Everyone wants to calculate a free to paid newsletter conversion rate by [total paid subscribers] / [total free subscribers]. While the math is correct, you have to account for conversions over time.

A free audience doesn't convert to paid all in one go.
You're really tracking the current free vs paid *ratio* for your list.

A conversion rate should be based on a cohort or a campaign. For example: "My automated upgrade pitch email sequence has a 7% conversion rate."

Or: "The Cyber Monday campaign had a 5% conversion rate."
@benedictevans *currently* has a 1.5% free to paid conversion ratio, but the paid newsletter has only been around for 5 months. Over time his conversion ratio will increase as he promotes the paid offering more.

$250k+ ARR is great!

Benedict also kept the free newsletter exactly the same. If he moved more of the free offering behind a paywall then he would drive more conversions, but the most paid subscribers isn't the only goal.

There's still immense value in a free newsletter.
.@lennysan has an 8-9% free to paid ratio after 9 months. He puts 3/4 of his content behind the paywall and has a stronger call to action to upgrade.

I've seen free to paid ratios as high as 20%, but most sit in the 7-12% range.
Here are three things you can do today to drive more paid subscribers:

1. Add an automated email sequence to pitch upgrades.

2. Use conditional content to talk to free and paid subscribers differently in the same email.

3. Move more content behind the paywall.
But keep in mind the best goals are the most revenue AND reach. You may be better off with a lower free to paid ratio, but a much faster growing free list.

Make sure the metric you are focusing on is right for your business and audience.

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More from @nathanbarry

9 Sep
Can you start a billion dollar blog?

In 2010 Emily Weiss, a fashion assistant at Vogue, started her own fashion blog. She bought a camera, domain, & 2 months later the site was live. Into the Gloss showcased the real-world beauty routines of fashion influencers & celebrities.
10 years later, what do you think the site is worth? Millions? 10s of millions?

While that would be an insane success for a blog, it’s not even close to the correct answer of $1.2 billion. She turned it into the beauty brand Glossier.

Billion dollar blogs aren't rare. A thread:
I'm on that journey with @ConvertKit. I started with earning a living from a blog on marketing & design. Then I used that audience to launch a SaaS company now earning $24M/yr.

It will take years, but we're on a path to create $1B in company value.

There are 4 key principles:
Read 12 tweets
3 Aug
Last fall I bought a 4-plex in Nampa (a suburb of Boise) to turn into an airbnb with the help of 2 friends.

Each unit is ~900 sq ft (2 bed, 1.5 bath). Purchase price: $339,000. We had to pay cash because it was in such poor condition.

Here's a thread about how it all went:
2 units were poorly remodeled, 2 units had serious issues including water damage & needed to be taken down to studs.

We estimated $130k in remodeling expenses with Patrick (one of the partners) doing the construction work. But quickly went over as HVAC was far more expensive.
We replaced all the windows, doors, siding, roof, plumbing, flooring, etc. Work started in October and by mid-December we had the first unit ready for Airbnb.

Winter is always slow here, but we still made $764 over the holidays as we picked up the first couple reviews.
Read 12 tweets
19 May
We’ve been focusing on building tools for @ConvertKit power users. After releasing our free plan we’ve seen more power users sign up after getting a chance to play with CK on small projects for free.

Here’s a sample of what we’ve built the last 6 months with power users in mind:
1) Edit links *after* an email has been sent



Making a mistake in a link to tens of thousands of fans is costly. Fixing it in seconds is priceless.

This doesn’t exist on any other email platform.
2) Better performance

Power users are constantly pushing the limits of performance. Whether it's larger lists (many millions of subscribers!) or more complex visual automations.

We've rewritten a lot of how automations perform to handle more subscribers & more complexity.
Read 15 tweets
3 Apr
Public opinion is that if you knew to sell stocks in February you had to have inside information.

But...we all did. The pandemic coming out of China was widely publicized, most just didn't believe it.

I sold 25% of my stock on February 24th on that news. Now I wish I sold more!
The Dow dipped to 18k before climbing back on the stimulus news, but it can't stay there. Unemployment claims are through the roof and this next recession will be very deep:



So what should you do? Sell everything? Probably not.
If you're young, focus on earning money right now. Keep any automated investments going and keep investing. Then soon (I'd say when we drop below 15-17k) move even more cash in.

I'm keeping my weekly investments going just like before to buy all the way down.
Read 4 tweets
13 Mar
Now that COVID-19 is a full pandemic we know many creators will soon be in a tough spot.

Today at @ConvertKit we are announcing The Creator Fund: a $50,000 fund to help cover rent, childcare, medical expenses, or groceries for any creator who needs it.

creatorfund.ck.page
As creators ourselves we know just how hard it is to run your venture through unstable times.

So whether you need money to buy groceries, pay for childcare now that school is canceled, medical expenses, or contribute towards a rent/mortgage payment, we'd like to help.
You can read the full post here: convertkit.com/creator-fund

Just tell us what your need is and we'll cover up to $500. With a $50,000 fund we know we can't help everyone, but we'd love to help at least 100 creators who will really be struggling in the next few weeks.
Read 5 tweets
13 Sep 19
Are you thinking about starting a vlog? I considered it for years, but it wasn't until I hired an editor and made a system that it actually started to work.

While I'm far from professional, here's my process:
1. Shoot footage on my phone and DJI Osmo Pocket on a trip. Remembering to grab b-roll and narration shots.

2. After I get home drop all the footage into Dropbox to be uploaded to Daniel, my editor.

3. He watches it all and puts together a rough cut.
4. I watch the rough cut and read his notes on how the story is working, what shots are missing, and recommendations for how I could have captured better footage for next time.

5. From there I provide my own feedback, suggest changes to the text, flow, and story.
Read 8 tweets

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