Writers, How To Decide Whether To Keep it Free or Paid?

We all have a desire that wants everything for free. So how can you sell to this world?

I have noticed lately that some big companies tend to make available some of their services for free and reserve others for paid. Not to mention there are some exceptions. Nevertheless most companies seem to be in this spot.

I like to call this the freemium model—some services for free and others are paid. It is simply the combination of word FREE and PREMIUM. There are countless examples of companies that use this like Microsoft (Microsoft 365 Suite), Spotify (Spotify Premium), Amazon (Amazon Prime)—you got the point.

So do they randomly select features and throw them in one of the two baskets (free and premium)? Obviously NO, you’d say. Then why we, as individual creators, do that?

As a writer/author you write a heap of different things—from your random thoughts to ultra-sophisticated reports or reviews. From email newsletters to blog. But have you made anything paid only to realise that nobody wants to pay for it?

It is humans’ tendency to want everything for free—especially in online world. We want to read news and articles for free, listen to songs for free, watch videos for free and play games for free. AND IT HAS ALREADY BEEN MADE POSSIBLE.

It is one of the signs that we can’t go all-paid from start. It is commonly said that PROVIDE THEM VALUE UNTIL THEY LEARN TO VALUE THEM. That’s what’s happening to us, isn’t it? We started to value our listening experience so much that we’re ready to eradicate ads from in between them for a monthly fee.

So let’s get back to point. What I want to say is that you’ve got to show them value in free stuffs and not try to reserve everything special—or you think is special—for paid customers. First go all FREE. Provide them with value as much as you possibly can. Then try to add something new to it and include it in paid version.

Like if you already have a blog and you’re getting eyeballs then you can announce that you’re starting a paid newsletter or other members-only blog with features XYZ. More people are likely to sign up if you go this way than to start all paid.

As a Writer How Can You Earn?

I’ll go short here.

• From blog and/or newsletter
• From book sales (obviously!)
• You can try affiliate marketing
• YouTube or podcast
• Through brands and/or sponsorships
• From sites like Patreon.com, Buymeacoffee.com, etc

So you can see there are a plenty of ways to make money as a writer. Make sure to focus long-term and not on quick cash. Try to leverage your already built community to accelerate your progress.

So Now Tell Me Whether To Keep it Free or Paid?

So let’s start with free:

• As your website is free (obviously!) you should consider keeping your BLOG free so it should remain accessible to everyone. It will help you make funnel that will convert your audience to paid customers.
• Your social media channels are free—and you should be present there. As people will first search you there when they get excited to know more about you, like after reading your book. If you’re not there, they’ll probably give up and would never search you again. Oops! You lost an opportunity. If you regularly post quality content there, you’re all set to want them pay you.
• YouTube and podcasts are free.

Now comes paid:

• Newsletter is a good option to be put in paid basket as not many people subscribe to a newsletter compared to that follow or subscribe button no matter it’s free or paid. This implies that they’re your loyal fans and you can charge something extra to make them stick to you.
• Your books are paid.
• You can monetize your Medium page if you think most of your readers are already premium members.
• Affiliate programs, YouTube and places like Patreon will generate revenue for you.

I think you got an idea how to position you offerings to make most off your efforts. It is a win-win situation for you and your readers.

Hello, I’m Vritant. Consider following me if you like this article. That’d be super helpful to me.

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