2 months later: 2205 subscribed to read my newsletter. How do I monetize?
Hi, I'm Indrek.
In November I started a newsletter about early-stage technology startups across the US and EU. So far it's going better than I expected!
I spend a lot of time researching and testing the products. I do this so I can bring you the highest quality startups. I have no affiliation with any of the startups.
As a rule of thumb, I look at startups who have at least built a minimal viable product. This helps me weed out the builders from the talkers. Send tips my way if you or your friend is building something awesome. I'll take a look at it.
I'm open to ideas on how to monetize. So far I tried subscriptions but it seems readers are not willing to pay for it. I'm trying to sell a complementary database of startups on the side with the newsletter, but that hasn't taken off either.
Does anyone have any bright ideas on how I could monetize the newsletter without ads?
If you want to read the newsletter, here's the link: https://www.startupscrushing.com/welcome
And here's the archive if you wanna see the previous posts: https://www.startupscrushing.com/archive
Thanks!
FYI I'm building swapstack.co which is 100% free for writers (I agree with you @indreklasn, the brands should be paying for this). We actively match you with advertisers, and then when you agree to a rate with them you get 100% of that rate (we tack on a service fee that the advertiser pays..we also use that to cover Stripe fees, so if you agree to $100 with an advertiser, you'll get $100!).
Would love to have you sign up and join the community. Please lmk if you have any Qs!
Thanks for sharing. If I don't manage to convert free readers into paid ones-- I'll take a look at your project then.
This is a great place to monetize your newsletter. https://audiencehunts.com
How does it work?
You can basically post newsletter and advertisers that need your audience will contact you.
Okay. But I have to pay first to find sponsors? Why don't the sponsors pay for that? Since I bring the audience/readers to the table.
That's not how our model works. Newsletter owners are likely to get direct value from our service than sponsors. Sponsors pay newsletter owners and newsletter owners pay us. That's how it works.
This comment was deleted 6 years ago
Congrats on the traction Indrek. How do you go about finding so many interesting startups? Would love to throw our product OpinionX into consideration!
Hi Daniel! Sure, I'll take a look. Where are you based and are you funded so far?
Hey Indrek, we raised a pre-seed in mid-2020 and currently raising our seed round. Team of 4 (2 co-founders) based in Dublin, Ireland. Happy to answer any questions you have, feel free to drop me an email if it's easier either - daniel@opinionx.co
Hey Indrek,
I love your idea and I just signed up for your newsletter. What you have right now is an adequate free version. To get a subscriber to pay for a subscription try to solve a specific problem they have.
Here's where you can start:
Who is the subscriber to your free newsletter?
What problem are they trying to solve?
Solve the problem for them.
For example:
Customer: an early stage investor
A Job I need to get done: find companies to invest in
Looking for: A quick way to qualify potential companies to approach that are fundraising
I'm working on a similar product but my focus is around dissecting what makes successful startups... successful. I look at how they've set up their business models and draw out the lessons my readers and I can learn from. I'm early on in validating the idea, so I can't say it will work. The idea though is to provide an insight or a lesson my audience can learn and apply to their own business.
I hope this helps.
Hi, Vic. Thanks for signing up and for the feedback. I'll try to brainstorm more ideas with your help.
What is your idea about?
Hey Indrek,
Happy to help.
My idea is to take a successful or interesting company (mostly in the tech space) and dissect its business model. My goal is to uncover what makes it successful, so I and my readers can learn from them and apply these lessons to their business.
My working assumption is that the key to startup success depends on selecting the right business model and finding product-market fit. If you look at successful startups, they get these two things ritht. Working with various startups on their business models and strategy, I've noticed that it's usually these decisions that make a difference between a Lyft and Uber, Substack and Ghost, etc.
Good luck with rethinking your paid version. Keep us updated.
What is your engagement rate?
Pretty high. I get decent open rates and click rates.