Are you in or out? 'Ramble On with Buffa' is becoming more exclusive
If ten months can't convince one to subscribe, what will? Let's talk about it.
Happy dreary Monday, everyone! We're in the thick of the work week, a sad sign that the weekend is over. The mile-long stare towards Friday has begun, but time is moving and that means that Tuesday isn't too far away. With that, I have some news about this newsletter...
IT'S GOING TO BE EXCLUSIVE NOW--LIKE FOR REAL THIS TIME.
No, it wasn't that way before. When I started the Ramble On newsletter in January, the idea was to make some money while delivering people, BBQ, and other food to the masses. A freelance mechanism that did well for a few months but stalled out eventually, so a new method has to take shape.
In moving the content away from KSDK News and putting it on my own websites-Dose of Buffa, Twitter Revue newsletter included-the idea was to earn money off my words. However, when the paid subscriptions started drying up, I ended up leaning into getting more subscribers total. It kind of worked, if 166 subscribers after ten months in operation is a good thing. Paid subscribers: 38.
Some of those are gifted paid subscriptions, the result of not wanting close friends or family to pay for the monthly fee. But that's not a good long-term plan for a seasoned writer like myself. If this were 2011 and I was just starting to write online, I'd keep it free for another year at least. But that's not what I am doing.
WHAT'S GOING TO BE DIFFERENT THEN?
Instead of publishing something here and then posting it on the internet, it will only go to email subscribers now. Twitter likes to hide articles that don't line up with their model, and the traffic coming to the newsletter from there is so weak. The mindset behind that initiative is to get writers and content folks to use their newsletter function: Revue. Something that I have already fired up.
So, the Substack newsletter will be email-only. Dose of Buffa's movie articles will remain free, and the Revue-powered Diary of St. Louis's Stupidest Man will transform into a cannabis conversational and informative blog.
Dose: FREE
Cannabis Diary: FREE
Ramble On Newsletter: NOT FREE and EMAIL EXCLUSIVE.
Yes, some of the Ramble On posts will be paid. If not, I am giving it all away for free. I have too many words published on the internet (look me up on Muck Rack for confirmation) to dish it all away for nothing. So, every THIRD post here will be paid. I usually make the first 3-6 graphs of a story free before laying down the paywall. Five dollars a month or a whopping $46 per year isn't too much to ask.
Bottom Line: You're going to have to climb over this anger wall to get ALL the goods, but it will be exclusive to your inbox.
Are you in or are you out? The latest post. recapping the Cards' early playoff exit, is a paid post. A part of it is free and readable, but the last 2/3 of it will not be free. That's the world we're living in, so I'm parking my car here for now.
Yes, it could change or take another form. One of the benefits of operating your own blog or website is you are the worker and boss. I hope you decide to take this ride with me. If not, catch my smaller dispatches on Facebook or Twitter.
