Ride My Passion Train

For zero dollars, anyone can create a profile on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, or YouTube and consume endless videos, memes, photos, opinions, personal stories, and celebrity intrigue.

They have no paywall.

You are the product. You allow them to learn everything about you in real time, and in exchange for giving up your privacy and tolerating an occasional targeted ad, you get to vegetate on free content until the cows come home.

Why on earth would anyone pay a monthly fee to receive a weekly or monthly newsletter, a series of short stories, an original song, or video, when so much content is offered free of charge?

What makes me so special?

Why should someone pay to read my stories, or hear me sing, or see me dance? (Hint: My writing is worth something; I’d have to pay members to watch me sing and dance.)

Is my writing so compelling that someone other than my best friend would pay every month to read it?

The answer is maybe….and that's because I'm beginning to perfect the art of the tease.

I have found three general categories of writing that are intriguing, seem to pull readers in, and hold them:

1. How-To-Be-Great-Like-Me: These are the headlines like: “How I made $8,154 in one month writing about How I made $8154 in One Month” or “My Post Went Viral…Hahaha…Sorry You’re a Loser, But Here’s How You Can Copy Me and Go Viral Too” I’ll admit, I click on these, but they typically make me feel jealous and inferior, and frankly, I don’t always believe they’re factual.

2. The-Piggyback-Technique: This is when a ‘wanna-be’ searches the social media platforms for a celebrity or influencer who did something outrageous and “piggybacks” off their fame by writing an article about it. This is very common on YouTube where some people get millions of views cutting and pasting celebrity scandals and commenting on them.

3. I’ve-Got-To-Know-The-Rest-of-the-Story: This is my general category. Hook the reader with a tease, slowly reel them in, then deliver a satisfying ending or resolution. Here’s an example: “In high school, while sneaking a smoke, I noticed the car next to me was rocking back and forth.” https://vocal.media/confessions/the-married-man-the-school-secretary-and-the-rabbi

Making Money, Honey

We have to be realistic about two things: 1. Are we producing something valuable enough that someone is willing to pay for it? and 2. What price point makes sense, when for ten or fifteen dollars a month people can subscribe to music and video platforms (Spotify, Netflix) offering millions (or billions) of options?

My strategy is to offer micro-memberships. That is, charging as low as $1 or $2 a month for exclusive content. If you write romance, perhaps put your most erotic material behind a paywall and charge for it, while continuing to offer most of your stories free as a “hook”.

I am intrigued with Memberful's potential synergy as an add on to a personal website or potentially an already existing platform. It seems like it will reduce or eliminate the need to move followers or subscribers around, seamlessly offering membership without disturbing the existing content.

Many of us emerging writers are searching and squirming around the digital space for writing platforms offering us the most exposure, and will benefit from a simple pathway to monetization.

The digital, social media world is enormously crowded and it’s difficult to garner attention and stand out.

But for many of us, we don’t have a choice. We must create. We must write. We must share our thoughts with the world.

It becomes a biological need like breathing and eating.

It percolates in your blood.

It takes over your thoughts.

It must be expressed.

Ride that bliss.

Produce.

Create.

Never give up.

Over time, your passion will shine through.

You will find your audience.

You will find your members.

You will find your voice.

Write on.