know why you’ve enjoyed reading this newsletter, and why you think they would enjoy it as well.
(Or you can do the same thing, but post it on Facebook, or Instagram, or LinkedIn… or whatever platform on which you’re most active. Make sure to TAG me if you do :-)
BTW – If you want to send your friend to the page to access ALL the archives (and where they can also subscribe) you can send them to this link here:
And that’s it!
It’ll take just a minute to do that…
It’ll mean the world to me…
And most importantly, it’ll help ensure that this newsletter continues to be written…
And continues to be made available for free…
(And by the way, after you share – please shoot me a short email to let me know so I can personally say thank you :-)
* * *
Okay, I’m going to leave you with that for now…
This week is an opportunity to catch up.
For you to catch up on any past issues that you may have missed…
(Feel free to take the weekend to “Binge Read” all nine of those issues above.)
And frankly, it’s an opportunity for me to catch up as well.
As I mentioned, last week’s issue took me two full days to produce (I’m talking 20+ hours…)
And I currently have 48+ replies to my newsletter remaining from the last two weeks that I’ve had on my list to personally reply to myself, which I haven’t been able to get to…
So if you wrote to me at some point in the last two weeks – and haven’t heard back, you now know that I’m catching up :-)
Okay.
I’m going to wrap this one up here for the day…
Have a GREAT rest of your week…
And remember to hug the ones you love…
Until next week,
Ryan :-)
