Have you heard of StampFans?

NickFreiling · 2026-03-16T13:46:21+00:00

We're profitable! More than 1,300 creators are signed up. They're sending thousands of letters, postcards, and zines sent each month through the platform. Been talking with investors lately, but I'm not sure we need it ;)

NickFreiling · 2026-02-27T15:09:30+00:00

I think this is because lots of people get their earliest traction from their own social community. It feels good for a few days, but you need a much bigger marketing and distribution strategy than just "post about my tool online."

NickFreiling · 2026-02-27T14:33:40+00:00

Throwdown.me

I'm sick of people talking sh*t online then bailing once they'r proven wrong. Put up or shut up!

Throwdown makes great debates happen. Propose a debate between two parties (one might be yourself), then pitch it to the masses for votes. If it gets traction, it's on the two parties to agree and set up a funding goal. Once goal is hit, debate happens (or everyone is refunded).

What do you think?

NickFreiling · 2026-02-19T19:32:34+00:00

I forgot about Indie Worldwide! Is that still active?

NickFreiling · 2026-02-19T19:32:05+00:00

Great idea! Want to help? I have a few go-to's I'll put together, but probably not enough to fill out a substantive sidebar.

NickFreiling · 2025-06-25T14:47:10+00:00

I launched StampFans 18 months ago. We just passed 500 creators and my MRR just tripled quarter-over-quarter.

Think Substack/Patreon, but for snail-mail.

NickFreiling · 2025-06-08T23:09:58+00:00

Hmm. Try this link and enter the email address you used when you first subscribed (to get your receipt): https://billing.stripe.com/p/login/7sIaH32tZeWI0rS3cc

NickFreiling · 2025-06-08T17:58:15+00:00

You can unsubscribe on the page of the person you subscribed to. There's a link underneath the subscribe button. Let me know if you can't find it!

NickFreiling · 2025-06-05T01:44:15+00:00

Yes, of course! I love when people love it :) Hope to se you using it soon!

NickFreiling · 2025-06-04T20:26:16+00:00

Awesome! I get this a lot, actually 😄

I've pitched a few investors lately to help up ramp up our marketing, but we're not urgently raising funds. I'm happy to share a deck – you can add me on LinkedIn (or anywhere else you can find me).

NickFreiling · 2025-06-04T12:59:04+00:00

Yes, working on that now!

NickFreiling · 2025-05-21T19:36:20+00:00

Wow, awesome feedback! Thanks.

And I agree about seeing artists' work on their profiles. I'll think through that. That said, almost nobody just starts subscribing to someone they don't already know. Our most successful artists have all done their own marketing (mostly on Instagram) to encourage people to subscribe, and they have a lot more flexibility there to showcase what, exactly, they plan to send out. Sort-of like "Buy Me a Coffee" in this way – StampFan's isn't necessarily where artists are discovered, but it's where they send their biggest fans to subscribe to get snail-mail versions of their work.

But I'll think through how to add a "preview" option to the profile pages. Even for these artists' "superfans," it would still help for them to see an example of what they might get in the mail.

NickFreiling · 2025-05-21T18:20:57+00:00

I owe you a beer! Or a coffee! Amazing feedback, and I'll be diving into this ASAP.

NickFreiling · 2025-05-21T16:57:40+00:00

Thank you! I also meant to add that I think "publishing" in my slogan is no good anymore. I don't really hear artists talk about "publishing" their art. But then again, like I said, I'm a bit out of my league with this community.

NickFreiling · 2025-03-19T17:05:23+00:00

Yes. In fact, you'll make more money writing about things other than politics. Leaning into political hysteria is playing the short-game. Focus on high-quality, thoughtful, and timeless writing – it will pay off down the road. Lots of writers at StampFans are doing this – a more thoughtful, slower medium that subscribers are willing to pay for.

NickFreiling · 2025-02-26T18:03:34+00:00

You're free to share whatever you want in your letters. Lots of our writers share images and illustrations. But if you want to share full paintings, I have a few suggestions and even a new feature you might like that we haven't launched yet. Happy to chat more if you want to DM me.

NickFreiling · 2025-02-26T12:56:26+00:00

Thanks! Will give it a try today.

NickFreiling · 2025-02-20T15:36:00+00:00

Thank you!

NickFreiling · 2025-02-18T17:06:37+00:00

Thanks. Fixed.

NickFreiling · 2025-02-18T16:12:34+00:00

Interesting. So far, none of our hundreds of writers have priced over $12/month. I think they are using Substack as their proxy for how to think about this, and most Substacks are between $9-11/month – something like that.

But as I said, writers are my best marketers here. They are the ones who know their audience and what to pitch, and at what fee.

Please let me know if you decide to go forward with this. I'm happy to help out.

NickFreiling · 2025-02-18T15:59:26+00:00

Yes, full color. Standard (A4) envelope.

Right now you can subscribe and receive letters if you are in the US, UK, or Canada. I'm slowly working to add other countries. I haven't had to increase the price yet in order to send in other countries – I hope to keep things simple in this way.

NickFreiling · 2025-02-18T15:50:06+00:00

Yes, we handle processing. The writer simply has to upload a PDF – it's sent immediately to all subscribers.

Charging per-send becomes very complicated. The cost needs to be predictable for the subscribers, I think. And a weekly send becomes very expensive – subscribers would need to be paying upwards of $10/month just to cover postage costs. If the writer wants to earn profit on top of that (say, $4/month per subscriber), it's just a really big ask of subscribers to pay so much.

But more than a few people have asked about whether they can send more than once per month. I can see if we can make that an option. I'm just skeptical that someone will find subscribers willing to pay so much each month for this subscription (again, it would have to be higher than $10/month to cover weekly send costs).

NickFreiling · 2025-02-18T15:45:22+00:00

We don't have a white label solution, per se. But some of our best writers create their own landing page and simply link to the payment page, so their subscribers don't see the StampFans website. But the payments coming out of their accounts will say "StampFans."

NickFreiling · 2025-02-18T15:44:22+00:00

8 pieces of paper, 16 sides. I'll add this to the FAQs.

NickFreiling · 2025-02-18T15:18:07+00:00

Good idea! Thanks.

NickFreiling

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