Tangle
Independent. Ad-free. Non-partisan.
Several "Friday edition" newsletters got major traction, bringing in new readers and pushing us over the edge. On top of that, we finally invested some money into placement in other newsletters, like 1440, that contributed to our first ever paid growth.
In the next few days, Tangle will break $100,000 in gross annual revenue. This came after 6 months of providing premium paid content on Friday and offering that content to people in the free newsletter (Monday-Thursday). Best of all, I haven't put any money back into growth yet -- this is entirely organic growth on the newsletter from interest in the election.
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First the summarized premium release on Friday, then the same divided into bits for free subscribers on Monday-Thursday. That's definitely neat.
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It seems to work really well. Most people told me to keep 1 thing free and the rest behind a paywall, but I inverted that.
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Hi, I've been thinking lately a lot about information bubbles, and how people tend to live in totally different realities, and the inability to hear each other. And, most importantly, what we could do about it. So seeing your project which is a great step in the right direction and, at the same time, successful financially, is a great inspiration.
I've got a few ideas of my own in that direction, may I PM you on the @TangleNews Twitter to discuss?
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Incredible growth run you've had! Great hustling!
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Thank you! Appreciate the kind words :)
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This came after just three weeks of offering paid subscriptions. I hit this milestone with a full week of pitching paid subscriptions, and then 2 weeks of alternating between asking people to share and asking them to jump to paid. I also made quite a few pitches read stuff that was now behind a paywall (Friday editions only).
For months, I polled my readers about what they would pay, what Tangle was adding for them, and why they shared it with friends. When I had a good idea of the value add and what peope would pay, I set up tiers for subscribers ($5/month, $50/year, and founders membership of $199/year). Then I sent out a long-form pitch for paid subscribers.
Every newsletter that went out, I asked readers to share Tangle on social media or forward the email to five friends. Throughout that time, I also tapped my networks. I used my personal Twitter (12,000 followers) and my communities (I play ultimate Frisbee, so I sent the newsletter to many players in that community) to leverage new sign-ups.
This took weeks of brainstorming. I took polls on a name, fleshed out a few different concepts, sent sample newsletters to friends and family, and then incorporated all their feedback. Once I had the name and format down, I had to find and design a logo. And then I took it to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and asked the general public to sign up. Once I had 100+ sign-ups, I sent the first newsletter.
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