Manuel Moreale's Blogging Project
"A personal blogging ecosystem combining writing, curating blogs, and interviewing bloggers -- sustained by an optional membership program starting at $1/month."
Marketing Channels
Content creation (blogging)
The product IS the content -- blogging, collecting blogs, and interviewing people about blogging
Community goodwill / kindness-based model
Creator explicitly refuses to monetize beyond optional donations, relying on audience generosity
Hacker News
Shared project in side-project thread
Growth Levers
- Continue building a loyal audience through consistent, high-quality free content about blogging
- Leverage interviews with other bloggers for cross-promotion and audience sharing
- Curate a directory or newsletter of notable blogs to become the go-to resource in the blogging community
- Highlight member stories and testimonials to encourage more voluntary contributions
First Customer Strategy
Built an audience over years by consistently creating free content about blogging -- writing, curating other blogs, and interviewing bloggers. Introduced an entirely optional membership at $1/month as the sole monetization, relying on community goodwill rather than traditional monetization strategies.
Pricing Insight
Entirely optional membership starting at $1/month. Creator explicitly refuses other monetization methods (ads, sponsorships, etc.), describing this as a deliberate philosophical choice rooted in kindness.
Key Takeaways
- • Donation-based and kindness-driven monetization can sustain a creator at ~$500/mo with the right audience
- • Meta-content (blogging about blogging) can build a dedicated niche audience
- • Low-friction pricing ($1/month minimum) reduces barriers to voluntary support
- • Philosophical alignment between creator values and business model builds authentic community trust
- • Refusing aggressive monetization is itself a differentiator in an ad-saturated content landscape
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