Beginner’s blueprint—starting your own paid newsletter

Almost 4.5 billion people worldwide use email, and this number is projected to rise to 5 billion in three years. Newsletters—including paid ones—offer a direct route into customers’ inboxes. And marketers love paid newsletters: digital subscriptions make up 80% of revenue in most companies, including paid newsletters.

In this article, we’ll go over paid email newsletters in detail: how they differ from free ones, which benefits they offer, and, most importantly, how to start a paid newsletter yourself. Keep an eye out for successful paid newsletter examples too.

A paid newsletter is exclusive gated content subscribers get over email—provided they bought a subscription. Paid newsletters often go above and beyond to provide quality content. The main difference between free and paid newsletters is how the latter niche down to meet the specific needs of their target audience. While free newsletters usually offer general advice, paid newsletters offer exclusive insights which can’t be found anywhere else, and which are more actionable.

Newsletters can vary based on the topics they cover, the format they choose, or the approach they adopt—and, of course, the schedule they stick to. 

Topics differ wildly: everything from a historic perspective on modern-day US politics (Letters from an American) to tips for designers (UX Collective).  And by approach we mean evergreen vs broadcast. So, for example, a newsletter designed as a course (HackDesign) sends issues that remain relevant over time. While a daily newsletter issues with a roundup of interesting links for designers (Versioning) has a shorter lifespan.

There are several good reasons for people who work as creators to launch their own newsletters. Let’s go over these reasons in greater detail.

To launch a newsletter, all you need is a laptop, a working internet connection, and a platform where you put new issues together and send them out into the world. Oh, and a good idea, of course—but we’ll get to that later.

What’s more, email marketing gets companies an eye-watering return on investment (ROI): $36 for each $1 spent. A paid newsletter creates a steady revenue stream for you, and you can publish it as often as your schedule allows (but we wouldn’t go below once a month).

In essence, it can be your side hustle until it grows. You’ll be free to take on different projects and dedicate part of your time to your newsletter. Regular work and a newsletter can coexist. A newsletter can even simply be another notch in your portfolio if nothing else.

Creators charge anywhere between $5 and $40 per month, with annual subscriptions throwing in a free month or two. The most successful paid newsletter today—Letters from an American—rakes in roughly $5 million annually. It’s an outlier of course, but you get the idea.

A paid newsletter is how you, as a creative professional, can eventually dump the 9 to 5 or juggle multiple freelance projects. You can become your own boss, dedicate more time to something you love, and earn a living along the way.

That’s the point of having a paid newsletter: focusing on a narrow topic. Yes, the subscriber count will be harder to grow compared to a free newsletter because more casual readers will fall by the wayside. But the remaining folks will gobble up every word and read every issue you send.

Having a dedicated audience offers possibilities. Your readers can refer to you as a specialist in a company you’d like to work in, or simply reassure you that you are doing something that matters to other people.

Free newsletters attract a wider audience, so they generally cover more topics without getting into the weeds. But paid newsletters are created for a niche audience of maybe 5% of those who read your free newsletter. This allows you to promote your personal brand and showcase your expertise.

It rings true for creators first and foremost. Your unique approach to doing things can stand out. You don’t need to follow strict guidelines to become the best for your audience—you simply need to show why your way works for you and can work for them. 

Simply put, a newsletter can be a way for you to showcase your recent projects, case studies, or creative processes, making it a portfolio piece. Better still, by sharing your unique voice and perspective, you can attract clients who appreciate your style. 

Plus, you get an opportunity for extra networking opportunities and collaborations with like-minded individuals or acting as a speaker at events and conferences.

Which problem are you solving? Are you entertaining with your newsletter, or educating? What does your average reader look like? How are you making their life better? You need to have an understanding of who you’re writing for and how and when they’ll consume your content.

You can then create different personas based on that. For example, you can have a free newsletter with more general advice and a paid one that addresses a specific issue for a select group of people. Whereas people reading your free newsletter might only need a general understanding of a concept, your paid subscribers might be looking for ways to use the information they’ve gleaned in their work or personal lives.

Ideally, the topic of the newsletter should align with your strengths and address a problem that your readers have. The former will allow you to position yourself as an expert; the latter is necessary because otherwise, you’re just shouting into the void.

Identify where your passion meets your expertise and research the market. This will give you an understanding of what’s already out there and which gaps exist. The next step would be filling these gaps by finding a niche where the demand is not covered adequately by what’s on offer.

Do you offer video production services? Maybe a video newsletter on the industry’s hottest topics or a quick guide with useful tips might interest your audience.

The type of content you draft can vary widely based on what message you’re sending and who this message is for. That’s why it’s necessary to establish your target audience first. As we’ve touched on already, the content your paid subscribers receive should be exclusive. While it’s OK to provide more general info (or even curate it) in your free newsletter, paid newsletters are a different story.

There’s an expectation that you’ll go above and beyond, offering something that isn’t readily available for free. Here’s a list of some possible formats for a paid newsletter:

Last but not least, when it comes to creating content: establish a schedule and stick to it. Let your readers know upfront when they can expect a new issue—and give them a heads-up should something change in your schedule.

But don’t take too much upon yourself. First, establish if your newsletter is going to be your main job or a side hustle, and decide how much time to allocate.

The format can also affect the frequency with which you publish new issues. For example, a news-based newsletter will need to come out at least several times a week (if not daily), but a newsletter on personal growth can be weekly or even monthly.

You’ll need a platform to create and send your newsletter issues. There are several things to consider when choosing an email platform:

Here are some of the popular email newsletter platforms you can explore:

Most paid newsletters exist in the $5–$20 monthly fee range. The annual fee is roughly 10 times the monthly fee: 1-2 months are thrown in for free if your reader makes a longer commitment.

How much you can charge varies based on the topic and your target audience. Finance, business, and personal growth newsletters are generally pricier than food recipes or an author’s personal musings.

Finally, it’s always good to set revenue goals. Decide how much time you’re dedicating to publishing a newsletter and how much that time is worth to you, especially if a paid newsletter is going to be your only source of income.

There are two important metrics to keep in mind here: the conversion rate and the churn rate. There is no definitive data because few companies and creators publish the numbers, but a 5% conversion of free-to-paid subscribers and a 4% churn rate can serve as a baseline.

A word to the wise: while growing your subscriber list indefinitely sounds like the ultimate goal, you can have a closer-knit community and more personal ties if your list is more manageable. You can charge a higher price for your newsletter to keep the subscriber count within reason.

The first step in attracting subscribers is creating a landing page. You don’t even need to create a fully fledged website: there are tools that let you quickly set up one-page websites. Wix is a popular choice, but there are also niche site builders, such as Carrd and Onepage.

A landing page allows you to fully describe what your newsletter does for its readers, gives you a chance to include testimonials from happy subscribers, and—most importantly—can and should have a consistent CTA throughout.

Other ways to promote your newsletter include:

Before the official full-scale launch, it’s a good idea to first beta-test your email newsletter. Send it to a small group of subscribers and get feedback on how everything works. Do the images show up? Does the layout adapt for smaller screens? Do people have any issues signing up? Iron out any problems before the official launch.

After the launch, measure how well your newsletter performs, and iterate. Track open rates, clickthrough rates, and churn rates—and conduct A/B testing to see if you can improve the performance. Try different subject lines, CTAs, layouts, and even content formats.

You’ll need to get as many eyeballs on your free newsletter as you can, so that you can convert some readers into paid subscribers later. So stick to the promotion ideas we’ve outlined above, but don’t forget you can now ask your subscribers directly, too.

Conduct surveys and polls to see what people would like to see more/less of, and encourage them to reply to your emails with their thoughts. Above all, ensure the content you deliver is of consistently high quality and sticks to a predetermined schedule.

Launching a paid newsletter can pay off in more ways than one:

Before you launch a newsletter, narrow down a topic and establish who your target audience will be. Then decide on the content, the schedule, the mailing platform, and the pricing model. Finally, create a landing page for promotion purposes, and beta-test the newsletter before launch.

And after you eventually launch, analyze your results and iterate the newsletter to attract new subscribers and retain current ones. We hope we’ve given you enough pointers above to make launching a newsletter easier. Learn more about email marketing with our posts on email marketing trends and how to build an email list. And make your newsletter look professional by using an email newsletter template from Envato.