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Substack identified a business model (subscriptions) that aligns reader, writer, and company incentives.

But ultimately, I think some readers just won't pay for a monthly subscription. Finding other ways for creators to monetize these readers (e.g., one-time transactions) without cannibalizing their subscription revenue could be an exciting avenue to explore.

Transactional businesses are good. Subscriptions are a recurring revenue stream where users decide that they want your product—in this case, content—and then continue to pay for it so long as the content is providing them with the information and/or entertainment that they want.

Community is the currency of the new internet and memberships is how you’ll get paid.

A new business type here is the paid community: a direct subscription to join in. Today, most paid communities live on the outskirts of existing social platforms. But as they become normalized, paid communities are becoming a viable business model for smaller-scale social networks aiming to be both profitable and socially sustainable. 

Subscriptions are good because you only get paid if your readers believe you’re doing good work. You don’t have to worry about reaching a mass audience, so you can focus on maximizing trust instead of pageviews.

Payments and built-in monetization models – Just as ads have become the predominant monetization model for social platforms, we believe member subscriptions are promising for communities. Because people are more likely to consume a product when they pay for it, subscriptions can incentivize engagement.