If this blog was a newsletter, would you pay for it?

Published on June 25th, 2008

If you're new here, this is the one personal finance blog that tells you how to become financially independent in 5 years instead of 30 years or more. You can read my story here and read more about where I am now here. You may want to subscribe to my RSS feed or use one of the other options in the top right sidebar. Thanks for visiting!

Due to a quick(*) spell of illusions of grandeur I wanted to ask you quick question: If I started writing a monthly newsletter of about 10-20 printed pages and you got it delivered by mail (or pdf for you kindle people), would you pay for it and if so, how much?

(*) Well, not really

Or do you think the newsletter essentially is an outdated concept, whence content monetization should be restricted to advertising?

Feel free to comment below or write me at myfirstname earlyretirementextreme dot com.

25 users responded in " If this blog was a newsletter, would you pay for it? "

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Seth Miller said, in June 25th, 2008 at 08:13

I would not pay for it, though I always appreciate the bicycling content.

Tony said, in June 25th, 2008 at 09:03

I wouldn’t pay for it. I have really high expectations for the content I pay for, and yours doesn’t meet those. Your articles usually contain spelling/language errors and aren’t well organized or thought out. Your voice is too conversational and self important.

That being said, your basic ideas are thought provoking and interesting. I enjoy the fact that you don’t push out an overwhelming amount of content.

I’ll keep reading, I just wouldn’t pay.

Adam said, in June 25th, 2008 at 09:34

Sorry – but would absolutely *not* pay for it. There are too many other blogs out there that I could get similar info from for free.

Also, newsletters aren’t even yesterday… they are last decade. The odd one that I still subscribe to I barely ever read – meanwhile I have a good 100 or so RSS feeds that I scan/read/save on a weekly basis.

dave said, in June 25th, 2008 at 09:47

I might pay for it once; anything more and it might push back my early retirement by a couple days.

Cameron F. said, in June 25th, 2008 at 11:00

I wouldn’t pay–not because I don’t enjoy the blog–but it’s hard to justify paying separately.

kelsi said, in June 25th, 2008 at 11:07

It’s a great blog, but I wouldn’t pay to read it. There is a TON of entertaining (and free) info online – if you started charging, I would move on to another site.

I’m fickle that way, but I suspect most people are.

mjukr said, in June 25th, 2008 at 12:47

I could see myself paying for specific E-books that you might write on particular topics, but I would not pay regularly for a newsletter…

Steward @ My Family's Money said, in June 25th, 2008 at 13:55

I wouldn’t pay for a newsletter, but you could do pretty good for yourself if you did some marketing and ranked on the front page of Google for a word like retirement (early retirement you could probably do without too much effort, and you already rank for early retirement extreme). Monetize properly and you could be raking in 6 figures a year – that’s like enough to eat off of forever.

FHR said, in June 25th, 2008 at 14:13

Nah.

pj said, in June 25th, 2008 at 16:27

You cater to the extremely frugal.

There is no way your audience will pay for the newsletter.

The occasional big spender that visits your site will be more likely to buy a newsletter on getting rich quick.

Rosie said, in June 25th, 2008 at 16:35

Jacob, you offer a truly unique perspective that I enjoy reading very much; I would really miss your blog if you shifted to a newsletter format. I would not pay for a newsletter that essentially replicated your blog, as I enjoy your writing for its affirmations of my own choices and thought-provoking insights on habits we take for granted. I don’t use your blog for a *function* that I might consider paying for, like investment advice. Of course, then I’d be trolling the internet looking for free info! I would, however, be very interested in any book that you might write about your path and insight into extreme early retirement. Hope you’ve got one developing!

spork said, in June 25th, 2008 at 17:16

Jacob, in last few days I have read through all your posts on this blog. Although we disagree on investment choices, our lifestyles are very similar and your story is very encouraging for me. However, because I live way below my means I would not be interested in paying for your opinions. Why would I pay when I can find the same or similar “friends” at simpleliving.net for free?

Bruno said, in June 25th, 2008 at 17:56

In the spirit of your site, I would not pay for a newsletter.

Andy said, in June 25th, 2008 at 18:45

Ditto what Rosie said.

Jason said, in June 25th, 2008 at 18:54

Similar to the others, no way I’d pay. Sorry, bro.

DJ said, in June 25th, 2008 at 21:32

Mega dittos. We are frugal bunch and would not pay, but we sure do enjoy your writing…

DJ said, in June 25th, 2008 at 21:45

On second thought, I would make a small, voluntary contribution if you had a paypal link on your web site.

Also, you might try putting some advertising on the site. The advertiser probably wouldn’t get much business from us, but you could get some income.

Chad @ Sentient Money said, in June 26th, 2008 at 03:55

I love the content and the writing, but I wouldn’t pay. I’m too frugal. However, I am completely with you, if you decide to monetize the blog.

Kristle said, in June 26th, 2008 at 05:59

I love your blog, but I wouldn’t pay for a newsletter.

mjukr said, in June 26th, 2008 at 07:04

Mirroring what DJ said, I would also contribute a small one-time sum via PayPal as a thank you for the value I’ve already received from your writing. I have done this several times for other blogs I read regularly.

But, I know you are wary of the tax consequences

Debbie M said, in June 26th, 2008 at 07:08

No, not enough substance. When you’re on, you’re really, really on, unique, and totally worth money. However, with posts like this, guest posts, days without posts, etc., it’s not so thrilling.

Also, I never pay for newsletters. Except that when six years of newsletters from The Tightwad Gazette was published in book form, I did pay for that.

Steve Austin said, in June 26th, 2008 at 16:06

I wouldn’t pay (very much) money, because I wouldn’t wish that kind of pressure and expectation on you.

Though depending on the topic of content, I would (irregularly) trade and barter for your work.

I’d like to illuminate the snap reaction of most of the 20+ commentators to this post. Not even one individual took you up on the “if so, how much” open-ended query. Although I said I wouldn’t pay very much, I’d like to break the folks here out of their trend and offer to pay you USD1.00 cash for 40-50 pages of your content quarterly. ;-\

kateb said, in June 28th, 2008 at 11:28

I just started visiting your site, after seeing a plug somewhere else. I enjoy your point of view. This is not personal to you at all, but I wouldn’t pay for a newsletter on these subjects. So many of us offer these opinions freely on various sites. I also like to read when I want to read, and not have the obligation to read because I paid for it. I’ve cut back on journals and magazines, just have the ones that come with my memberships to hiking clubs and alumni stuff.

Jonathan said, in July 2nd, 2008 at 14:39

If you can condense your basic philosophy into about 100-200 pages, I would look into a book deal or even try to self-publish in paper or eBook form.

I feel that people are more likely pay for tightly-focused material that they can reference.

MoneyEnergy said, in June 20th, 2009 at 19:16

I’d buy your e-book in a pdf format for anywhere from $3-10, but since that’s an awkward format (but it’s still better than an email newsletter), I’d pay even more for a real book (I’d pay up to $22 if it was a full 200-pg-ish book) of a condensed, intense collection of your polished philosophy/manifesto articles.