Wordpress is Going to be more Newsletter Centric

WordPress.com challenges Substack with launch of paid newsletters as of June 1st, 2023

Hey Everyone,

A fantastic thing is happening in 2023, the Newsletter ownership economy is maturing. If I had to rank Newsletter platforms this would be my initial short-list:

1. Substack

2. beehiiv

3. ConvertKit

4. LinkedIn

5. Ghost

6. Locals

7. Wordpress

8. Medium

9. Drip

10. Brevo

11. HubSpot

12. Twitter Subscriptions / Gumroad (not Newsletter specific)

You might wonder why I’d include Wordpress here? The reason is simple, they have decided to hit Newsletters better recently.

As ConverKit’s Creator Network matures and beehiiv’s incredible product features continues to differentiate it from Substack, we’re all winners here, since any smart Creator is going to be using more than one platform. The ownership model is about growing Email lists, not just revenue or leaning to one platform over another.

If you are loyal to just one of the above, you are literally not optimizing your job as a Creator or growing your list optimally! As long as you realize that.

For instance, my A.I. peers have created A.I. rundowns on beehiiv that afford them to make 10-20x what I make via paid subscriptions on Substack, and the network effect of LinkedIn is a huge global network compared to say Substack or ConvertKit. Now if Wordpress decides to create its own recommendation engine big things could happen.

Sarah Perez > Casey Newton when it comes to app announcements and platforms, so I listen to what Sarah Perez is saying.

Wordpress is the backbone of most internet websites and it wouldn’t be difficult to create a peer recommendation for paid Newsletters with each category instantly have huge networks to drive traffic and sign-ups. In this regard, Wordpress as a Paid Newsletter platform could truly rival Substack.

Given WordPress.com’s sizable footprint — WordPress powers 43% of the web, including its open source version — its shift into the newsletters market is significant. - Sarah Perez