Recalibrating Newsletter Update
Hi! It's been a few months since I last wrote on Paragraph and I very much appreciate your patience and support 🫡
I took this break from writing so I could ramp up my podcast via Substack to help make my writing more accessible. Note, the podcast is available on Apple or YouTube and the podcast is also on Pods, a token-based podcast platform that allows you to listen to the podcast from your wallet or their website.
If you are interested in listening to my previous articles related to Maslow's Hierarchy, Burnout, AI, Web3, Intellectual Property, and generally structuring a sustainable creation system in the Creator Economy, I highly recommend starting from the first episode ✨
Now that I have a consistent podcast publishing system, I've decided to (finally) consolidate my writing from Substack and Paragraph into one place.
I've got a lot of exciting news coming out over the next few weeks, so I wanted to have a single place to share my ideas, plans, and knowledge.
Also, I wanted to be able to introduce token-gating 👀
Note: this newsletter will continue to be free for all subscribers, but there will be additional perks and exclusive content for paying members of my Hypersub.
Overview of Recalibrating
First off, hello to the 126 subscribers who just transferred from Substack to Paragraph 🧭 ✨ I spent the last year writing on Substack and very much appreciate your support 🫡
For those new here, Paragraph is the medium-form extension of my long-form Recalibrating newsletter previously on Substack and available on my website. My newsletter has two parts:
🧭 Recalibrating = aligning the self & finding your path
🌎 Worldbuilding= practical Recalibrating & technical explanations to build in the creator economy
To help me build up my own world, please consider joining the /cal channel on Farcaster & sharing this article as a frame/post with someone who may find it valuable.
Word of mouth is the best way to build a world with people who resonate with one another 🤝 ✨
Also, please consider joining the Recalibrating Hypersub if you are interested in getting access to monthly drops of my podcast tokens & art. Note, I will be expanding on my Hypersub to include a second tier, so stay tuned 👀 ✨
Tokens vs Posts: Why Consolidate on Paragraph?
Why am I consolidating my Substack & Paragraph? In brief: tokens. Tokens level up the ability to distribute and value information online, and Substack simply does not have this technology.
To give more context on token, consider the development of social posting online:
In web1 (the first iteration of the Internet) we had the "blog", a single, unilateral expression of information from a writer to the reader, the "read" era. Blogs are sovereign, published on individual websites under the full control of the blog writer (in most cases).
In web2 (the second iteration of the Internet) we had the "post", a two-way street of information from posters to consumers, where all consumers could easily be posters (and often are).
However, these posts are owned and walled by the platforms that enable them. Instagram, Facebook, X (Twitter), Pinterest, etc. all enable their users to create posts within the confines of their walled gardens.
As a creator, writer, and artist, I do not want to limit myself to a single platform. Operating on only one platform increases the risk of losing my livelihood if the algorithm changes, the platform modifies their rules, or any other number of other reasons. The structure and model is outside of my control and therefore shouldn't be depended on.
Rather than put all of my eggs in one basket, it is strategic for me to use omni-channel marketing: distributing my writing, art, and content to multiple platforms.
Current social media (web2) does not allow for this cross-posting of content, instead keeping people within the walled gardens of their own platforms. The more people spend attention on their platforms, the more money they earn. They are motivated to keep my audience & me within their walls and do everything in their power to keep us there.
One way around this platform-limited walled garden ecosystem is through a newsletter. Emails are part of a separate protocol that operates independently of the web2 platforms. By writing a newsletter, I can collect emails and directly communicate with my audience (you 🫡 ).
However, there is still an issue with newsletters: monetization. To earn a living as a creator, I must earn sufficient income to live a sustainable lifestyle.
Exclusivity & Scarcity
The best way to introduce additional value to my audience is by making some of my content, writing, and art exclusive to paying members. My True Fans. Supply & demand is the basic tenet of economics. Provided there is sufficient demand, a lower supply can increase the value of the good. In the age of abundance, digital scarcity is an underrated concept, in part because it was difficult to achieve. Subscription models provide a way for creators to introduce scarcity by making some of their work exclusive to paying members.
Web2 platforms (including Substack, Instagram, Patreon, X, Facebook, etc.) enable subscription models to "gate" or "paywall" content. However, each of these subscription models ONLY enables the gating of content on that one platform.
As a creator, this generates a large burden and onus on me to create multiple subscription systems and track the content that I produce across all of them. It's too much work, often leading to burnout and confusion of my audience.
Enter Tokens.
In web3 (the third iteration of the Internet) we have the token, a unique digital asset that is not limited to any one platform (depending on where the token was minted, which I'll get into more later).
Tokens are a way for me to create a "post" on blockchain, a universal ledger that can be read by any number of web3 platforms.
Tokens allow me to build a decentralized audience via wallets, ensuring that the control remains with me as a creator rather than an individual platform (again, depending on where I create the tokens). If you're new to the concept of wallets, please read this article as an introduction to the value of wallets.
Tokens also level up subscription models, enabling me to create a subscription of exclusive content that is independent of a single platform. In other words, I can use tokens to create a "gate" for exclusive content that applies to any platform that can read blockchain. If you have the blockchain key (token) you can enter through the gate into the realm of exclusivity.
Welcome to Token-Gating.
Token-Gating & Hypersub
Put simply, token-gating means that I can use a token (a digital asset on blockchain, kind of like a collected post) to enable passage through my paywall to exclusive content. If you own the token, it acts a key to let you through the paywall (gate).
Rather than having people pay for a Substack subscription, an Instagram subscription, a Patreon subscription, etc., I can create a single subscription token that gives access to all of my platforms, all at once.
The way I create this subscription token is through the subscription token protocol (STP) on a platform called Hypersub. You can think of Hypersub like a web3 Patreon, where people can pay on a monthly basis to get access to exclusive content. Time-based tokens.
The best part of Hypersub, in my opinion, is that it is an upstream gating platform.
Rather than having a subscription on each web2 platform, gating content in a fractured way, I can create a single gate upstream of my other platforms, controlling the flow of content from one source.
For example, with Hypersub, I can token-gate:
who can read my newsletter on Paragraph (see the Hypersub Onboarding Post as an example);
who is able to collect artwork;
who is able to join my group chat on Warpcast;
who can post in my /cal channel on Farcaster;
who is eligible to earn my Moxie Rewards;
who can read a frame I post on Farcaster;
who can claim merch or prints;
who is able to access my learning management system (coming soon).
The options are literally endless. Any platform that accepts tokens can be gated by Hypersub subscriptions. Any website can be modified to accept wallet connection and token-gating.
Alas, Substack cannot token-gate, hence my migration to Paragraph.
I realized that much of what I am trying to do with building a sustainable creation system in the new (third) era of the Internet requires my ability to use all of the tools at my disposal.
Substack simply does not have the functionality I need to build the creation system of my dreams.
Next Steps: Free vs Exclusive
After months of planning and levelling up my skills, I am almost ready to announce the second tier of my Hypersub that will give exclusive access to more of my specialized knowledge (Intellectual property, AI, blockchain, and more).
Currently, Tier 1 involves a monthly art drop and Pods podcast token drop, along with some other perks.
Tier 2 will be more knowledge focused, giving access to my learning management system as I create videos and host live, exclusive Q&As to help people with a variety of topics, including:
Building Digital Identity in the Creator Economy: Ideas & Intellectual Property (ideation)
Sustainable Creation: Mindfulness & Philosophy (attention/awareness)
Blockchain, Web3, Smart Contracts, & Token Strategy (monetization)
Artificial Intelligence & Second Brain Building (automation)
I am sure that more topics will come to light, but for now, I am keeping my options open depending on what people are looking to learn. One of my goals with this tier of my Hypersub is to provide a collaborative learning environment, to accelerate knowledge in this world of rapid change.
I will continue writing free posts and sharing knowledge, but I am also looking to build a community of people who are interested in going deeper on the topics I care about. These skills take time to master and I am excited to coach and guide people along their own journeys as they wander this chaotic realm of the Internet.
As always, the goal is to build a sustainable creation system, Recalibrating along the way ✨
Conclusion
I hope that this article helps those from Substack understand the need to switch to a token-gated platform like Paragraph. I hope this article helps those from Paragraph understand the value of exclusivity and token-gating in the creator economy.
I have many plans in the works, and most involve some element of token-gated access. That said, there will still be, of course, a free tier of my newsletter, the same as there was on Substack 😊
As always, please feel free to ask any questions, either by email or on Farcaster 🫡
I will announce when my Hypersub has been updated along with the perks that come along with it.
P.S. there is 1 day left on my Moxie Fan Token, ending Saturday at 10:30 EST. If you are interested in earning a portion of value from my Moxie rewards on Farcaster, please check it out ✨
