5 Ways to Monetize Your Newsletter

You don’t need 100K subscribers to make money from a newsletter.

You can make serious money with just 5K subscribers.

Fractionals United charges a minimum $3,000 for sponsoring their newsletter of just 2.7K subscribers.

From paid subscriptions to sponsors, and affiliates, I’m going to break down the most profitable newsletter monetization tactics with average industry-rates for each.

Before you chase sponsors or launch a paid tier to monetize your newsletter, here’s what needs to be dialed in:

• Format and cadence. Nail your content format and cadence. If readers don’t know what to expect (and when), they won’t stick around.

• Your niche and ideal reader. You’re not for everyone—and that’s the point. The high-earning newsletters are laser-focused and attract high-intent readers. That’s what makes them valuable to sponsors.

• Key metrics. Open rates, CTR, subscriber growth. Advertisers want proof - actual numbers that show engagement. High open (40%+) and click (3-5%+) rates are what make your small list valuable.

1. Sponsorships

Still the most common (and scalable) way to monetize a free newsletter.

How much can you make from ads and sponsorships?

Newsletter sponsorship income can vary widely, but you can generally expect to earn between $1 and $5 per click, or $5 to $200 CPM.

Established creators and media brands take the liberty to decide their pricing. 

Justin Welsh charges a $2,500 flat fee per sponsored slot.

Brands can pay $25,000 or more for a single sponsored post on Codie Sanchez’s Contrarian Thinking.

Axios earned $50-60 million from ad revenue alone in 2022.

The Neuron charges $6,500 for main editorial ad placement.

→ Direct sales: pitch, price, close

Start with sponsors already spending on newsletters. Use tools like Who Sponsors Stuff to find them.

Here’s a list of their top 100 sponsors in 2024.

What sponsors want:

• Who reads your newsletter (industry, role, intent)

• Your open and click-through rates

• Proof that your audience acts, past results

Sam Parr sold The Hustle’s first sponsors himself, with a simple cold email, open/click rates, and a few lines about who reads it.

→ Pricing your sponsorships

Use CPM (cost per 1,000 subscribers) as a starting point. 

If you're just starting, underprice your first few slots, then raise rates once you have results.

Typical CPM ranges:

• B2C: $10–$30 CPM

• B2B: $50–$100 CPM

• Niche roles (e.g. CFOs): $100–$200+ CPM

So if you have 5,000 subs and charge $50 CPM, that's $250 per slot.

One thing you should always remember: Audience quality beats list size.

Read more about newsletter sponsorship pricing.

→ Ad marketplaces: easy to start, but lower margin

Use them if you don’t want to do outreach. Good for testing. They handle logistics, but take a cut.

• beehiiv Ad Network: Built into the platform. Makes it easy to get discovered by brands already buying newsletter ads.

• Paved: Handles everything from booking to payments.

• BuySellAds: Curated marketplace for tech and B2B newsletters.

Good for:

• Testing monetization early

• Filling inventory between direct deals

Less ideal for:

• Premium niche audiences

• Maximizing revenue

→ Media kit

Brands will most likely ask for a media kit so keep it ready. 

Your media kit should answer one question: Why should a brand pay to get in front of your audience?

Here’s what to include:

• Subscriber count

• Open + click rates (screenshot if strong)

• Audience profile (who they are + why they matter)

• Previous sponsor results (clicks, signups, revenue if available)

• Ad format + pricing

• Clear CTA: how to book

2. Paid Subscriptions

If you’ve got a loyal audience and strong voice, paid subs can turn your newsletter into a product.

→ Freemium vs. Paywall

Most successful paid newsletters use the freemium model: free version to grow, paid tier to monetize.

This gives you reach and revenue.

Lenny Rachitsky followed this path. He launched Lenny’s Newsletter in 2019, wrote consistently for 6 months, and only then introduced a paid option.

Within 7 weeks of launching the paid tier, he crossed $65,000 in annual recurring revenue.

Hard paywalls kill growth unless you already have strong external distribution (e.g. from Twitter, LinkedIn, or a niche following).

→ How to price

Most paid newsletters charge $5–$10/month or $50–$100/year.

But price depends on two things:

1. Audience value (more niche = higher LTV)

2. Painkiller content (how badly do readers need it?)

Lenny started with $15/month and $150/year (currently $200/year); and people paid, because his content solved real problems for product managers. 

Discounts help with conversions, especially annual plans. Many creators offer 2 months free if readers commit yearly.

Use a limited-time offer at launch or for early adopters.

When Lenny launched paid subscriptions, he offered an early-bird deal: 33% off for 48 hours — $100/year or $10/month.

That brought in 200 paid subscribers.

He then used that momentum as social proof, introduced a second discount (20% off), and another 250 people joined.

He got 50% of his paid subscribers just within a week.

At the same time, he also saw a spike in free subscribers.

Here’s what Lenny said about the importance of keeping a free version along with paid subscription and how he monetized his newsletter during the initial days:

→ Tools to use

• Substack: Easiest to set up, built-in audience discovery
  

• beehiiv: Clean design, native paywall, good analytics
  

• Ghost: Fully customizable, great if you want control
  

• Kit: Ideal if email + product sales are your mix

→ What to offer (that people will actually pay for)

Paid subs work when the premium content gives direct, personal value—something they can’t Google.

What converts:

• Deep dives or industry analysis (think: “how this startup raised $10M”)

• Templates, swipe files, databases

• Job boards, private Q&As, AMAs

• Community access (Slack, Skool)

Trends.vc charges $299/year for reports + community access + 1:1 founder intros + feedback and lots more.

3. Product sales

Start simple. Sell something useful, fast to consume, and focused on solving one clear problem.

Your product stack should look like this:

• Free content – Newsletter, lead magnet, or email course to build trust

• Low-ticket product ($47–$99) – Templates, mini-courses, or swipe files to generate cash flow

• High-ticket offer ($500+) – Coaching, memberships, or cohort-based courses for your most engaged readers

→ Case studies: 

Jesse Pujji – B2B Blueprint

We worked with Jesse Pujji and Andrew Warner to launch two B2B-focused products through their newsletter, Bootstrapped Giants and generated $277K+ from a 15K-subscriber newsletter

• A $47 product (B2B Blueprint) that made $17,000 in early sales

• A $5,000 B2B accelerator, which drove $250,000+ in up-sells

All built from audience insights. We surveyed 50+ readers, found 50% were building B2B companies, and focused the offer there.

What worked:

• Built a simple product around one clear pain point

• Used just 2 emails to launch

• Scaled later with Meta ads and a 7-email nurture flow

• Made back ad spend on the front-end product = negative CAC

Dickie Bush, Nicolas Cole –  Ship 30 for 30

Launched in late 2020 by Dickie Bush and Nicolas Cole, Ship 30 for 30 turned a structured writing challenge into a $1M/year product.

Their top-of-funnel—Twitter—was strong, but risky. So they created a 5-day free EEC, Start Writing Online, to build an email list.

What it did:

• Compressed key ideas from the paid Ship 30 curriculum

• Delivered value upfront while teaching core frameworks

• Warmed up readers

The emails are also used to pitch their other products like Typeshare.

It now brings in hundreds of email signups per day, runs on autopilot, and leads directly to a $350 product bringing in $1M+ per year.

4. Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing can be a low-effort, high-margin monetization channel if you do it right..

→ How to pick the right products

• Choose products your readers already use, ask about, or would find helpful.

• Only share things you trust—and always mention if it’s an affiliate link.

• Pick products that make sense for your audience, not just ones that pay the most.

• Tools with ongoing payouts or higher commissions are a bonus.

• If your readers are professionals, business tools usually work best.

• Stick to 2 or 3 solid recommendations. Too many can feel spammy.

• And don’t force it—add links in a way that feels natural to your content.

→ Where to find affiliate programs and networks

• Rakuten Advertising: One of the leading global affiliate marketing networks. Join as a publisher to start earning.

Tiered Offers give publishers higher commission rates as they make more sales.

Tiered Commissions come in two forms - standard and progressive.

In a standard setup, your total monthly sales are paid out at the highest tier you hit.

In a progressive setup, each portion of your sales is paid at its matching tier rate.

For example, if you make $4,000 in sales:

Standard = 10% of all $4,000 = $400

Progressive =

• 6% of first $1,000 = $60
  

• 8% of next $2,000 = $160
  

• 10% of final $1,000 = $100

→ Total = $320

• ClickBank: An affiliate marketplace that helps affiliate members find products to promote. Their payout is attractive, and affiliates can earn an average commission of between $150 and $180 per sale.

→ Where to place links for max clicks

3 placements that consistently work:

• Recommendation sections: Like The Assist’s “What We’re Using” block—natural, expected, and high-converting

• P.S. at the bottom of the email: Low-pressure but attention-grabbing

• Dedicated affiliate issues: Occasionally go deep on one tool, feature, or review

The Assist drives consistent affiliate revenue by weaving links into their weekly tips and recs—no hard sell, no disruption.

Just useful tools shared in a helpful tone, aligned with their professional audience.

5. Services and consulting

If you're offering agency or done-for-you services, newsletter can be your highest-converting funnel.

→ Position it as top-of-funnel

At The Feed Media, we use our invite-only, private newsletter to share real marketing wins, breakdowns, and ad strategies that show how we think.

Every issue is built to do two things:

1. Deliver value that builds trust

2. Hint at the offer behind the scenes (what we can do for you)

Your free content shows what’s possible—your service shows how to get it done.

→ How to make readers raise their hands

We don’t rely on a “hire us” CTA. Instead, we drop short proof points into the content:

• “Generating $250k for a 15k-person newsletter”

• “Negative CAC at $70k/month in spend”

Testimonials and mini case studies work better than a hard sell. 

We use soft CTAs and make the next step clear—without shouting.

What works best at different stages

Not every monetization method works from day one. Here’s what to focus on as your list grows and what we’ve seen work across real newsletters:

<1K subscribers

At this stage, you don’t have volume but you can still monetize your newsletter. Try:

• Services and consulting.

• Affiliate marketing.

1K–10K subscribers

Now your audience is large enough to validate and sell products.

• Low-ticket digital products.

• Paid subscriptions.

• Freemium email courses.

• Early sponsorships

10K+ subscribers

At this point, you have enough reach to build serious revenue systems:

• Direct sponsorships: Skip the ad networks, pitch brands yourself.

• Premium courses & cohorts: Sell high-ticket offers backed by case studies and social proof. Justin Welsh’s $897 Creator MBA is promoted weekly through his newsletter, driving consistent sales.

• Coaching or memberships: Create a premium tier with access, community, or personal support. Dickie Bush and Nicolas Cole sell their $6,000+ Premium Ghostwriting Academy access directly through their newsletter and content.

Play the Long Game

Monetization doesn’t work if you chase everything at once.

Start with one or two revenue streams that fit your list size and audience

Get results, double down, then layer in the next stream.