Using a newsletter to build a $20k/mo consulting business

Josh Spector quit a job at The Oscars to become a consultant. Then, to bring in leads, he launched a newsletter called For The Interested.

Thanks to this acquisition channel, he's now bringing in $20k/mo.

Here's Josh on how he did it.👇

Quitting The Oscars

I’m a content strategist based in Los Angeles — I help businesses get more clients from their content.

Before going out on my own, I ran digital marketing for The Oscars, worked in marketing for New Line Cinema, and was a journalist for The Hollywood Reporter. In that time, I realized that lots of businesses invest a lot of time, effort, and money into their content, but most of them aren’t getting nearly as many leads and sales as they could be from that investment.

I decided to help them solve that problem. I do this through my free newsletter, For The Interested, and my podcast, Clients From Content, as well as through a paid group coaching program and 1-on-1 consulting.

Luckily, I had been building email lists over the years, so I didn't have to start from scratch with my newsletter. I also took the Oscars as my first consulting client, so I wasn't starting from scratch on that front either.

Over the past decade, I’ve helped hundreds of businesses generate millions in revenue from their content. And the reason I’m able to show businesses how to get clients from their content is because I’ve built a thriving business doing just that for myself.

Charge more

I charged too little in the beginning. I’ve found that this is common with consultants and coaches.

I’ve significantly raised my prices over the years. I’ve also gotten narrower in my focus — I went from helping creative entrepreneurs grow their audiences and business to specifically focusing on helping people get clients from their content.

These days, I offer a monthly group coaching program that people can join for $99/month or $999/year - that has about 500 members and is my main revenue stream. I also offer higher-priced 1-1 consulting.

When people join my coaching program they get access to a collection of Skill Sessions I’ve produced which are 1-hour workshops on specific topics like how to use social media to grow a newsletter, how to get clients, how to create a product in a day, and how to position your expertise in the market.

They also get to join my monthly group coaching calls where they can get help with their specific challenges.

In addition to coaching and consulting, I sell ads in my newsletter ($350 per ad). When you buy an ad, you get two mentions — one in my Sunday newsletter where you’re one of multiple advertisers and one in a weekday issue where I write the copy and you’re the sole sponsor. This amounts to a $50k/yr revenue stream.

In total, I average about $20k per month.

Growing via a newsletter

My free newsletter (via ConvertKit) is the engine of my business, in that most of my clients discover me through the newsletter. It’s a great showcase for my expertise.

More than 32,000 people subscribe to it, many of whom have gone on to become my clients.

Consistency is the key. I’ve published the newsletter every week for 447 weeks (and counting) in a row. And for the past several years, I've also published a one-paragraph edition every single day.

The newsletter has grown through:

• Word of mouth

• Recommendation programs like Convertkit’s Creator Network and Sparkloop

• Social media content

• Paid campaigns through Sparkloop and Facebook, though I only used Facebook ads in the early days and haven’t used them in years.

• I’m also often interviewed on other people’s podcasts which drives some audience growth for me as well.

Here are a bunch of blog posts I’ve written about how to grow a newsletter.

Getting clients from a newsletter

If you want to get clients from a newsletter, do the following:

• Align your newsletter content with what potential clients want — not just what you do.

• Include curated content. You don’t have to create all the newsletter content yourself (and probably shouldn’t).

• Keep it short. Write a newsletter; not a novel.

• Use your welcome email to start conversations with clients. Ask new readers about themselves and offer help.

• Leverage your link click data — and who clicks. These are potential leads.

• Share success stories in a way readers can use. Share your secrets. Give them quick wins.

• Publish frequently and consistently.

• Offer to help readers in every issue.

More on this here.

Growing via a podcast and social media

Launching a podcast (via Riverside.fm) where I answer people’s questions — as opposed to most podcasts where the host interviews others — has also been huge in that it’s a great showcase for my expertise which leads people to want to hire me.

It's grown primarily from promotion in my newsletter and social channels, as well as from word of mouth.

I also post on LinkedIn and Twitter almost every day.

Do more or do less

Most people don’t do things.

They talk about doing things, think about doing things, plan to do things, research how to do things, but they don’t actually do them.

The more you do, the more will happen.

I’ve also found almost everyone who struggles falls into one of two buckets - they either need to do more or do less.

And when it comes to monetizing your expertise, it’s helpful to start with these six questions.

What's next?

I’ve now gotten to the point where I know the value of what I offer and am focused on attracting and working with the type of clients who can most benefit from it.

This means working with more established businesses and charging higher rates, because they’re able to create even more value from my help.

You can follow along on X, LinkedIn, and my website. If you're interested in group coaching, head here.