I Made My *Paid* Newsletter *Free* - This is Why

In April 2024, I had this idea for a newsletter I knew needed to exist.

But…
👶 I had just come back from a few months on parental leave.
😮‍💨 I had some work, but zero childcare.

Time was more limited than I’d ever experienced before.

I couldn’t justify adding more to my plate.
Not unless the shiny new thing proved it was completely *worth my time*.

So I ran a demand test:

- Would people pay to get fast and actionable guidances on using AI in customer research?
- Was it enough to send one set of bite-sized help once per month?

YES and YES.

The results were better than I imagined.
- It built deep, high-trust relationships with early subscribers
- It turned into my highest-converting product

My first follow-up post about the results got many 1000’s of impressions and new signups. 👇

 

It’s one full year later…

I hit a point in April when I realized it had been a whole year since my demand test and Edition #1.

One voice in my head kept saying, “This thing is a cash cow! It converts to my courses and corporate trainings at a significantly higher rate than any free newsletter I've ever seen!”

But there was another voice back there, saying:

”My 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 has 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱. I’m not where I was at that time anymore.”

I took a hard look at the pieces of my business.

I pushed myself to identify what I’m actually trying to achieve - what’s the GOAL here?

I realized I no longer need the newsletter to earn revenue.

I need it to 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵.

There was only one option in the end:
𝗜 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝘁.

But my goal hasn’t changed:
You’ll still learn how to use AI in customer research workflows in <20 minutes/month.

I’m still covering workflow upgrades, tests, tutorials, no-fluff guidance and the AI news you actually need to know.

If you want to learn AI tactics to apply immediately in customer research -

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗻𝗼𝘄, 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 ⚡️👇