Over the past week, I've been working on a project at Starter Story with my sister to help give her some work and because I really need help with content writing.

I told her to check out a few of my competitors and tell me why they are making more money than me.

So she put together a document of why that might be, and we went over it together and created a plan of action.

What was her conclusion? That the website simply doesn't show users that you can pay for this premium membership.

It was so hidden away. I was afraid to ask people for money.

Part of this is because we have a "sponsor model", but also part of it was my fear of looking greedy.

Our "action plan" took about two days to implement.

It was simple things such as "put the signup button in the header" and "email to your list about your premium content".

After making these changes, I'm seeing noticeable increases in signups and revenue.

We're going to keep working on this now and follow the money - add more premium content and paywall more things.

I need to understand that Starter Story has enabled so many people - and it's always been free. 

I need to be more OK with charging money. I need to be more OK with an angry customer or two.

This is one of my problems - I feel guilty for every Stripe charge that comes in. I feel like shit for every churn. I carry that burden with me always. 

I don't understand how people sell snake oil courses or vaporware - like I just can't imagine how they feel everytime they take money without providing value.

But that's what makes them great at what they do...