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Newsletters are having a moment. Have you noticed the trend and thought about writing your own – or maybe monetizing the one you already have?
Over the past few years, we’ve seen countless creators turn their content into profitable newsletters, and many writers use them to build successful, independent careers.
The best part? Starting one is easier than you might think.
Sure, building an email list and figuring out what resonates most with your audience takes some time and effort. But with the right tools, you can not only accelerate your growth but also make monetization simpler than ever.
Whether you’re exploring paid subscriptions, product sales, ad placements, or affiliate partnerships, the first step is finding the right tool to help you along the way.
Keep reading as we share:
- How to monetize a newsletter — and understand the different approaches
- The best newsletter platforms to help you earn money
- How to send targeted content to your subscribers (for more relevant monetization opportunities!)
- And more.
Let’s get started!
8 Ways of Monetizing a Newsletter
So how do newsletters make money? And is it something for you?
If you are in a hurry, we have a quick video about it with 5 great ideas:
But let's take a better look at 8 strategies on how to make money from newsletters.
1. Paid newsletters
If you put out especially good newsletter content, why not charge for access to it? You could sell monthly or annual newsletter subscriptions and earn recurring and predictable revenue.
Of the best paid newsletters out there, Flow State is one of them.
This newsletter is sent every weekday and shares two hours of music perfect for working.
A monthly subscription to Flow State costs $5. The newsletter currently has “hundreds” of paying subscribers, so you can imagine how much it makes every month!
This newsletter is sent via Substack, an online tool especially designed for writers and podcasters to monetize their newsletters (we’ll explore it in more detail later in this article). While subscribers can read some newsletters for free, you also have the option to offer your audience some bonuses and exclusive content through a paid subscription. In Flow State’s case, paid subscribers enjoy privileges such as an ad-free newsletter and access to private Spotify playlists.
According to the Substack newsletter platform, about 5–10% of free newsletter subscribers will go on to become paid subscribers. This means you’ll need a pretty sizable email list to make the paid newsletter business model succeed for you.
2. Memberships and paid communities
Instead of monetizing your newsletter directly, you could offer it as part of a paid membership or community.
In other words, your newsletter will be one perk that people can enjoy if they join your paid community (for example, your members-only website). They technically won’t be paying for your newsletter itself.
The Mind the Product Membership is an example of such a revenue model at work:
Users pay to be a member of the Mind the Product community. When they do so, they’ll get access to an online discussion forum and Ask Me Anything sessions with product experts, among other benefits.
They’ll also receive Prioritised, which is Mind the Product’s weekly product management newsletter.
If you already run a paid course or community, adding a newsletter offering to it shouldn’t be too resource-intensive. Doing so can also increase the value that members get out of your online community.
But if you’re trying to build a new paid community – and new associated premium offerings – around your newsletter, you might find that a more challenging task.
3. Newsletter sponsorships
With a newsletter sponsorship, you can sell emails for money in the form of letting a brand pay to “take over” your newsletters.
The Superpath content marketing newsletter operates on such a sponsored content model, where different brands sponsor the newsletter every week.
In return, the newsletter features the brand’s name at the top, together with a short pitch on its offerings, before going into its main content for the week.
For this particular edition of the Superpath newsletter, you’ll see that it was sponsored by the knowledge platform Terkel:
Be strategic when approaching potential sponsors for your newsletter. There should be a good fit between what the sponsor offers and what your newsletter readers need.
This way, you maximize the chances of subscribers responding positively to the sponsor’s offer – such as signing up for a free trial or buying their products.
Then, if sponsors get a positive return on investment (ROI) from sponsoring your newsletter, they’d be more likely to continue doing so.
4. Affiliate marketing
Get paid to promote others’ products in your newsletters!
First, sign up for an affiliate program with a brand whose products you want to promote. You can then generate custom affiliate links for adding to your emails.
For instance, this call to action (CTA) to check out the RightMessage website personalization platform in Pat Flynn’s Smart Passive Income newsletter is an affiliate link:
Then, whenever someone makes a purchase through your affiliate link, you could earn a sweet commission.
Not sure where to find affiliate programs? Amazon Marketplace is a great start. It pays a 1–20% commission for orders placed through affiliate links, and you have no shortage of products to promote.
In line with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)’s affiliate disclosure guidelines, however, you’ll need to disclose your referral program partnerships in your newsletters.
This disclosure should also be “clear and conspicuous.” Take a look at how the Smart Passive Income newsletter transparently states the affiliate nature of its CTA link in the paragraph after it, for example.
Learn more about affiliate email marketing in our guide.
5. Sell your digital or physical products/services
If you create your own products or services for sale, seize the opportunity to promote them in your newsletter.
After all, you’ll earn 100% of the revenue from the sale – compared to the smaller percentage of affiliate commission you’d earn from promoting others’ products.
Here, we have a newsletter from the School of Basketry Art promoting an upcoming paid basketry workshop.
As you’ll be in charge of fulfilling your subscribers’ orders, test your fulfillment process thoroughly before sending your newsletter:
- Click your CTA links to check if they send subscribers to the right landing pages.
- Do test purchases to confirm that subscribers can make payment for your products/services.
- (For digital products) Verify that subscribers will receive the right items after making payment.
6. Sell ad space in your email newsletters
Selling ads is a tried-and-tested monetization method that’s been around since newsletters first appeared in print.
Here, you’ll pitch your newsletter to brands that may be keen to advertise with you. In exchange for an advertising fee, they’ll get dedicated ad space in your email newsletters to promote their products or services.
Just like this ad for end credits platform ENDCRAWL in this Tao of Color newsletter:
To find advertisers, you can either add a “Sponsor this newsletter” link in your newsletter and send people to a landing page with additional information. Or use a creator platform. The two best ones I found are:
- Passionfroot connects content creators of all kinds with brands. In addition to advertising deals for your newsletter, Passionfroot also allows you to monetize your YouTube videos, podcasts, TikTok videos, and many other social media channels. We use it ourselves to advertise our website.
- Paved is a marketplace specifically designed for newsletter creators looking for advertisers.
- Even Google is currently working on an ad platform for newsletters, which will allow programmatic ads (similar to Google Ads for Search).
These advertising platforms give you instant access to hundreds of advertisers who might be interested in your newsletter. This will help you sell your ad spots on a regular basis, which can be very time-consuming if you are doing it on your own. Keep in mind that the marketplace will charge a cut from your earnings.
7. Promote your branded merch in your newsletter
Do you sell a line of branded merch? Likewise, promote it in your newsletter!
Just like what the Morning Brew did when it launched new Morning Brew-themed clothing, notebooks, tote bags, and more:
If you have a large email list of fans, you could see your stuff quickly getting snapped up after you’ve talked about them in your newsletter.
Pro tip! Apart from promoting your merch in a dedicated section of your newsletter, you could also add your merch store link to your newsletter header or footer template.
By doing so, you’ll subtly but regularly remind your subscribers that you have merch – and that if they want to get their hands on it, your store is just one click away.
8. Use your email newsletter as part of a sales funnel
Some organizations that send newsletters will email subscribers only when they have new products or upcoming sales. (This practice is especially common in the fashion industry.)
But the newer trend, especially for creators, is to not be 100% promotional with your newsletters.
Instead, you’ll use your newsletter as a sales funnel, and create high-quality content to nurture your subscribers.
Such content is typically free content that’s relevant to your subscribers’ interests, needs, and pain points (find out more in our guide to lead generation). No immediate pitching of products – the focus is on providing value so your subscribers grow to like and trust you.
It is only later on in the relationship that you start promoting your products. And if you’ve built enough goodwill with your subscribers at this point, they may be more than happy to buy.
This newsletter by Jake Rich Travels illustrates what we mean here (heads-up – the newsletter is pretty long, for good reason!):
The email starts with a review of the latest GoPro Hero 11 camera model to educate subscribers on its pros and cons.
It is only after delivering such value that the email transitions to a pitch for a paid camera masterclass.
Are Email Newsletters Profitable?
They can be! Just take these highly successful newsletters:
- The Hustle, which was making 8+ figures in advertising revenue before HubSpot bought it for an undisclosed amount
- Common Sense, which has over 90,000 subscribers and brings in over $800,000 in annual revenue
- RocaNews, which closed a $4.4 million seed round in January 2022
Of course, you don’t need to enjoy such eye-popping levels of success to have a profitable email newsletter.
The key is to earn enough newsletter revenue to have leftover earnings after covering expenses such as your:
- Email marketing service subscription (compare fees with our calculator)
- Product costs (especially if you sell physical products)
- Ecommerce platform fees
- Credit card fees for each successful transaction
- Website hosting
- Salary
For example, let’s say your newsletter earns you $6,000 in monthly recurring revenue, and that your monthly expenses are $4,000.
That leaves you with a respectable $2,000 in profit – which means your newsletter is profitable!
How to Create an Email Newsletter
If you’re unsure of how to create a newsletter, there are five main steps:
- Signing up for email marketing software: There are various software you can use to run your newsletter, such as Beehiiv, Kit, and more. We’ll cover what we think is the best email marketing software in the next section, so keep reading!
- Importing your newsletter mailing list: Add your newsletter subscribers to your chosen email marketing software so you can start emailing them. But don’t worry if you don’t have any subscribers yet – the next step will help you grow your email list!
- Setting up your newsletter sign-up form: Design your sign-up forms and embed them on your website to get new subscribers to your newsletter.
- Setting up your first email newsletter campaign: Create your email using an email template provided by your email marketing software, or a free newsletter template from a newsletter template creator, and add your content. Select your newsletter recipients, then hit send!
- Monitoring your newsletter performance: Review email metrics, such as your open rate and sales conversion rate, to evaluate how successful your newsletter has been. Afterward, use your findings to improve future newsletters.
Learn more about how to create an email newsletter by watching this video:
We’ve also compiled a massive list of newsletter examples if you need inspiration for your own. And a helpful list of newsletter best practices to get you going.
What’s the Best Newsletter Platform to Monetize?
We’ve rounded up our top picks for platforms designed to help you grow your audience and successfully monetize your newsletter.
Let’s start with…
Beehiiv
Beehiiv claims to be “the newsletter platform built for growth”
Beehiiv has surprised us with its impressive features and frequent product updates, quickly becoming one of our top recommendations for content creators looking to monetize their content.
When it comes to making money, Beehiiv offers an all-in-one monetization setup with the options to:
- Sell paid subscriptions— not just the usual monthly or yearly plans, but also Lifetime Access and Pay What You Want options.
- Cross-promote other Beehiiv newsletters for passive income.
- Run ads through their built-in Ad Network.
- Include affiliate links in your emails for additional revenue.
Why Beehiiv?
- It’s super beginner-friendly. You can start with a free plan that allows up to 2,500 subscribers and includes standout features like using a custom domain for your newsletter page and unlimited segmentation. While Beehiiv’s free Launch plan doesn’t offer monetization features, you can use the Recommendation Network to grow your list and experience the platform’s potential without any upfront cost.
- The email editor is incredibly simple to use and includes handy options like adding tables, quotes, and embedding audio and video files (viewable when your post is published on your Beehiiv site).
- Beehiiv offers a custom website (even on the free plan), which acts as a webpage where readers can sign up for your newsletter and browse through past issues displayed as posts.
The cherry on top? Beehiiv doesn’t take a cut of your earnings—there are no platform fees, so all the money you make is yours, minus the standard Stripe processing fee.
While upgrading to a paid plan to access advanced features like monetization might feel like a big investment upfront, it’s designed to pay off as your newsletter grows and becomes profitable.
> Read our detailed Beehiiv review
You can also check out how Beehiiv compares to the widely popular Mailchimp.
Kit
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is another standout platform that does much more than just sending newsletters. It was one of the first email marketing tools designed with creators and solopreneurs in mind, offering a powerful toolkit to help you build and grow your digital content business.
Why Kit?
- Kit makes it easy to monetize your newsletters with paid subscriptions. We’re also big fans of their unique ‘tip jar' feature, which lets readers support you on their own terms, whenever it feels right for them.
- You can get started on its generous free plan for up to 10,000 subscribers, including unlimited emails, forms, and landing pages.
- Kit allows you to sell digital products. Whether it’s online courses or downloadable resources, creating and managing them is straightforward, making it an excellent option for those looking to diversify their income.
- Kit includes strong automation capabilities to create personalized journeys for your audience. With great tagging and segmentation features, you can tailor content to very specific groups of subscribers.
- With Kit’s Creator Network, you can connect with other creators to cross-promote content and grow your list collaboratively.
For beginners, getting started with Kit can feel a bit overwhelming at first, as it requires time to navigate. Also, upgrading to a paid plan can quickly increase costs, depending on the size of your list and specific needs.
That said, the time and effort invested in Kit are likely to be well worth it in the end!
> Read our detailed Kit review
You can also check out how Kit compares to MailerLite.
MailerLite
MailerLite offers a creator-focused toolkit for growing your list and monetizing through newsletters
MailerLite is one of our top recommendations for anyone seeking a powerful yet easy-to-use email marketing software. It stands out here for its dedicated focus on creators and authors, making it simple to build newsletters, monetize them and sell digital products.
Why MailerLite?
- It is really easy to use. With its clean and simple user interface, you’ll have no trouble getting the hang of it even if you’re new to email marketing.
- You can get started for free! MailerLite has a generous free plan that lets you send up to 12,000 monthly emails to max 1,000 subscribers.
- You can sell and get paid for digital products in one place. Build product pages in MailerLite to showcase your products and connect your Stripe account to start selling. MailerLite also takes care of order fulfillment for you.
- You can sell newsletter subscriptions. Apart from helping you take payment for one-off digital product sales, MailerLite can also handle recurring payments for paid newsletter subscriptions.
One thing to be aware of, however, is that affiliate marketing is banned in MailerLite. According to MailerLite’s terms of use, you can’t use the platform to run a business where you “earn a commission by promoting other companies’ products.” That said, the email service provider does allow you to use affiliate links in your emails. The platform defines affiliate links as a “way to recommend product or service (sic) to your subscribers in your campaigns.”
MailerLite’s policies on affiliate marketing and affiliate links can sound contradictory. Because you typically do earn a commission when a subscriber buys something via your affiliate link.
To stay in the clear, we recommend following MailerLite’s guidelines on what you can and cannot do with regard to affiliate marketing and affiliate links. These include:
- Sending only affiliate offers related to your content.
- Not pretending to be another brand.
- Not adding links to content prohibited by MailerLite’s terms of use, such as porn, multi-level marketing, or “get-rich-quick” schemes.
> Read our detailed MailerLite review
Substack
If your only goal is to write a newsletter and monetize through paid subscriptions, Substack is likely already on your radar. Let’s take a closer look at what it offers.
Substack makes it simple for writers to publish newsletters and earn through paid subscriptions.
We should start by saying that Substack isn’t a powerful email tool by any means. It lacks advanced features like automations, segmentation, and detailed analytics. Even with these limitations, it still earns a spot on this list as a great choice for creators looking for a simple tool to send newsletters, earn money, and connect with readers and fellow writers.
The platform has gained incredible popularity in recent years, thanks to a few standout features:
- Users can start for free, grow their list without any limits, and easily publish and monetize newsletters through paid subscriptions.
- It offers a clean, user-friendly design, perfect for beginners who don’t need advanced email features.
An important thing to note, though, is that while it’s completely free to get started and grow your list as much as you want, Substack will take a significant 10% cut of your earnings once you start monetizing—plus additional fees on top of that.
Flodesk
If you’re not interested in offering paid subscriptions and your only goal is to monetize your newsletter by selling digital products, Flodesk might be exactly what you’ve been looking for.
Flodesk is a modern, design-focused tool for email marketing and digital sales
As soon as you open Flodesk, it’s easy to see why it’s praised for its beautiful design and minimalist approach. While it’s not the most robust tool out there (unlike the other tools mentioned, it doesn’t allow you to sell paid newsletter subscriptions), it does come with important email features such as automation and segmentation.
For creators looking to monetize their newsletters by selling digital products, here’s why Flodesk might be worth considering:
- Flat-rate Checkout plan: With Flodesk’s flat-rate pricing model, you can grow your list without limits and sell unlimited digital products directly from the platform by choosing the Email & Checkout plan. No additional tools or website are required.
- Stunning and easy to use: Flodesk’s gorgeous templates and uniquely designed landing pages add a professional flair to your sales pitch, while its intuitive editor makes it easy (and fun!) to create content.
> Read our detailed review about Flodesk
> See how Flodesk compares to Kit and to MailerLite
Not sure which tool is the best option for you? You can also check out more email marketing services here if you’re still on the fence.
We also recommend reading our detailed comparisons:
How to Grow and Segment Your List for Better Targeting
The more subscribers you send your newsletter to, the more attractive your newsletter will become. That’s because you can:
- Charge more for advertisements and sponsorships
- Promote your products, paid community, and merch to more people
- Have more people clicking your affiliate links (and generating you more affiliate commission)
And the result of all this is that your email newsletter becomes more profitable!
Lead Generation
So if your email list is currently quite small, growing it via lead generation tactics should be your priority. You can do so by:
- Pairing your sign-up forms with attractive lead magnets. Lead magnets are freebies that entice people to subscribe to your email list. For example, if you have embedded your sign-up form on a blog post that shares instructions for sewing a teddy bear, your lead magnet could be a PDF copy of your sewing pattern for readers to use.
- Promoting your newsletter on social media. Add a link to your newsletter’s sign-up form to your social media profiles. You can also post valuable content on social media and invite followers to subscribe to your newsletter if they want to receive more of such content.
- Have others promote your newsletter for you. Do you have friends in the same space as you? You could potentially pick up many new subscribers if they share your newsletter with their followers. And of course, return the favor by promoting their material to your own audience!
Segmentation
Once you have a sizable newsletter, though, it’s worth looking into segmenting your subscribers. In other words, you’ll split your subscribers into smaller groups according to their interests.
This can sound confusing, especially when we’ve just shared the benefits of having a large email list. But you’ll still be emailing all your subscribers after segmenting them! You’ll just be using their interests to tailor the newsletter content they receive.
By sending such targeted newsletters, you ensure that subscribers receive only the content they’re interested in – which can help keep them on your email list for longer. You’ll also be able to better monetize your email list according to your subscribers’ interests.
Here’s an example of what we mean:
Let’s say you share reviews of romance and spy novels in your newsletter. But some of your subscribers are interested in only your romance novel reviews, while other subscribers want to receive only your spy novel reviews.
In this case, you can segment your subscribers into two categories:
- Interested in romance novel reviews
- Interested in spy novel reviews
After that, you’d send:
- A newsletter containing only romance novel reviews to subscribers in the first category, and
- A separate newsletter containing only spy novel reviews to subscribers in the second category.
You can then also add more relevant offers to your newsletters, such as recommending romance novels (via affiliate links) to just your subscribers interested in romance novels.
To segment your subscribers, you’ll first need to learn their interests. A good way of doing so is to add options on your sign-up form for subscribers to indicate their interests while they’re signing up.
How to Monetize a Newsletter: Conclusion
As you can see, once you’ve picked a tool and created your email newsletter, there are many ways to monetize it—from selling paid subscriptions to adding affiliate links, promoting your products, and more.
If you’re just starting out, affiliate links are one of the easiest ways to make money. Even if your email list is small or you don’t have your own products to sell, you can still promote things that align with your content. Just make sure it’s something your audience will actually find useful!
For writers or creators in a specific niche, offering exclusive content through paid subscriptions with tools like Beehiiv and Substack is a fantastic way to monetize. With an engaged audience, it’s a smart and sustainable strategy that allows you to generate income while fostering a deeper connection with your readers.
Over time, you can try out other methods and see what works best for you—like selling ad space in your newsletter (as this newsletter creator does) or launching your own digital products like ebooks and digital courses (as Lizzie Davey does in her newsletter).
From ConvertKit to MailerLite, there’s a wide range of email tools with incredible features for newsletters and monetization (as detailed above!).
But remember—monetization should be the result of your work, not the main focus. What makes or breaks your newsletter is the content. The success of your newsletter depends on its quality, so focus on learning how to write a newsletter that truly resonates with your readers. If your emails feel too salesy, readers are likely to tune out. Focus on providing genuine value first, and let monetization follow naturally as your newsletter grows. You can check out our guide to newsletter best practices for some helpful tips.
Got any questions about how to make money from a newsletter? Drop them in the comments below and we’ll be happy to help!
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We keep our content up to date
16 Dec 2024 - Added Beehiiv, Kit, Substack, Flodesk
09 May 2024 - Added creator marketplaces
07 July 2023 - Updated Substack mention
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This article has been written and researched following our EmailTooltester methodology.
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