A Marketing Community Built on Generosity
Ditching the paid subscription model for something different (and better).
If I’ve learned anything in my life, it’s that generosity is a currency you can always afford to spend and never run out of.
I’ve been on the receiving end of it more times than I can count, and shamefully, not on the giving end nearly as much as I should be.
My entire career up to this point has been built on the generosity of others I’ve met along the way — acts of kindness that opened doors, built bridges, and illuminated ways forward.
I’ve been slow to pay it forward over the years. But all of that’s about to change.
“You’ve got a lot of potential as a writer”
Way back when I first stepped into the marketing world, I had a mentor sit down and help me identify my strengths.
It was the late aughts, the digital marketing world was just taking off, and everyone was in a mad sprint to figure it all out. I was trying to find my place in all of it.
“You’ve got a lot of potential as a writer,” he said. “Why don’t you do some writing for the nonprofit and see what sticks?”
I started writing webpage copy, program descriptions, social media posts, and blog posts for the organization.
My mentor would meet with me regularly to provide feedback, and as time progressed, sat me in front of skilled marketers to help me improve my craft. Slowly, but surely, my writing improved 10-fold.
While I’ve since fallen out of touch with him, I look back on his generosity with deep gratitude.
It’s because of his intentional investment that I was able to grow a skill that compounded in value for me over time.
He wasn’t the marketing director.
He wasn’t a writer.
He was simply someone who had a knack for helping people step into their potential, and he pulled out all of the stops to help me step into mine.
I never paid him. He just did it because he wanted to see me succeed, and I’ll never forget it.
Live and give generously
One of my core principles is to both live and give generously, and I want to find a way to weave it more into my work life.
Maybe it’s because of that old mentor’s example or maybe it’s because I’ve witnessed and been on the receiving end of generosity a thousand times plus one.
No matter how you frame it, I have so much to be grateful for — grateful for mentors, for kind strangers, for learning opportunities and growth opportunities, and more.
I want to begin paying that forward.
A marketing community built on generosity
One of the biggest reasons I moved my newsletter from Mailchimp to Substack was to make it easier to reach a bigger audience and grow a more engaged community of readers.
But selfishly, I was also hoping for an easy way to monetize it.
By creating a subscription model, I thought I could turn my nearly two decades of marketing experience into an additional income stream (and pay for my son’s astronomical daycare tuition in the process!).
What I didn’t expect was the toll that promoting a subscription model would take on my conscience.
It goes against my core principle of living and giving generously, not to mention, doesn’t honor the gifts of those who got me here in the first place.
So effective immediately (and indefinitely), ALL subscribers have unlimited access to articles, tools, templates, resources, chats/threads, trainings, etc.
You’re still welcome to pledge your support in whatever way you see fit (genuinely – it would go straight to the daycare fund), but you’re not expected or required to.
From novices to marketing veterans, you are welcome here
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Who you rub shoulders with matters.
The intent behind building a membership community alongside this newsletter is to grow an engaged community of marketers and copywriters who build one another up and help each other out.
If you’re curious, creative, teachable, and also generous — pull up a chair. There’s a seat at the table here for you.
>> Once you subscribe, be sure to introduce yourself here! <<
And if you want help to grow as a copywriter and marketer, let me know that too. I’m happy to illuminate a path forward for you to the best of my ability!
With kindness,
Matt Snyder
The Copy Minimalist