In a media landscape defined by algorithms, Jack Conte argued at SXSW 2024 that the idea of a subscriber or followers is a thing of the past. I agree and I wanted to create a place where I could have a direct connection with you all, and create something special.
The challenge is that there are a lot of great content subscriptions out there, and in order to make mine valuable, I need to make a compelling membership you wanted to pay for. The value of a membership like this is in the ongoing production of content, which takes time.
The goal of the membership was to get to a point where it could be a recurring base of money to help hire contract help with other aspects of my business. Yes it would be a push to do it all for 12 to 18 months, but then it would open up my schedule in other ways like hiring a video editor for my YouTube videos. After two months and promoting this membership in two videos and my live stream, the numbers aren’t even remotely close to being on a trajectory of doing that.
The decision to make this newsletter was going with my heart, not my head. This was the membership content I wanted to create and I loved doing it. The logic side of me didn’t think it was possible. Most paid newsletters appeal to people because they tie indirectly into some way to make money. While your smart home might save you some on your energy bills, it’s much more about your quality of life.
I still hoped that by making a good audio version, I could attract people who wouldn’t otherwise subscribe to a newsletter but would pay for a YouTube or Patreon membership.
It’s now clear to me that the audiences are mostly different and people largely aren’t willing to follow me over here. I would need to promote and grow this newsletter as an additional platform in places like LinkedIn. It couldn’t simply grow off of my YouTube channel in a meaningful way.
2025 is going to be a big year for Apple and the smart home. That means I will have a lot of competition on YouTube for your attention as bigger YouTubers start to cover the space more. I will need to bring my A++ game in order to succeed and grow my channel. I had hoped that this membership would help fuel this whole flywheel, but I’ve had to make the difficult decision that it won’t.
What’s next?
If you haven’t already, you should be getting prorated refunds for annual subscriptions and complete refunds for monthly payments made after December 15th. If you do not see that refund in the next 10 business days, email eric@ericw.org and I will get you your money back. All future monthly transactions have already been cancelled. I will eventually be deleting this Substack from the platform. If there’s any material you want to reference in the future, please save it for yourself.
I would still love to have some kind of private community and content in the future that sticks around for the long term, but right now, I want to focus on making the best videos I can for 2025 and see where that takes us.
I’m very sorry that I had to pull the plug on this newsletter. This was a hard decision for me as I wanted it to work out. Thank you so much for your support.
Wishing you all the best in 2025 and beyond,
Eric
