The (changed!) Weekly ChartStorm -- IMPORTANT
It's been almost 2 years now...
Almost 2 years ago now I made the big decision to take the Weekly ChartStorm paid.
Going paid has been a net-positive: I achieved what I wanted to in terms of the growth and direction of the service, it helped focus and elevate the actual service, it helped me achieve personal goals, and came with only minor regrets.
As we are approaching the anniversary of me nervously pushing the send button on that original announcement email, I wanted to celebrate by giving free subscribers a chance to become paid supporters at the original rate (of $50/yr or $5/monthly vs now $120/yr or $12.99/monthly).
This offer is good until the 20th of January.
Benefits/features of a paid subscription:
-access to the full reports (including bonus chart/theme section)
-access to the archives and occasional special reports
-participation in the comment section and Q&A
SAMPLE REPORT
-I’ve unlocked a recent edition for your review (Click Here) so you can see what you’ll be getting as a paid subscriber
How it’s going… Reflections, Resolutions, Reviews
Since taking the ChartStorm paid, I have seen decent take-up, ongoing growth of total subscribers, and personally feel I have leveled-up the quality.
And that’s the thing — as hinted at, paid subscriptions produce the greatest alignment with users. If I were to have gone down the advertising monetization path it puts you in a weird position where your users (you) are the product (being pitched to advertisers), and the publication often ends up being optimized to drive opens and clicks… as opposed to a paid newsletter where quality counts, and each and every week you must earn the ongoing trust and support of subscribers by consistently delivering quality work that actually solves their problems.
Based on the feedback I’ve received and surveys, I think I’ve achieved a passing grade on that front. The chart below shows how paid subscribers rate the service (mostly good or Very Good (+most respondents would be very likely to recommend the Weekly ChartStorm to their friends/colleagues).
And here’s specifically what people had to say about the service:
The most important reason I subscribe is that you are a great filter. There are so many charts and comments out there and I don't have enough time to read them all. You are a great filter, filtering out the noisy ones and providing the good ones for us.
I feel like your product is in a sweet spot of price and impact, particularly for those of us with an eye towards longer term investing and who want to understand the market better.
I think this is a very useful snapshot especially, because I do not follow markets tick for tick, but just trying to concentrate on the big picture. For that purpose a weekly chartstorm is very useful and the chosen charts are very often spot on in concentrating on the most important topics in the market.
Great resource & I can tell it is the product of much thought and experience. Thank you for the terrific newsletter!
What I like is that you post charts that are relevant, but with a different angle than most other content. Gives me ideas for new things to consider or look into further.
As I said previously; I always look forward to the weekly ChartStorm. For me it’s not just the charts, it’s a thinking piece that helps generate ideas.
And on that last note, the key reason why people upgraded to paid subscribers and signed up to the ChartStorm originally was yes of course for the charts, but perhaps more importantly because it saves them time, makes them think and helps with idea generation …and even as an educational resource (you never know what new insight and concept you’ll see in it!) — you will be better off as a paid subscriber to the Weekly ChartStorm, and I think it’s easy to say your prospective upside is going to be far greater than the nominal annual subscription fee! :-)
So again, reflecting on the move to go paid, it has been a good move, with decent take-up, overwhelmingly positive support + good reviews, and has been a positive step in terms of greatest alignment with readers.
As we head into the new year, my key resolution is to keep doing what I’m doing — delivering consistent quality insights. But I will be actively working to constantly raise quality of insight over time while also respecting your need to save time, and I have a few Very Interesting things in the pipeline for subscribers in 2025…
If you still want to learn a little more about the Weekly ChartStorm, you can check out its origin story here (been going 9 years now!) The Story Behind the Weekly ChartStorm — but otherwise, I hope to see you join me on the journey as a paid supporter :-)
Thanks and best regards,
Callum Thomas
Founder & Editor of The Weekly ChartStorm
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Callum_Thomas
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/callum-thomas-4990063/