Jason Feifer

These things have a cost associated with using the product. Substack is totally free to use. They hope that you will create a paid version of your newsletter and then they'll take a cut. And they had been... To launch, Substack had been paying creators to use the product.

These things have a cost associated with using the product. Substack is totally free to use. They hope that you will create a paid version of your newsletter and then they'll take a cut. And they had been... To launch, Substack had been paying creators to use the product.

So they would find some popular blogger or something, and they'd be like, hey, we will pay you $200,000 a year to put your newsletter on Substack. So when Facebook was creating a competitor to Substack... which was called Bulletin, they started calling people like me and basically making that same offer. They were like, we will pay you gobs of money to just use this product.

So they would find some popular blogger or something, and they'd be like, hey, we will pay you $200,000 a year to put your newsletter on Substack. So when Facebook was creating a competitor to Substack... which was called Bulletin, they started calling people like me and basically making that same offer. They were like, we will pay you gobs of money to just use this product.

So they would find some popular blogger or something, and they'd be like, hey, we will pay you $200,000 a year to put your newsletter on Substack. So when Facebook was creating a competitor to Substack... which was called Bulletin, they started calling people like me and basically making that same offer. They were like, we will pay you gobs of money to just use this product.

And that was pretty good. They were offering a lot of money. So I said, yes. And then I said, oh, you should talk to my friend, Nicole. I bet she would like your money too. And so that's how that happened. So I took this deal and I rebranded my newsletters, Built for Tomorrow, and I started getting paid by Facebook. And a couple of really interesting things happened. Number one was...

And that was pretty good. They were offering a lot of money. So I said, yes. And then I said, oh, you should talk to my friend, Nicole. I bet she would like your money too. And so that's how that happened. So I took this deal and I rebranded my newsletters, Built for Tomorrow, and I started getting paid by Facebook. And a couple of really interesting things happened. Number one was...

And that was pretty good. They were offering a lot of money. So I said, yes. And then I said, oh, you should talk to my friend, Nicole. I bet she would like your money too. And so that's how that happened. So I took this deal and I rebranded my newsletters, Built for Tomorrow, and I started getting paid by Facebook. And a couple of really interesting things happened. Number one was...

The way to grow on Facebook at that time was to write a newsletter that could be promoted inside of Facebook News, which barely exists anymore if it does at all. But back then, Facebook's attempt at being something of a news aggregator. And so they would surface your newsletters inside Facebook News. So that created this incentive to write newsletters that would show up in Facebook News.

The way to grow on Facebook at that time was to write a newsletter that could be promoted inside of Facebook News, which barely exists anymore if it does at all. But back then, Facebook's attempt at being something of a news aggregator. And so they would surface your newsletters inside Facebook News. So that created this incentive to write newsletters that would show up in Facebook News.

The way to grow on Facebook at that time was to write a newsletter that could be promoted inside of Facebook News, which barely exists anymore if it does at all. But back then, Facebook's attempt at being something of a news aggregator. And so they would surface your newsletters inside Facebook News. So that created this incentive to write newsletters that would show up in Facebook News.

which were very different from the kinds of newsletters that were really good to readers as they showed up in inboxes, right? Like I had a different audience in mind. I was writing differently. And so my newsletter would grow only when it showed up in Facebook news.

which were very different from the kinds of newsletters that were really good to readers as they showed up in inboxes, right? Like I had a different audience in mind. I was writing differently. And so my newsletter would grow only when it showed up in Facebook news.

which were very different from the kinds of newsletters that were really good to readers as they showed up in inboxes, right? Like I had a different audience in mind. I was writing differently. And so my newsletter would grow only when it showed up in Facebook news.

And when Facebook eventually killed that product and I was out in the cold with nothing but my money jacket from Mark Zuckerberg, I started to think, what works about this newsletter? And I realized that the only time in which I got any feedback or I heard from audiences or I saw any growth in this newsletter was when it showed up in Facebook News. Otherwise, nothing was happening.

And when Facebook eventually killed that product and I was out in the cold with nothing but my money jacket from Mark Zuckerberg, I started to think, what works about this newsletter? And I realized that the only time in which I got any feedback or I heard from audiences or I saw any growth in this newsletter was when it showed up in Facebook News. Otherwise, nothing was happening.

And when Facebook eventually killed that product and I was out in the cold with nothing but my money jacket from Mark Zuckerberg, I started to think, what works about this newsletter? And I realized that the only time in which I got any feedback or I heard from audiences or I saw any growth in this newsletter was when it showed up in Facebook News. Otherwise, nothing was happening.

And the reason I tell you this story, the reason I think this is relevant to you, even if you don't get a bunch of zuck bucks, is because you have to have the right incentives in order to build something for your audience. So you need to be out there in the cold. You need to be able to see and feel what people respond to and what they don't respond to.

And the reason I tell you this story, the reason I think this is relevant to you, even if you don't get a bunch of zuck bucks, is because you have to have the right incentives in order to build something for your audience. So you need to be out there in the cold. You need to be able to see and feel what people respond to and what they don't respond to.

And the reason I tell you this story, the reason I think this is relevant to you, even if you don't get a bunch of zuck bucks, is because you have to have the right incentives in order to build something for your audience. So you need to be out there in the cold. You need to be able to see and feel what people respond to and what they don't respond to.