Am I Just F%^cking Kidding Myself? Or is this value?

[theag]

Hiring 3 people (2 of them with no clue about the topic) for a 5€/month subscription business model with no sales yet sounds like a pretty darn good idea. Good luck.

 

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[tafy]

A free seo curated email, sign me up. $5 no thanks.

I think your going to need to do this yourself for the first few months, and please do the emails for free, once you have a list of 100k or something you will find a way to monetise it. Making it pay monthly will mean you fail super fast tbh.

 

[BigBrianC]

So Google alerts, but better

 

[ZCP]

maybe send them an email once a day asking what they need researched? then go fetch the material for them in a synopsis format w/ links if they want to dig deeper...... I would pay for that....

 

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[nzerinto]

To further my point about the "value" of the subscription I had, the reason I had no problem paying the monthly fee was it:

Saved me time (I didn't need to find these opportunities myself)
Saved me money (the time saved not having to do this research myself, or pay one of my staff to do it)
Made me money (I could then turn around and either resell the opportunity highlighted in the email, or use it as part of regular client work)


If you can address similar concerns for people in your target niche, and convince them of these types of benefits......


PS. You may note I refer to the subscription in the past tense. That's because it stopped being useful or applicable to me. So keep that in mind too....

 

[Esquire]

I'm skeptical ...

Would I pay for something like this ...?

Maybe ... if the person providing the service was named "Tim Ferriss" or "Dan Kennedy" or 'MJ DeMarco" ...

Otherwise ... Nope.

For me ... the value would come from knowing that the person providing the service was known ... and credible.

Otherwise ... why would I believe the person in charge knows his a$$ from his elbow ...?

For all I know ... the articles are being assembled some knucklehead who thinks Suze Orman gives brilliant financial advice.

See what I'm getting at ...?

If Tim Ferriss or MJ DeMarco tell me ... "You want to read this" ... I will.

Because they are a proven product. And I trust their judgment.

But if some unproven stranger tells me ... "You want to read this" ... I highly doubt it.

Could be the exact same article. Or the exact same content. But to me ... it doesn't matter.

I would not pay for the content. I would only pay for the credibility.

No credibility = No interest.

You see this sort of stuff with copy writing and life coaches ... they are all mouthing the exact same stuff. So why does Dan Kennedy command the big bucks ... while 99 percent of the copywriters and life coaches struggle to earn a living wage ...?

Credibility. Dan Kennedy is Dan Kennedy. The imitators are not. Exact same content. But it makes all the difference in the world.

So unless you have some "amazing" credibility ... of the kind just mentioned ... put me down for "kidding myself."

 

[Basilius]

I'm the last one who wants to tell someone something won't work, but I still have a hard time getting my head around that idea. Here are my concerns:

• how do you find the people who would be willing to join this newsletter?
• as @Silverhawk851 mentioned, how will you know what people want/need specifically? I can be generally interested in one topic, but that doesn't mean I want to receive general articles or very specific ones that doesn't peak my interest (I'm very protective about my inbox and if I don't find value in an incoming email, I unsubscribe)
• how are you going to remove yourself from the process if you'd have to a) dig the articles yourself or b) pick the good articles that someone has already picked?
• if you hire someone to do that job for you, are they going to be thinking about providing value the same way you're? Won't hiring someone take some of your time in the end?
• where are you going to be looking for those articles? There are limited websites that create quality articles and you might run out of a content very quickly
• and I agree with @Esquire - if you don't have a name in my eyes, I won't listen what you're offering (until you prove that you have something interesting to offer)

Again, I'm not saying it's not doable, I'm just sharing what comes to my mind, so that you can give it a few thoughts.

 

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[biophase]

I mean take the fastlane, I love the forum... its full of great content... but would not necessary want an update of all posts from here going into my email, and even if I ONLY got emails updates from content related to SEO (the thing I am hypothetically interested in for this example)....90% of the posts would be useless to me and I'd still have to filter out what to read and what to skip.... but then there would be 10% Replies/Comments/Posts that are just ACE/GOLDEN...Those are the posts I am looking for and I would like to end up in my email inbox.

And thats basically what I want to do but in another niche/industry/vertical.

This is all about the content. If a person learns one new thing from each email, that they may have missed but not subscribing, and that one thing helps them out, they will pay for it.

 

[Andy Black]

This lady talks about paid for content, and even email newsletters. Might help.

www.freedomlovin.com/fl062-the-secrets-of-digital-sales-funnels-with-shola-abidoye/

 

[Andy Black]

maybe send them an email once a day asking what they need researched? then go fetch the material for them in a synopsis format w/ links if they want to dig deeper...... I would pay for that....

Smart. You don't even need to be an authority. Ask Jeeves 2.0.

 

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[ZCP]

Google valet.......

 

[ClaytonAlbright]

You could make an actual website that people could login to instead of just a newsletter. Then they can specify their interest. Integrate a thumbs up or thumbs down so once they read an article they can give you feedback if they liked it or not. If you had an algorithm over time it would know what that person is looking for more and more.

 

[Andy Black]

OP. I have been on various paid newsletters over the years. The ones I valued the most were the printed ones that came through the post. I still have them dotted about the house, and some on my bedside table. Of course there is a market, especially for people who value their time and/or will put a value on the information they gain. For me it was an easy sell since it was mostly copywriting tips, which I can justify to myself as a business expense.

 

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[Esquire]

This is all about the content. If a person learns one new thing from each email, that they may have missed but not subscribing, and that one thing helps them out, they will pay for it.

That's a big if ... one "new" thing ... that (actually) helps me out ... "every" day ...?

That is one hell of a high standard.

I subscribe to high value feeds ... that come close to that standard ... but I don't pay for them. Its just high quality content designed to entice me into subscribing to a paid premium service. And even there ... I am not biting. The free feeds work just fine by me.

Here's the thing ... free isn't free. Free costs "time" ... and if you want me to "spend" my time (much less spend my money) ... you need to give me one hell of an amazing USP. And I am not hearing it.

If I want to follow a certain topic ... I can set up Google news alerts ... subscribe to free blogs from credible sources ... free newsletters ... do a casual Google search while I'm laying in bed ... follow someone who is an expert on something on social media ... browse Wikipedia ... etc etc.

Why on Earth would I pay someone to search for me and substitute their judgment for mine ...?

Answer: I wouldn't.

Unless (as mentioned) the source had exceptional credibility right off that bat on the subject of making money.

High quality content is not enough. High quality content is the bare minimum.

To succeed ... you need to convince me (or whomever) you are a subject matter rock star ... and I am not hearing that.

And (more importantly) that you are the best option among all available options ( ... why you ... and not the next 100 other guys doing something similar ...?).

Super high hurdle.

This idea sounds no different than a blog ... the real value (if any) is using it to sell other products. It is not the product itself.

 

[tafy]

Don't listen to the doubters man, this whole thing depends on you to find great articles weekly and that's it, you don't need to be an authority as long as you deliver value.

 

[Esquire]

I agree.

Don't listen to the doubters.

Ignore the commandment of need.

Ignore the commandment of entry.

Forget about having a USP.

Pour your heart, soul and money into this crash and burn venture ... and go for it!

 

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[tafy]

Ignore the commandment of need.

Ignore the commandment of entry.

Need? I thought we covered this already, plenty of need for quality articles curated and collected and emailed to you personally every Monday. Even if you only read 1-2 of them you are thankful for the service offered.

Entry - Ok you may have a point here, but you need to build a big audience to make it a big barrier for any newcomer. So some hard work needed to maket the list, should not be hard if it's quality and free.

I actually wanted to start a curated email list a few months ago, but unfortunately my niche really sucks for content And most of the content is made by the competition. No way am I promoting rivals.

 

[Esquire]

Need? I thought we covered this already, plenty of need for quality articles curated and collected and emailed to you personally every Monday. Even if you only read 1-2 of them you are thankful for the service offered.

There is plenty of "need" ... for ketchup ... for gasoline ... for bread ... for ice cream ... you name it. The question is not whether there is a need ... the real question is whether there is an "unmet" need ... or whether he brings some "unique" value to the table ... that people are willing to pay for.

Unless he is a superstar in his industry ... I just don't see it.

 

[tafy]

Unless he is a superstar in his industry ... I just don't see it.

Lets say he starts a curated email list that finds 6 great articles about copywriting and conversion that's delivered to your inbox every Monday. You wouldnt give over your email for that service?

Personally I dont give a fig if it's a 15 year old kid or a superstar copywriter that curates it, all I care is that I see one article from the 6 that is interesting and I read. Even if the other 5 is of no interest to me.

Now maybe for you you need an authority to recommend things to you, I don't see why this is such a bonus.

If he hits it off and grows the list to be huge theres plenty of ways to gain from it, from promoted articles, other promotions or gaining authority himself in the niche which may lead to other things. Or to use it for his own fastlane in the future.

The possibilities are huge, you dont need to charge money for it at all, that would be the worst thing to do.

 

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[Esquire]

Lets say he starts a curated email list that finds 6 great articles about copywriting and conversion that's delivered to your inbox every Monday. You wouldnt give over your email for that service?

Personally I dont give a fig if it's a 15 year old kid or a superstar copywriter that curates it, all I care is that I see one article from the 6 that is interesting and I read. Even if the other 5 is of no interest to me.

Now maybe for you you need an authority to recommend things to you, I don't see why this is such a bonus.

If he hits it off and grows the list to be huge theres plenty of ways to gain from it, from promoted articles, other promotions or gaining authority himself in the niche which may lead to other things. Or to use it for his own fastlane in the future.

The possibilities are huge, you dont need to charge money for it at all, that would be the worst thing to do.

No ... I wouldn't.

Because if he lacks strong credibility ... I wouldn't give him the opportunity in the first place.

If MJ says something ... and the OP says the exact same thing ... word for word ... I will give what MJ said FAR more credibility ... than what the OP said. Because I trust MJs judgment. MJ is a proven product. The OP is not.

I only have so much time in any given day. I am not going to give "anyone" my time. And I am certainty not going to pay some unknown person for a service like that when there is so much high quality free stuff out there from highly credible sources.

Unless MJ is offering the service (or someone like him) no way am I parting with my cash.

Credibility matters.

 

[johnp]

Lets say he starts a curated email list that finds 6 great articles about copywriting and conversion that's delivered to your inbox every Monday. You wouldnt give over your email for that service?

I would pay a low monthly fee for a service like this. But my hold up would actually be the messages going to my inbox because that's one more thing that I have to worry about keeping track of. I don't know if other people get anxious about their inbox but I do. I also wouldn't want to log into a web based platform just to read the article.

I do most of my reading when I'm mobile. For example, if I'm waiting for my wife while she is shopping then I"ll open my phone and look for an article related to my niche so I can learn something in that short amount of time. So if you could offer a premium app option that pushes the articles to me when I'm mobile then I would pay more than $5.00/m for a service like this. Maybe just a simple app that displays a list of articles, whether or not they have been read, and a push notification when new articles are available.

 

[tafy]

I also wouldn't want to log into a web based platform just to read the article

I don't think you get the idea, Its an email with a list of links to great articles and that's it.

 

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[johnp]

I don't think you get the idea, Its an email with a list of links to great articles and that's it.

No I get it. I mentioned that I wouldn't want to log into a web based platform because I saw that someone suggested it. Either way, I wouldn't want to log into another website just to get read/get access to the links. And I'm not sure if I would want the links sent to my inbox, but most people probably wouldn't care. If the links get sent to an app then the app could be setup to open the links in a web view within the app...

Anyway, I think that the concept does provide value to people.

 

[tafy]

If the links get sent to an app then then the app could be setup to open the links in a web view within the app...

I think I understand you, but the app would use the web browser to render the website anyway so its near the same thing. Well you are a app guy so I can see the love of apps An app would be nice to collate all these curated email services, now that is a fastlane idea!

 

[johnp]

I think I understand you, but the app would use the web browser to render the website anyway so its near the same thing.

Exactly, you're right. It is basically the same thing. The main difference is that an app would provide another way to keep it all organized and focused. I think it's a good idea regardless of how the links are delivered. But here's what I"m thinking..

Let's say that I have an email with 5 links. I might click on two of the links but move onto something else..but then I still have 3 more links to articles that I will need to go back to. But maybe I can't get around to it for a couple of days. During that time the emails have piled up and maybe another email with links came through. Now I have to spend more time to dig up the old email. It probably doesn't matter that much, but if I ever paid for a service like this then I would be paying because the service saves me time. If I have to spend more time organizing the articles then I might get pissed off and cancel my subscription.

I think that providing a way to keep things organized would add more value to the service..and it doesn't have to be through an app. I'm just thinking out loud, I could be completely wrong.

 

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[mikey3times]

Why in the hell would I use a website to order a limo? I don't travel!

Why in the hell would I buy a piece of plastic to cover my paint brush? I buy cheap paintbrushes and throw them away when I am finished!

Why in the hell would I buy an anti-rape device when all it does is make a loud noise? A whistle costs a dollar!

Why in the hell would I buy $200 sunglasses when CVS sells them for $12?

My point is that Esquire isn't the OP's audience. OP needs to determine if there is an audience in his niche willing to pay for a newsletter. Just because there is 1 guy or 1000 guys not willing to fork over cash, doesn't mean there isn't 1 or 1000 other guys willing to pay.

So, now...how does he TEST his idea?

And if the paid route doesn't work, can he go the sponsored route? Quartz is doing amazing things with their free newsletter. So much so that I signed up just to see what they are doing.

[Edited to add...]
The reason the Quartz newsletter is doing so well is because they found out what their readers want...and they give it to them.

https://medium.com/@mia/getting-real-survey-answers-out-of-smart-busy-people-778f5a98e4c6

http://insights.qz.com/ges/

 

[Esquire]

Esquire isn't the OP's audience. OP needs to determine if there is an audience in his niche willing to pay for a newsletter. Just because there is 1 guy or 1000 guys not willing to fork over cash, doesn't mean there isn't 1 or 1000 other guys willing to pay.

So, now ... how does he TEST this idea?

I am not his target audience ...?

Hard to argue that.

Well ... ya know what P.T. Barnum would have to say on this subject ... so who knows ...?

No harm in testing.

I could be wrong ...

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I could be wrong ...

As individuals, we don't get to judge the viability of a product or service, only the market can do that.

It's really similar to stock picking, one could argue it's going up, another, going down. Ultimately, the market makes the judgement.

This newsletter service really sounds best for the freemium, try before you buy, model.

If I subscribe risk-free and after two weeks I can't see my life going on without this information, I would pay. On the flip side, if after two weeks I feel it's no better than a customized RSS feed, I let it drop.

Instead of 10 people here casting their opinion, the only judge capable of levying a verdict is the market.

 

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[Esquire]

Instead of 10 people here casting their opinion, the only judge capable of levying a verdict is the market.

I don't think anyone here would argue against that ... what difference does any of our opinions matter if the market thinks otherwise ...?

But I believe the O.P. was seeking our opinions ... is this an idea worth pursuing ...? Is this something I should invest my time and money in ...? Or should I do something else ...?

And in that regard ... I think our opinions have value. The O.P. has to make a decision. If I were contemplating a proposed course of action ... I wouldnt want a band of cheerleaders patting me on the back and encouraging me to "go find out" ... I'd want to know what my odds were going in ... and what could possibly go wrong.

By analogy ... before I commit to a boxing match ... I want to know what my opponent looks like .... Grandma ... or Mike Tyson ...? Am I going to get my a$$ kicked ... or kick a$$ ...?

Only one way to find out ... step into the ring ... but the preliminary question is ... should I ...?

And in that regard ... I'm not convinced. I'm sharing my opinion. What the O.P. does with it ... is up to him.

 

[mikey3times]

This thread has sent me down the rabbit hole...I've been reading about newsletters all afternoon.

This is an interesting article about a pay-for newsletter in the baseball niche. With so much baseball news to read, I can see this being of value to hardcore Fantasy Baseball managers or just hardcore baseball fans. http://www.niemanlab.org/2013/09/a-...n-authentic-profitable-business-around-email/

Great example of a niche that needs be curated.