Over the last few months I’ve been focusing on one big project, my book proposal. Big projects are wonderful at completion but they are also risky.
Like looking for a flashlight in the dark, I was feeling a little stumped trying to find new income ideas. I considered writing another ebook this year, but I wanted to do something different. I didn’t want the product to cost a lot of money, but certainly needed to find a way to sustain my creativity.
A tweet from Crystal Silver describing letter.ly ignited my interest. Her tweet prompted me to subscribe to her newsletter and I realized that letter.ly was the wonderful new medium I was looking for.
Through letter.ly I can share ideas about happiness, simple living, culture, and updates on my print book without having to charge a big up front cost like an ebook.
I love writing on RowdyKittens. I get a lot of emails and lovely comments from readers, but amazingly I only hear back from 5 percent of the total subscribers. In a lot of ways, I’ve been searching for deeper connections with readers. The letter.ly service has given me that and more. I’ve been surprised by the open and honest responses I’ve received from readers.
Thoughts on Pricing . . .
Whether you are running your own business or looking for a traditional job pricing is something you have to consider. If you love what you do, you have to find a way to sustain your efforts. My colleagues argue that $2.00 a month for my letter.ly subscription is too low and that I’m undervaluing my written content. They may be right but I would rather open my work up to more folks with a smaller price point than write to only a few readers with a greater subscription price. Also, I reserve the right to increase the price at anytime.
Pricing products can be difficult. If you’re anything like me and struggle with this topic, consider incorporating some of the following tips into your overall strategy.
1. Develop a survey.
Survey’s are a fantastic way to get feedback, especially if you already have a blog or an email subscription list. It’s cheap and easy because you can send it electronically. For example, late last year I surveyed readers about the type of content they wanted to see on RowdyKittens. In the survey, readers were interested in supporting this site through some kind of subscription service. [click to continue…]