My most successful offers for 2024
And the biggest problems I had to deal with.
Welcome to the last 2024 post of Smarter Solopreneurs.
Writing a year review for your final post is so unoriginal it’s almost lazy.
But here’s something you must understand about online writing: the trends become trends because they work.
People want to know what you did and how it worked because it helps them plan their year.
Here’s what I did in 2024:
I wrote 100+ Medium posts
I created my first ever digital products (they were all micro-products)
I tried 17 different offers for turning free subscribers to paid
And here are the results.
My most successful product.
This is the year I started selling digital products: 2024.
I created 4 in total: the first 2 in March, the second 2 in June. All 4 are micro products I sold for under $50.
In total, I sold 75 products and made $1500.
My most successful product was the Fiverr Launcher with 27 sales and $874 in revenue.
It was also the most reviewed product, with multiple clients messaging me after getting it.
If you want to learn more about the Fiverr Launcher course, click here.
My most successful medium posts.
Big lesson for Medium writers: boost is awesome but it isn’t necessary to make great money on the platform.
For 2024, I’ve written about 100 Medium posts and only 2 got boosted.
One of them made $2100, but the other only made $250.
Why “only”? Because I have multiple non-boosted articles who’ve made that or more. Here are a few:
I’ve made about $5500 on the platform this year and got 14k new followers (from 6k to almost 20k).
I know some writers make more, but they also write a lot more. 100 articles for the year means less than 10 articles per month—while many top earners write 20-30.
It’s a matter of priorities: I still prioritize Substack, and Medium works on its own.
And $5500 is pretty good for something that works on its own, no?
Medium is also great for my newsletter growth: I’ve had 600+ subscribers come from there in 2024.
Top #3 most successful notes on Substack.
Notes is a cumulative game.
If you have average-success posts daily, you’ll get more traction than if you have just one viral note and write nothing else.
The rule is: virality is not the goal. It’s nice, but it won’t build your business for you.
With that said, here are the top 3 notes I’ve posted this year, only one of which I’d call viral.
And yes, popular notes do bring in subscribers.
I currently post on Notes 2x per day.
The top 3 most successful offers that got me paid subscribers.
I first launched my paid subscription last December and I promised myself I’ll spend this year testing what works so I learn what my subscribers really want (and would pay for).
In my search for this, I’ve tried 17 different offers, including:
Limited time 1-1 coaching call offer
Keeping the content free but locking different tools at the end: templates, structures, quizzes and more.
Discount offer
Bundle offer
Standard paywalling of content
As I’m writing this, I have a total of 71 paid subscribers. I didn’t manage to become a bestseller, but I’m still happy with my progress and still have some data to share.
Best performing offers:
#1: 1-1 Coaching Session
Offering 1-1 coaching has proven to be my best-performing offer so far, getting me 15 of my 71 paid subscribers.
#2: Paywalled content
When the content is good, people will become paid subs just to read it.
Different paywalled content has brought me 20 paid subs, with the most subscribers coming from The Fast Way to Money: Writing as a Service and Clarity for Solopreneurs.
#3: There are 2 offers in the second place
There are 2 offers that have gotten me 12 paid subscribers each (24 in total).
The Sell Anything webinar. So many solopreneurs don’t know how to sell—not on my watch!
The “What type of solopreneur are you?” professional assessment that shows you what’s the best type of business for you, what are you natural strengths and how to address any potential problems you may have. I say it’s professional because I’m a certified coach who’s been trained in developing assessments + I had it reviewed by a close friend who’s a psychologist.
I’ve linked both the Sell Anything Webinar recording and the What type of solopreneur are you? assessment below, in case you haven’t checked those out yet.
If I have to draw a conclusion based on these 3 offers, it’s that clarity and sales/making money are #1 priorities for my audience.
That’s gold. If you’re just beginning your paid subscription and you want to learn the same, commit 2025 to testing different offers and content so you can zero in on what works for your people.
Low moments & how I handled them.
In May 2024, I discovered I had the wrong Stripe connected to my Substack account. It had to be changed. The Stripe account can’t be changed on your publication though, not unless you turn off paid and refund everyone. It was a total pain but I figured it out eventually. I lost a few subs, some stayed with me through that. In any case, I kept going.
Price changes. When I first turned on paid, I started at a high price point. Growth was slow so I decided to lower my prices. It’s true that I grew a little faster but I also attracted a lot of people who subscribed, unsubscribed, complained, asked for refunds because they forgot to cancel (a refund costs me more than if someone didn’t subscribe at all) and it was just a pain in the arse. And you know what? Most of my top-engaged subscribers kept telling me they’d gladly pay more anyway. So I increased my prices again. It also makes sense for what I want to do in 2025 which requires more time and devotion. Whoever got a subscription at a lower price, great, because prices changed once already and will only go up.
Lost my grandma this year. It was a tough moment and writing about entrepreneurship through the pain felt weird. Then I remembered it was solopreneurship that allowed me to spend her last 5 years near her so she could enjoy her family and her great-grandchildren. The story of Grandma also inspired an opinion piece that got featured in Metro UK thanks to the amazing
.
I can say so much more about 2024. It was a year that showed me what’s possible, and what I’m capable of.
But the most important thing right now is that we all take some time off, relax, enjoy the holidays with our loved ones and get smart & strategic about 2025.
If you’re a paid subscriber to Smarter Solopreneurs, you’ll find links to the Sell Anything webinar and the Soloprener Assessment below.
If not, now is a good time to do it and to get complimentary access to the newsletter I’m launching on 9 th of January, Cool Tech for Solos.
Smarter Solopreneurs will be back again on the 7th of January.
Until then, lots of love & smiles to you and your families!
Maya
Links to the webinar and the assessment below ↓