The Introduction of Members only Content on Appnstips

If you read my previous article on switching from Squarespace to Ghost, you will realize that I had plenty of reasons to move to Ghost. One of those reasons was the fact that Ghost has a built-in membership functionality. I love the idea of creating content that is supported by readers. I have always hated showing ads on my website, and long-time readers will know that I use them sparingly.

In my Google Adsense settings, I have set it to display the minimum possible ads. Ideally, I would love to remove all ads. But as running a blog costs money, I have to pay the bills somehow. The ideal version of my blog will be a day when I can quit my day job and focus entirely on the website. But that’s a long-term dream, and it will take time to make it a reality.

Currently, I am workings towards making the website independent of ads, and for that, I need your support. I don’t even need hundreds of members to make this happen. As soon as the website’s membership crosses 50 supporters, I will remove all ads. So, yes, your contribution will help every reader of the website.

I understand that no membership website can exist without some perks. I am still in the initial phase of deciding on the perks, and they will roll out over the coming two months. But here’s what I have come up with for now:

• Replacing Disqus with a commenting system with no ads: The commenting system will become members only and you will be able to comment using your member login. Since that is a paid feature, I will enable it once we reach 10 members.
• Productivity Book Synopsis and Reviews: I love reading productivity books and creating notes on them. I understand that not everyone has time to read books. So, I will distill down the knowledge of a book in an article of a few thousand words, and share it with the members.
• Apps I am Testing: I test many apps and am only able to cover the popular ones on the website. For members, I will weekly release a new app that I am testing or I love.
• Exclusive Content on Important apps: I use pro apps all day for my work. For example, I use Ulysses and Scrivener for writing, MindNode / Scapple for mind mapping, Things 3 / OmniFocus for project management, DevonThink for organizing…you get the gist. I will share tips and workflows for these apps.
• Members Suggested Content: Members will be able to recommend content ideas that they want deep dive on, and I will cover 1 request each week or every other week.
• Receive automatic email when a members-only post is published.

I think that’s a handy selection of perks. The membership feature is live right now and you can start supporting the website by clicking on the “Subscribe” button. The payment is processed by Stripe, so the transaction is entirely secure.

In the future, you will start seeing posts that are marked Members only, and you will have to subscribe to read those posts. But if you choose not to subscribe, don’t worry, I will keep publishing the normal content on the website. I am not taking away any current content.

Please use the comment system to sound off your thoughts. Positive and negative thoughts are all welcomed. As I said, I am still thinking it out, so I welcome all suggestions and inputs from my readers.