International media brands keep finding hungry Australian audiences in their traffic data. The question is why local founders keep leaving that audience and revenue on the table.
Lovely to read you here Jenni ☺️ One thing besides CB and the usual suspects I am curious about in that context is the Private Media publications, they would be aware of (and fine with?) the gap here. Mandarin is already knee deep focused on public servants, how does that interact with the more lobby/insider politics-aligned coverage of Politico, if at all? And we’ve got commentary/analysis/ideas with Crikey which no doubt will cover Politico’s inroads with Daanyal.
Have not seen your name on an article in ages! Hope you are going well. Just subbed to keep an eye on what else you cover. New media, I assume?
Interesting insight here. Totally agree re the need for media diversity. But unsure if the solo writer trend in the US is hitting Aus in a significant way yet. Coming up to my third year on here, and growth for those without a name from Aus can be pretty slow.
All that said, the major players have created a market for media subscriptions here. And Australians by in large can afford multiple of them. So I could see a world where other global publications that rely on subs as a primary revenue channel give this market a go.
Hey! Yes, I’m back… kind of! Fun to write again. It has definitely been a long time. Building Other Labs is letting me get back to my experimental days, so it’s nice to publish again. The intersection of new media + AI + innovation likely, but more of a voice for Other Labs. Love to chat about Infinite Lives, shame the growth has been slow as content is strong. I’m interested in understanding the market as I think the trend is coming, but as you said, is it a sustainable business here. Also, AI is going to throw so much of this up in the air. You’re in a great spot if you’re building already. Great to hear from you after all this time. Will reach out for a chat!
In US terms 0 to 600 subs in three years isn’t great.
But by Australian Substack standards, it’s actually decent growth. And I love my readers, really thoughtful bunch. So I am happy in that regard. But, it’s nowhere at all scale where it can be anything other than a side hustle at best.
Lovely to read you here Jenni ☺️ One thing besides CB and the usual suspects I am curious about in that context is the Private Media publications, they would be aware of (and fine with?) the gap here. Mandarin is already knee deep focused on public servants, how does that interact with the more lobby/insider politics-aligned coverage of Politico, if at all? And we’ve got commentary/analysis/ideas with Crikey which no doubt will cover Politico’s inroads with Daanyal.
Hey Jen! 👋
Have not seen your name on an article in ages! Hope you are going well. Just subbed to keep an eye on what else you cover. New media, I assume?
Interesting insight here. Totally agree re the need for media diversity. But unsure if the solo writer trend in the US is hitting Aus in a significant way yet. Coming up to my third year on here, and growth for those without a name from Aus can be pretty slow.
All that said, the major players have created a market for media subscriptions here. And Australians by in large can afford multiple of them. So I could see a world where other global publications that rely on subs as a primary revenue channel give this market a go.
Hey! Yes, I’m back… kind of! Fun to write again. It has definitely been a long time. Building Other Labs is letting me get back to my experimental days, so it’s nice to publish again. The intersection of new media + AI + innovation likely, but more of a voice for Other Labs. Love to chat about Infinite Lives, shame the growth has been slow as content is strong. I’m interested in understanding the market as I think the trend is coming, but as you said, is it a sustainable business here. Also, AI is going to throw so much of this up in the air. You’re in a great spot if you’re building already. Great to hear from you after all this time. Will reach out for a chat!
So funny thing:
In US terms 0 to 600 subs in three years isn’t great.
But by Australian Substack standards, it’s actually decent growth. And I love my readers, really thoughtful bunch. So I am happy in that regard. But, it’s nowhere at all scale where it can be anything other than a side hustle at best.
Few other journos trying to carve a niche out on this platform have similar concerns: https://www.multiplier.au/how-is-the-pivot-to-newsletters-playing-out/
And absolutely, drop me a note here via DMs or LinkedIn whenever. Let’s chat.