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How do you get more paying subscribers AUTOMATICALLY?
The passive income beach dream is long debunked but occasionally you strike gold and this little automation is a GOLDMINE (*slimy salesman voice intended*).
I started using Buy Me a Coffee last year for my membership.
I noticed they had an option to automate a tweet anytime anyone pays me so I turned it on.
It looks like this:
Now, you might think this is annoying or too salesy or not humble enough or [insert excuse to avoid making money] but I’m here to let you know: IT. WORKS.
It has worked so well I set up a few more of these automations and they run on my Bluesky and X accounts.
How does it work? Anytime I get a new subscriber, Zapier sends it over to Bluesky and X as a new post. It’s surprisingly often someone will like the tweet and then make a contribution or become a subscriber. It’s a gift that keeps on giving. A little word of mouth multiplier.
This is a great automation to turn on during big promo or sale periods too. Really generate a sense of interest and activity around what you’re doing and make more fans aware that they CAN PAY YOU!
Want to try it? Read on for the recipe for this quick automation!
In this play:
How to automate “Just Got It” posts
In this play, you will set up a Zapier automation to your Bluesky, Facebook, Threads or X account.
🎯 Desired result: More paid subscribers
⏱️ Estimated time to complete: 30 minutes
3️⃣ 3×3×3 growth system: Use for Step 3 promotion mechanics
💡 What’s Zapier? Zapier is an app that connects two or more apps together. It’s like app glue. It lets you send data from one app to another very easily. When you do this, it’s called a “Zap.”
Tools you need
- You’ll need a Zapier account. The free tier will work for Facebook. You’ll need a Pro (paid account) for Bluesky—though you can get around this with Buffer!
- If you want to push to Threads or X, you’ll need Buffer (the free tier).
- A social account on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook or X (free).
- A Stripe account (free).
Step 1: Set up your Zap trigger
Your Zap will have two parts: the trigger (Stripe) and the action (the social channel).
- Open Zapier and create an account or log in
- Ignore all their AI stuff and look for the big “CREATE” button to make a new Zap
- Click into the Step 1 box and choose Stripe from the app menu
💡 Instead of Stripe, you can also use Ghost, beehiiv, Buy Me a Coffee, or Patreon.
- Authorize your Stripe account
- Under Trigger event, choose “New subscription” (for subscriptions/recurring) or “New payment” (if you do one time contributions).
- Under Configure, change “Use test mode data” to FALSE (this will pull in your recent actual subscriptions or transactions).
- Continue to Test and test the trigger to make sure it works.
💡 If it doesn’t work: reconnect Stripe and make sure you hook up the Stripe account where these transactions are happening (Hint: if you have other Zaps with Stripe, you might need to “Connect a new account” for this one, even if it’s the same account you’re already using.)
Step 2: Create your social post
- Click into Step 2 of the Zap and select Bluesky or Facebook from the menu.
- If you want to use X or Threads, you’ll select Buffer. Make sure you already have a Buffer account and that your social media is authorized there too.
For Bluesky
- Under Setup, authorize your Bluesky account. They recommend you use an App Password in Bluesky which you can create here.
- Back in Zapier, once authorized, choose “Create Post”
- Under Configure, write what you want the post to say.
Something like “Someone just subscribed to [PUBLICATION NAME]. You can become a subscriber too and be a supporter of local news for Newark.”
Do not include a link yet.
- Under Reply To, choose FALSE
- Under Embed Type, choose External Link
- Under URL, paste your URL for buying a subscription (or a sales page, if you have one)
- Under Title, write a one liner for what your subscription is. Mine says “The Paid Sub Playbook offers new ways to grow your paid subscriber base every month.”
- Under Description, you can add perks or additional background. I just put “Journalists Pay Themselves” because I was getting lazy at this point.
- Under Thumbnail URL, you’ll link to the image you want it to post.
I made mine in Canva and uploaded it to Google Drive but any image hosted anywhere online will work. Ideal link preview size is 1920px x 1080px. It will look like this when posted to Bluesky 👇️
- Continue to Test and head over to Bluesky to make sure you like how it looks there. Then, delete the test post.
- Finish and Publish your Zap. It’s live!
For Buffer (Threads and X)
- Under Setup, authorize your Buffer account
- Under Action event, choose “Add to Queue” (you will change this later)
- Under Configure, choose your organization (should just be one)
- Ignore Tags
- Under Channel, choose the social account you want to post to
- Under Text, put what you want your post to say AND do include the link to your website/upgrade page
- Under Media, select Image (if you want an image to show)
- Under Image, paste the URL to your image
(Tip: upload this to Google Drive and use the source URL or literally any other tool on the internet where you can file upload and grab an image link will work) - Under Alt Text, describe the image
- Under Method, change Add to Queue to Share Now ← IMPORTANT!
- Continue and Test step
- Go check your social profiles to make sure the post looks how you want.
- Hit Publish and name your Zap so you remember what it does!
Recommendations for using this automation
- Turn on/off whenever you want: I run this all the time because the most upgrades I get in a day is like 5 and it doesn’t feel overwhelming in my feed but keep an eye on it and know that you can manually turn it on/off anytime.
- High volume? Use Zapier’s schedules or filters: If you get more than 10 new paying subscribers a day, you may want to use Zapier’s advanced features like Schedule or Filters. These require the paid plan.
- Try turning this on during an annual sale or big promotion period. It will show how much activity is happening AND make more supporters aware of options to contribute!
- Make it diverse: You can also set these Zaps up by contribution type or tier if you want more variety and you can change up the image too.
Got questions? Want to share wins or challenges?
I’d love to hear it! You can either comment on this post or send me a question.
What's missing from this play?
Nothing, I got it! One thing, I'll share it! A lot, I'm lost!
