Exercise: Turning on paid subscriptions
Open the channel. You don’t have to have it all figured out first!
Turning on paid subscriptions.
I hear the objections already. I’m not ready. I don’t have enough content yet. I haven’t figured out what my paid tier is going to look like. I need more subscribers first. I need to prove myself first.
I understand all of that. And I’m going to gently ask you to do it anyway.
Here’s why.
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This is about energetics as much as strategy
When you turn on paid subscriptions, you are doing something that goes beyond the practical. You are opening a channel. You are saying — to yourself, to the universe, to the people who will eventually find you — I am here, I am sharing my truth, and I am open to receive for it.
That matters.
The act of opening that channel, even before anyone walks through it, changes something in how you show up. It signals to yourself that what you’re building has value. That your words, your wisdom, your world — these things are worth something.
Most of us were never taught to believe that. Which is exactly why this step feels uncomfortable. And exactly why it’s worth doing before you feel ready.
You don’t need to have your paid tier fully defined. You don’t need a perfectly packaged membership programme waiting behind the paywall.
You just need to open the door.
The practical bit: what you need to know
Substack sets the default pricing at $8 USD per month or $80 USD per year — the annual option works out at a meaningful saving for your subscriber, which tends to encourage longer-term commitment.
You can adjust these prices to whatever feels right for your world and your audience. There’s no one right answer. But do think about this: your pricing says something about how you value what you’re offering. Price it in a way that feels aligned with that.
What could live behind your paid subscription?
This is where you get to think about what genuine value looks like for your particular person. Not what everyone else is doing, what makes sense for the world you’re building and the transformation you’re here to support.
Some ideas to spark your thinking:
The doing, not just the theory — your free content shares your thinking, your philosophy, your perspective. Your paid content goes deeper into the practical. The step-by-step. The actual how. The things people need to implement, not just understand.
More access to you — this might look like monthly live sessions, co-working calls, Q&As where subscribers can bring their real questions. For some people, proximity to the person behind the publication is the whole point.
Resources and toolkits — guides, templates, workbooks, frameworks — the actual tools that help your person move further and faster toward the transformation your work is about. Things they can use, not just read.
Subscriber-only content — posts, audio, video that goes to paid subscribers only. A deeper layer of your world that rewards the people who’ve chosen to invest in being here.
Community and connection — access to a space where your paid subscribers can find each other, share with each other, grow alongside each other.
You don’t have to offer all of these. You don’t have to offer any of them specifically. What you’re looking for is the thing that feels genuinely generous — the thing that makes your paid subscriber feel that what they’re receiving is worth more than what they’re paying.
A prompt to help you get clear
