I got my first sponsor and I'm losing my mind!
Just had to share this moment with you all because I’m absolutely stoked—I got my first sponsor and I'm losing my mind!
Almost a month ago, I started running a newsletter. I know many of you are pros at this game, but it took me forever to figure out the structure, story, platform, automation, and, of course, who was going to read the damn thing. I was busy planning the tech aspects of the business and felt overwhelmed by this big, scary content pillar everyone talks about.
Reluctantly and with too much overthinking, I started the newsletter. To my surprise, we saw a growth rate jump from 23% in week 1 to 152% in week 3. I thought we’d just trudge along the old-fashioned way until we got to 4,000 or more subscribers.
Then, out of the blue, I got an email saying, "You've got a sponsor," and I literally spilled my coffee and ran up and down the corridors a few times!
Life has this funny way of coming full circle. I began my career as a freelance journo, writing stories for tech companies and luxury travel magazines, selling everything from software to dream destinations. Those were fun years that allowed me to travel (but most importantly, pay my bills) while studying and living a life of freedom before "digital nomad" was a thing.
Now, years later, I'm back to writing stories, but with a twist. I cover developments in the AI space, diligently reviewing tools posted on our website and sharing why people will love the features the founders promote. This also means I often become one of the first free/freemium or at times paid user, of these AI tools. But what truly excites me is uncovering the stories behind the founders. I’m still looking for founders who will trust me enough to share their personal tales and what makes them tick.
Cut to today, and I've landed my first sponsor for Alternative AI (https://alternativeai.io/). I’m beyond excited—it happened way sooner than I expected, and I can't help but lose my mind over it. This newsletter is growing so fast, and it’s all thanks to the amazing community and of course the hard yards.
Here’s a link to last week’s newsletter: https://neels-newsletter-acef2e.beehiiv.com/p/ai-gone-viral
Here’s to new beginnings and the wild ride ahead! 🚀✨
Congrats on the success! How did you get the sponsor tho? Were you actively looking for potential sponsors and "selling" the spot? Was it organic? Curious because I'm also starting a Newsletter, so it would be helpful to know a bit more details.
Hi @IgnacioKnowmad
Thanks for reaching out .This time around I hosted the newsletter on Beehiiv which makes it easier to find the sponsors who may be interested in advertising to a niche audience like yours. if not, there are other hacks to get to this stage which I used to successfully launch and scale my previous newsletters. As you are starting out, the first step in the process is choosing a platform for the newsletter and the last is getting the email addresses of the sponsor who may be keen to sponsor your newsletter.
If you don't have beehive - then for best results I recommend using an email platform that allows for sequence -and writing your first email to the sponsor.
Once I found the sponsors I was keen on - I started with emailing them. Here's my exact email strategy breakdown here
a) Describe the target audience of the newsletter to highlight its relevance to the potential sponsor.
b) Provide the number of subscribers to showcase the reach of the newsletter.
and clearly state the intention to seek sponsorship.
c)Mention a past sponsorship to establish relevance and credibility. eg In this email please do mention an existing sponsor - and if you don't - I think hack your way around asking a fellow founder to sponsor your newsletter for a $1 in exchange. this way you have legitimised it. 😊
d) Offer specific sponsorship packages with clear pricing.and remember start small.
e)Offer to provide more detailed demographic information if required.
f) lastly the CTA so that you can direct the recipient to your website for more information and provide a clear way for them to respond.
Hope it helps. to know my sequence for end customers you can join here - https://neels-newsletter-acef2e.beehiiv.com/subscribe or my discord https://discord.gg/h9wpTeZv