For those of you who support my work on other platforms, I’d like to clarify what I’m doing here on Substack.
Substack will be a workshop for my writing, as well as a place for me to quickly respond to current events and amplify the work of others across a larger network (which is what I miss most, having left Twitter/X). Perhaps I’ll write a book here and solicit feedback from readers. I might eventually commission work from other writers and scholars. Substack is also building the capacity to stream live video, which I’m eager to experiment with.
Whatever happens, I’ll do my best to create something interesting here. But if it doesn’t succeed as a business, it won’t make sense for me to stay.
No one knows what the best business model is for digital media—and what seems right today, might prove disastrous in the future. As consumers, each of us now limps and lurches across the information landscape, tethered to dozens of competing apps and platforms. Some media companies charge subscriptions. Some extract and sell our data. Some assail us with ads. Some do all these things at once and damage their brands in the process. (Even the most prestigious publications aren’t immune. If you’ve ever been reading The Atlantic, for which you happily pay, only to be enticed by a banner ad promising to reveal how ugly some celebrity has become—and then found yourself directed to a website whose business model requires a mastery of string theory to understand—you know what I’m talking about.)
No one has figured this out, even if some are succeeding financially. And yet, I believe I’ve found the best business model available to me.
However, when we announced my arrival on Substack last week, some of you got annoyed at being asked to purchase another subscription to gain access to my work. I feel your pain, but I don’t quite understand it.
Working on Substack is a new venture. Just as going on a speaking tour or writing another book would be—and I doubt anyone would think those things should be included in the price of my podcast. I’ve decided to spend time working on something new, not less time over at Making Sense or Waking Up. Yes, there will be a synergy between all three platforms. Something I say on the podcast might get refined for print on this page. Ideas I arrive at here will probably come tumbling out of my mouth during an interview. I only have one brain—but I also have a monopoly on my time.
And if writing on Substack is going to be worth my time, it needs to be a real business.
Allow me to clarify my digital business model:
I never want anyone doing math to figure out whether they can afford a subscription to my digital work. If paying for a subscription to Making Sense, Waking Up, or this Substack causes you actual stress, please ask for it for free. You need only send an email to support@samharris.org. No request has ever been denied. And no questions have ever been asked.
I know that not everyone fits neatly into the space provided. For instance, if you have an active account on one or more of my existing platforms, and you feel that your subscription to this Substack should be included or discounted, just reach out to customer support. I’d much rather you be here on your own terms than not be here at all.
This has been my business model from the very beginning. Over the years, I’ve seen people try to dissect it, and most of their intuitions are wrong. Some assume that while subscribers can get my content for free, almost no one does this (so my apparent generosity is just a form of virtue signaling). Others assume that while many people might take my work for free, I’m merely implementing the tried-and-true “freemium” strategy, wherein most free subscribers eventually convert to paying (so my apparent generosity is nothing more than tricky marketing). But the truth is that hundreds of thousands of people take my content for free, and few of these people ever start paying for it. There’s no trick. I just keep putting the rabbit in the hat while everyone watches.
During the Covid pandemic, there were days when over a thousand people would request my podcast or my app (often both) for free. And we still receive hundreds of such requests each day. I staff a team of 20 customer service agents, and most of their time is spent servicing free accounts. This is expensive.
But I love this business model. It is an extraordinary luxury to be able to give my work away for free, without having to rely on ads, and to still be building a successful digital business.
However, there is a reason why most content creators and platforms aren’t rushing to copy what I’m doing. Many worry that offering everything for free will discourage people from paying. Unfortunately, this is a perfectly rational fear. As I've said elsewhere, if Netflix adopted my business model, there would be no Netflix.
But I’ve been lucky enough to find an audience of subscribers who pay, in part, because they know that others can get my work for free. Like me, they understand that many people will abuse the policy. But they want to keep it in place for those who need it.
Those of you who support my work, to whatever degree, have given me the freedom to explore new ways of using my time creatively, unencumbered by pressure from sponsors or publishers—or even from you, my own audience. This is an absolute gift. And it is one which I will strive to return to you by speaking and writing honestly about the most challenging issues of our time.
Once again, please email support@samharris.org if you need any assistance.
In gratitude,
Sam
Sam, from my point of view, your contribution to humankind borders on the priceless. You're on a short list of very formative influences on my thinking and practice. I'm happy to pay for your work on that front. And moreso to allow you to extend financial aid to those who need it.
Paid member of Waking Up, Making Sense, and now this Substack. If my contributions help someone who can’t afford one, then I’m glad to be part of this model. I am on the reduced price option for Making Sense so I’m also on the beneficiary end of the deal! Looking forward to hearing todays episode on my commute home.