A brief note on paywalled posts

How dare you?! Lol.

I have been thinking about this recently, and having had a chat with a couple of paid-subscribers, thought it was worth a post.

---

I have never put any posts behind a paywall, but as more folks sign up for a paid subscription, I have started to feel a little guilty about the nature of this setup. It isn’t about the money… It was more of a ‘gesture.’

I previously used the website ‘buy me a coffee’ and when certain posts really resonated with a reader or made a meaningful impact, some people used to ‘buy me a coffee’ with a small gift of between £5 and £25 … so I picked that as the lowest contribution, and made a promise to myself that I would post at least once a month to ‘repay’ any subscriptions - reverse gratitude, if you will! (with utmost humility btw!)

Frankly speaking, I have not become accustomed to people appreciating what I write; it still fills me with joy and pride (as well as fear, in equal measure!) to hear that someone has taken the time to read a post, let alone subscribe to receive future posts.

I have an even harder time getting over the disbelief when I see a new paid subscriber… so much so, that I feel a duty to repay the vote of confidence they’ve shown me.

Up to now, all of the content on here has been free, and most of the time I have to link back to it for anyone to read it anyway. I didn’t start doing this to make money, but given some folks have shown a willingness to part with money, I (rightly or wrongly) feel the desire to offer something in return. So I will do that somehow, perhaps taking reader-submitted Q&A’s and expanding on them in paid posts… still to be decided. Ideas are always welcome!

Just know this… I do not hold it against anyone for not subscribing, for cancelling a subscription… whatever. You do you. It irritates me just as much as you, that everything’s a ‘subscription’ these days. But here we are.

I do appreciate those who do subscribe and share. It really is f*cking mind-blowing that anyone would part with cash, so thank you. Even if you don’t pay for a subscription, I will at least try to make the weekly updates worth subscribing for free anyway, because for me, it means the world that you bother to read at all! Thank you once more.

Let’s never speak of this again. It is uncomfortable AF. Leave the cash next to the watch stand as you head out.

F