These are not your father’s newsletters.
There was a TV commercial in the late 1980s in which Oldsmobile tried to reintroduce its brand to a new generation, whose collective recollection of the car is that it was for old fuddy-duddies. So the ad began, “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile.”
It may not have saved the brand but it sure was a clever ad. Here I am decades later quoting it.
I digress.
The point is that there comes a time when it is wise to rethink a business, brand, or category. And I am suggesting that that time is now with regard to the ubiquitous, seemingly staid, always-in-your-inbox e-newsletter. Why? Because the newsletter industry is undergoing a radical transformation.
The old, boring, ugly, ad-heavy, info-light, promos-a-go-go newsletter that so many of us are used to getting has, in the past few years, been replaced by a far sexier version. Not only sexier, but far more interesting, readable, and valuable. Newsletters today, when done right, have become valuable media properties. Check it out:
- The Hustle is a daily business and tech newsletter that delivers a conversational summary of the latest news. It was sold to HubSpot in 2021… for an estimated $27 million.
- Morning Brew is a daily newsletter that covers business news in a witty and digestible way. It was acquired by Insider Inc. in 2020… for a reported $75 million.
- Milk Road is a newsletter that was created and sold in only eight months. It focuses on cryptocurrency, offering insights and analysis in a casual tone. It was sold in 2023… for a rumored mid-seven figures.
Why would a company plunk down multi-millions of dollars to buy an inbox newsletter? The Hustle, when it sold a few years ago, had 1.5 million daily readers. The Milk Road, when it sold last year, had but 250,000 subscribers and sold for 8 figures.
Why?
As Gail Goodman, the founder and former CEO of Constant Contact once told me, e-newsletters are unique because people ask to get them. That’s what opting-in means. Where else can a business have a customer give their email and say, “Please email me, I want to hear from you!”
Nate Kennedy has been creating newsletters for years, owns and runs several very successful ones, and also owns and runs an uber-successful marketing agency called Marketing Rebels. Nate puts it this way in one of his LinkedIn posts:
- “Send an email to 100 people, 40 of them open it, 2 of them buy it, $100 profit.”
- “Send an email to 100,000 people, 40,000 of them open it, 2,000 of them buy it, and $100,000 profit.”
- “Build your newsletter. Once it gets big, it will be a money printer.”
Matt McGarry: A case study in success
McGarry used to work for The Hustle and left to start his own agency, Grow Letter. McGarry and his team have helped some of the biggest names in the newsletter industry scale their newsletters and businesses, clients like The Hustle, Milk Road, 1440, Codie Sanchez, and more.
McGarry explained to me that there are a few different types of newsletters these days:
- Creator: These feature a distinctive voice, which gives the newsletter personality. That unique take becomes part of the enjoyment of reading it.
- Curated: These newsletters are essentially a compendium of links from around the web. The owner/operator curates the best pieces in a given area (say, crypto, or finance, or small business) and delivers it daily, thereby saving the reader the time of having to go find that info him or herself.
- Summaries and Distillations: These are kind of a combo of the two and work quite well.
Each of these newsletter modes typically take three to five minutes to read.
So just how do you grow a newsletter? According to McGarry, there are a few ways. First, and slowest, is organic. That is, for example, you put out “lead magnets” (interesting pieces of content) and someone opts-in to get the content. The other way is paid — buying ads, especially on Meta. That is McGarry and his team’s specialty. Needless to say, paid growth works faster.
Monetization Opportunities
One of the great things about starting a newsletter is the variety of monetization opportunities it offers. Advertising, sponsored content, affiliate marketing, and paid subscriptions are just a few of the revenue streams available to newsletter creators.
McGarry emphasizes the importance of diversifying revenue streams to ensure stability and growth. For instance, a newsletter might start with ad placements but gradually introduce paid subscriptions as the audience grows and the content becomes more premium.
Moreover, newsletters can serve as a launchpad for other business ventures. Product launches are common. Michael Houck runs Houck’s Newsletter (for startup founders) and has found that the paid community that resulted from his newsletter has become a premium benefit that is in much demand.
Low-Cost, High Reward
For aspiring entrepreneurs, the low startup cost of a newsletter is particularly appealing. You do not need to invest in expensive equipment, rent office space, or hire a large team. With just a computer, an email marketing platform, and a knack for writing, you can get started. And yes, there are many one-person newsletters out there that generate a million a year in income or more.
Practicing What I Preach
Given what I do, I come across some incredible entrepreneurial tales — come-from-behind victories, crazy ideas that made crazy money, and more. Just today, I learned how Tommy Hilfiger became TOMMY HILFIGER when, as an unknown designer, a PR agent convinced him to put up a Times Square billboard comparing himself to fashion icons Ralph Lauren, Perry Ellis, and Calvin Klein. He took the risk, and within a week, Hilfiger was on The Tonight Show. If fun, inspirational stories like that — with actionable takeaways — sound compelling to you, I invite you to check out my new newsletter, Notes to an Entrepreneur.
Feature Image Credit: Getty Images
