5,618 subscribers, 25% open rate, and 2-3% click rate. What would you charge for sponsorship?
Hey guys, we are at a bit of an impasse on a crypto/blockchain newsletter as we can’t figure out how to best monetize in a meaningful way. We send out daily, so we are unsure if the frequency of our sending would impact the price up or down for what an advertiser would pay. What do you think the best route is?
In addition, I’ve been wondering how to value a newsletter business, has anyone had experience getting their’s acquired? And how is the best way to go about that?
You left out the most important part: who are the subscribers, and what are you sending them?
Seconded.
As far as that goes, it shouldn't really make a difference. Placement, style, and competition with other offers/links within the newsletter body itself are more important.
That makes sense, thank you for this
Just re-edited and added another question to the original post.
How would you value a newsletter business for an acquisition?
Whoops haha yeah that is important. We are sending daily updates/reviews of crypto and blockchain.
Okay, but who is subscribed?
People interested in crypto/blockchain? Professional blockchain developers or crypto traders?
When you're selling a list to advertisers, your list is no longer your customer they are your product and the value of the list is directly correlated to the buying power and buying habits of your subscribers, and what is being offered to the advertiser.
The best example I can point to is Cooper Press, which publishes a bunch of weekly digest emails for professional developers in a bunch of verticals. Take a look at how they do ad pricing (which you can find in their media kit.
You'll notice that they break things down by click and open rates, but also have different ad "products" that can be purchased.
That is a really clear way of breaking down the sponsorship. I never thought of multiple “products” as being an option but can definitely consider.
As for the audience, it’s mostly blockchain and crypto enthusiasts rather than the dev side. It’s short snippets and bite-sized news so it’s supposed to be simple and aimed at the general crypto audience.
Depending on what you want for the business I might be interested. You can send me an email/message if you'd like to chat. Its interesting.
I built something similar (list => invented products once attention was acquired) in the recruiting space 18 months ago.
I think if you go the traditional route of adding sponsors you're going to turn off your audience. In my experience when we started adding shit that wasn't pure value > once a month it really really tanked the audience.
We had a 3k person fb group (98% active), most everyone on email list, a lot on fb chatbot. Once we started selling spots (ads or sponsorships) it caused a ton of problems.
Looking back, if i could re-do everything, I'd have formed a hypothesis about what the top 10% of the list wants. Those who both are super interested & have money to spend.
If I bought the business I'd spend the next 6-9 months focusing solely on adding value. Take that list to 15k (while weeding out those who never open, click, respond). Once you get there you can start to think about monetization.
I'm not an expert in the crypto space, but I'd isolate 10% that is super engaged and try to chat with them on the phone. If you can get 50 calls scheduled and ask them their problems you will know what product you can sell to them/more people like them.
I have a friend who may be interested in sponsoring your newsletter. Hit me up for more detail if you're interested.
P.s. I have no idea what you should charge. Whatever you think is fair (and clients are willing to pay) is usually my best advice.
Thanks Gary! I'll get in touch
Interesting question. I do have a newsletter with 2k subscribers and 55% open rate. I'm actively looking for a sponsor and asking for 200€ for each weekly issue. I don't really know if this price is ok, too low, too high. I just know I didn't find any sponsor and it's one of my goals for 2019.
Suggestion - lower it to $50. Once you find a sponsor, increase the price by $25 each week until you will have trouble selling. $200 for newsletter to 2K people is really high (unless they are in highly valuable niche, and they are ready to spend money/sign up to things).
Hey there Kyle, I like the look and feel of unbankd.co. have been a suubcriber for a while.
In the crypto information space, what does a daily update bring to the table that let's say the block or tokendaily or messari or diar doesn't?
I would love to talk in detail on what we can do together
Hey Naveen!
Thanks for the kind words.
Actually, TD only runs 3 times a week now so it’s not as consistent.
I know Messari put up paywalls on their newsletter.
And the Block is awesome but the newsletters are more focused in-depth on 1-2 stories rather than briefing over multiple. It also goes out at 3-4PM CST which is a little late in my opinion.
Diar is amazing too but it’s definitely on the expert side. Heavy analytics and data isn’t so appealing to those just looking to get a summary.
You can reach my email if you have something in mind and I’d love to chat!