Turning Adventures of Shanghai into something that pays for itself.
A six-step plan to launch a paid newsletter, build a real audience we own, and finally cover what it costs to make this thing.
For Ryan & Ashley · Updated May 9, 2026
6–8
Weeks to launch
~70
Hours of work to launch
$1.2–2.5K
Realistic month-3 income
The big idea
Stop trying to make TikTok pay us. Start a Substack.
Adventures of Shanghai has 4,000 followers. That's not enough for ad money to ever make sense — but it's plenty for a paid newsletter, if we sharpen what we do and ask the people who actually love it to support the work.
Here's the shift in thinking: social media is the storefront window, not the shop. People discover us on TikTok and Facebook, but they pay us through a Substack subscription. Free tier for casual fans, $7/month for people who want the deep stuff, $15/month for the inner circle.
The video work isn't going away — it becomes the funnel. Every video ends with "full investigation on Substack." The written long-form pieces (which Ashley already wants to write) become the actual product. And we cut location filming from weekly to monthly, which slashes our costs by more than half.
⏵ Right now, here's what's stopping us
We need a 90-minute conversation about what Adventures of Shanghai actually is.
Not a pivot — a sharpening. Right now the brand is "investigative Pacific Northwest content," which is too soft. The strongest material has been about cults, forgotten places, and unsolved mysteries. We need to pick the sharper edge in one sentence, together, before any of the other steps make sense.
Until this is decided, everything else is guessing.
What we've already decided
Six things are locked in.
These came out of the strategy session. They're settled — we don't need to revisit them unless something material changes.
Substack, not a custom website.Faster to revenue. Owns the email list. We can build a custom site in year two if we want.
Three subscription tiers: free, $7/month, $15/month.Free for casual fans, $7 for committed readers, $15 for the "inner circle" — research notebooks and monthly Q&As.
Sharpen the existing brand, don't rebrand.4,000 followers worth of recognition is more valuable than a clean slate. Keep the name. Tighten the focus.
The email list is the most valuable thing we own.Algorithms change overnight. An email list comes with us anywhere. Every other decision should protect or grow it.
Cut location trips to one per month.Replace the other three weeks with research-driven written content. This alone cuts production costs roughly 60–70%.
Ashley is the lead writer.Long-form written investigations are the product. We'll know within a month whether the writing rhythm fits her — that's the first real test.
How we get there
The plan, six steps.
Each step builds on the one before it. Don't skip ahead — Step 1 is the keystone, and trying to do Step 2 work before Step 1 is decided will just create rework. Time estimates are realistic, not aspirational.
1
Decide what this is, in one sentence.
The keystone. Everything else flows from this.
~4 hrs
Total
"Adventures of Shanghai is ___________ for ___________." Until we can fill in those two blanks confidently, the rest of the plan can't be acted on. This is the work.
This step is what's blocking everything else. Block 90 minutes for the sit-down and treat it as a real meeting — not a "we'll talk about it sometime" thing.
Sit down together and decide the sharper edge
Working hypothesis: "PNW Cults & Forgotten Places." But the test is whether Ashley lights up when we describe it — her enthusiasm is the signal, not the wording.
90 min
Write the one-sentence positioning
Print it. Tape it where we'll both see it. This becomes the answer to "what is this?" forever.
1 hr
Write a short voice-and-tone guide for Ashley
Three sentences in the voice we want, three sentences NOT in the voice. A reference to look at when she gets stuck.
1.5 hrs
Pick colors and fonts for Substack
Reuse the warm/terracotta palette we already use. Don't reinvent.
45 min
2
Set up the Substack.
Build the home base where the work lives and gets paid for.
~7 hrs
Total
This is mostly clicking through forms. The hard part is the About page — that's our sales pitch, so it deserves real time and care.
Create the Substack account and claim the name
Reserve the URL even before everything else is finalized.
30 min
Choose the publication name, tagline, and web address
Comes out of the Step 1 conversation.
30 min
Write the About page
Mission, who we are, what readers get. This is the page people land on when they're deciding whether to subscribe — don't half-write it.
1.5 hrs
Make a logo and header banner
Canva works fine. Match the look people already recognize from TikTok.
1.5 hrs
Set up the three subscription tiers and connect Stripe
Free, $7/month, $15/month. Annual: $70 and $150 (saves subscribers two months).
45 min
Write the welcome email sequence (3 emails)
Sent automatically when someone signs up. Email 1: hello and what to expect. Email 2: best-of pieces. Email 3: gentle pitch to upgrade.
2.5 hrs
Custom domain (optional — can wait until month 2)
Adds polish. Not required to launch. Skip if budget is tight.
45 min
3
Build the launch shelf of content.
The biggest chunk of work. We can't announce a paid newsletter with nothing on the shelves.
~30 hrs
Total
This is the hardest, longest step — and the one that decides whether the launch lands or fizzles. We need at least three free pieces, two paid investigations, and a sample of the $15-tier content all written and ready before we tell anyone the Substack exists.
Make templates for each kind of piece (one-time setup)
Free post, paid investigation, location guide, source documents, monthly Q&A, research notebook. Build them once, use them forever.
~6 hrs
Write 3 free pieces (~800 words each)
These are what new readers find first. They need to be strong enough that someone reads one and immediately wants more.
6–9 hrs
Write 2 paid investigations (~2,500 words each)
Behind the $7 paywall. These are the conversion pieces — they have to be the strongest writing we've ever published.
8–12 hrs
Write 1 location guide
Behind the $7 paywall. Different feel than an investigation — practical, map-based, "go visit this place."
2.5 hrs
Write 1 sample Research Notebook
Behind the $15 paywall. The "showing your work" tier — messy field notes, working theories, dead ends.
2 hrs
Turn 4–5 existing video transcripts into written posts
Massive shortcut. We already paid to make this content once. Repurposing is way faster than starting from scratch.
5–7 hrs
4
Wire the social channels to the Substack.
Make every video automatically a sales pitch for the newsletter.
~3 hrs
Total
Mechanical work, but it's the difference between social-as-vanity and social-as-funnel. From here on, every TikTok exists to send people to the Substack.
Update TikTok bio and link
One link. One call to action. Drop everything else.
20 min
Update Facebook bio and pin a launch post
Same as TikTok. The pinned post explains what's changing and why.
20 min
Make a video end-card template
Same five seconds at the end of every video: "Full investigation on Substack — link in bio." Repetition is the whole point.
1 hr
Write the verbal call-to-action script
The exact 8–10 words we say at the end of every video. Memorize it. Say it the same way every time.
30 min
Optional: set up a Linktree page
A single landing page for all our links. Skip if the Substack URL is short and easy to remember.
45 min
5
Launch week.
Pull the trigger. Soft-launch to friends first, then announce publicly.
~3 hrs
Total
A soft launch to people who already love us catches the bugs and gets the first 20 signups before strangers ever see it. Then we go public.
Personal soft-launch text to friends and family
"Hey, we're starting this thing — would mean a lot if you'd take a look." Personal asks convert at 40-60%.
30 min
TikTok announcement video
Don't make it about the launch — make it about the FIRST INVESTIGATION. The launch is the side dish.
1 hr
Facebook announcement post
Same content, formatted for FB's longer-form audience.
45 min
Plan the first 4 weeks of posts
Lock the schedule before going live. Two free pieces a week, one paid investigation in week two, the research notebook at end of month one.
45 min
6
Run it like a real publication.
The part most people screw up. Day 90 is where 80% of newsletters die. Build the rhythm.
~7–10 hrs/wk
Ongoing
The launch is the easy part. What kills newsletters is showing up irregularly, ghosting subscribers, or burning out three months in. The rhythm has to be sustainable from week one — see the next section for the weekly breakdown.
Once we're running
The weekly rhythm.
What it actually looks like to run this thing once it's launched. Roughly 7–10 hours a week between us. Same days every week — predictability is what trains an audience.
Every week
One free post written and published 2–3 hrs
2–3 social posts driving to Substack 1.5 hrs
Subscriber and analytics check 30 min
Reply to comments and DMs 1 hr
Every month
One paid investigation 4–6 hrs
One Research Notebook ($15 tier) 2 hrs
Monthly Q&A ($15 tier) 1.5 hrs
One location filming trip ~1 day
Still figuring out
What we need to talk about.
Open questions — some are blocking, some are just things we want to think through together over the next few weeks.
What's the sharpened edge — "PNW Cults & Forgotten Places," or something else Ashley resonates with more?
⏵ Blocking — needs the Step 1 conversation
Will Ashley actually enjoy long-form writing once she tries it?
⏵ The first real test — we'll know within a month
Custom domain at launch, or wait until month two?
Cost vs polish call
Should we bring on a freelance writer to speed up the launch backlog?
Could compress timeline by 2–3 weeks if Ashley is stretched thin
What's the right sponsor pricing for local businesses (McMinnville Tourism, ghost-tour ops, etc.)?
Need to research benchmarks before pitching
Should we cross-promote AOS through Confidence Lighting's seasonal customer list?
Free launch boost — but is the audience overlap real?
In the launch announcement: tease specific paid investigations, or hold them back?
Curiosity vs. immediate value tradeoff
What unsubscribe rate would tell us the positioning needs a re-think?
Suggest >5% in week one as the trigger
Realistic targets
What 90 days looks like, honestly.
Not the optimistic version — the version we'd actually bet on, given a 4,000-follower starting point. If we hit even the low end, the project pays for itself. If we hit the high end, it starts being real income.
Paid Substack subscribers 50 subs at $7/month average is the realistic month-3 number
~$350/mo
Local sponsorships 1–2 hyperlocal sponsors (tourism boards, ghost tours, etc.) at $200–500 each
$300–700/mo
Ebook launch ("Hidden PNW: 30 Mysterious Places")~80 sales at $19 in launch month, mostly recycled content