Off Message Reader SurveyThis is really important, and very short. I hope you'll take the time.
Don’t worry! Everything’s fine! But, for a few reasons, I need some insight into what Off Message subscribers are thinking. The biggest is that Off Message, at least in this incarnation, has reached its churn rate. In fact, we’re losing paid subscribers slightly faster than we’re gaining new ones. That’s not a crisis for me, personally, but unless it changes, it does mean that some of the ambitions I had for the site on launch will not be achievable. The good news is, we’ve built a huge, untapped resource of free subscribers. So, first, I need to know what they are thinking, what could entice you deeper into our community. I also need to know whether what free subscribers would like to see conflicts with the expectations of the core, paid audience. Another, related question on my mind is format diversity. I can’t help but notice that video is swallowing all media. I enjoy consuming and making video content myself. But I also know that the promise on offer here has always been newsletters, emphasis on “letters.” That’s why I’ve treated Substack’s audio, video, and live functions as occasional side offerings, and focused almost exclusively on writing. But video (a certain kind of low-production video, anyhow) is the one thing I can probably add to the existing menu without crowding anything else out. I can’t feasibly publish more than one essay a day without growing enough to hire a writer or pay regular contributors. And I don’t have the time to create high-production video content without sacrificing at least one traditional newsletter a week. But streaming and live-chats aren’t too labor intensive. In any case, I’ll be on vacation through the first week of July, and it would be great to return to some useful data. The whole survey should take less than two minutes, so I hope you’ll oblige me. And if reading this makes you think it’s time to become a paid member, you can upgrade here. Thanks to everyone for being a reader, and special thanks to those who take this survey. Brian
|
