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| 👋 Welcome | Big Tech has FANG: Facebook / Amazon / Netflix / Google. Newsletter operators have BSK. | BSK is not a new K-pop group…it stands for beehiiv / Substack / Kit. | There are certainly many other respectable platforms that one can operate a newsletter on, like HubSpot, Ghost, ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Iterable, and the list goes on for quite a while. I have and do run newsletters on several of them. | That said, beehiiv, Substack and Kit (BSK) are the platforms at the heart of the evolving newsletter ecosystem as I currently see it. | And with that in mind, B & K have come out swinging at each other over the past week. | The newsletter platform war has clearly been quietly percolating for anyone paying attention, and we’ve just witnessed the most public evidence of that last week. This issue’s Industry Roundup section recaps the opening rounds of what is sure to be a long and heated contest. Our Letter Ops section shows that there is still room for everyone in the sandbox by profiling successful newsletters operating on each of the beehiiv, Substack and Kit (BSK) platforms. | With that in mind, there are some great upcoming BSK learning events this month: | | For additional BSK resources, check out the beehiiv webinar page, the Substack resources page or the Kit training page. | My goal is to provide as unbiased a perspective as I can on any topics covered in this newsletter. I endorse both the beehiiv and ConvertKit platforms as an affiliate, and I do feel obligated to once again note that I am an investor in beehiiv. | I'm pleased to welcome returning sponsor 1440 and thank them for their support in keeping this newsletter free. 1440 is the newsletter that brings you the most impactful stories of the day, distilled to deepen your understanding of the world and save you time with knowledge curated by humans and read by over 3.9 million subscribers. | Please reply with thoughts on this week’s issue or reach out to @NewsletterBus on X/Twitter or connect/follow on LinkedIn. | Enjoy and see you next issue! | Fred (Connect With Me At: LinkedIn | X/Twitter ) | | Was this newsletter forwarded by a friend? Sign Up Here To Receive It Weekly |
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| Sign up today! | | 📰 Industry Roundup | Round 1 - 3 Unethical Ways (Not) To Grow Your List: On 9/25, Louis Nicholls, co-founder of Sparkloop (now owned by Kit), shared an article about how unscrupulous newsletter operators can (but should not) use certain tactics to grow their newsletter. The article was inspired by the social media posts of 2 prominent Kit creators and investors, all of whom suggest that these nefarious tactics are being used mainly by beehiiv-based newsletters. Despite being an interesting read, it’s also a provocative one given that it was released the week before Kit’s big rebranding announcement… Read | Round 2 - ConvertKit Completes Kit Rebrand: On 10/1, ConvertKit completed its months-long public rebrand process to embrace its new name of Kit. In addition to a new name and logo, the Kit website and user experience received upgrades. Kit is positioning itself as the email-first operating system for creators, and here’s what that means… Read | Round 3 - Kit Launches New Affiliate Program: On 10/1, Kit also launched a new affiliate program along with its rebrand which matched beehiiv’s affiliate program (50% commission for 12 months) and also introduced a recurring component of an extra 10-20% beyond 12 months depending on affiliate tier status. Existing affiliates can also opt out of the new program, presumably to stay on the previous 30% commission for 24 months plan. Check out the full details of what is currently the most potentially lucrative BSK affiliate program, especially since Substack does not have an affiliate program… Read | Round 4 - The Convert To beehiiv Kit: On 10/1, beehiiv CEO Tyler Denk wasted no time announcing its “Convert To beehiiv Kit” with a cheeky video contrasting the merits of rebranding efforts vs. building useful new features. The “Convert To beehiiv Kit” offers free VIP migration to beehiiv, 6 months free platform use, Boost credits and more… Read | | | | | Featured Partner | 💰 Newsletter Ads Are Bought By Sponsors: Find Those Sponsors Among Your Subscribers | Enrich Your Subscriber Data Using LinkedIn & Find New Sponsors! | How much do you know about your subscribers? If you are like most newsletter operators, not as much as you’d like. | That’s a problem for several reasons. | It’s hard to provide content that resonates with an audience that you may not understand as well as you should. | It’s also a problem because one of the greatest sources of potential sponsors for your newsletter are the people that routinely read it…and their companies. Your subscribers can be advocates inside thousands of sponsor companies around the world, if only you knew which those were… | Megahit allows you to do just that by enriching your subscriber data with LinkedIn data that includes a dozen fields such as: | Name Job Title Company Name Annual Revenue LinkedIn Profile And Many More!
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| ⚒️ Letter Ops | beehiiv CASE STUDY - How Last Money In Is Generating $500K+ ARR: Newsletter operators Zachary Ginsburg and Alex Pattis have capitalized on a lucrative investing niche (special purpose vehicles, or SPVs) and an existing audience of investors to monetize two beehiiv-based newsletter offerings: 1) Last Money In, a free newsletter that covers SPV topics in detail and generates six-figure sponsorships, and 2) Deal Sheet, a paid newsletter that offers a curated list of available SPV deals and generates over $500K in annual subscriptions. Another great example of riches in the niches… Read | SUBSTACK CASE STUDY - No Code Exits Sells For $35K: Katt Risen sold her Substack-based newsletter No Code Exits for $35K in August 2024. She provides a thorough retelling of her journey, detailing what inspired her to start a newsletter in the growing “no code” movement, how she monetized the newsletter, and why she decided to sell the newsletter and for how much. As it turns out, her no code journey isn’t over… Read | KIT CASE STUDY - Mother Of Five Makes $480K Working 20 Hours/Week: Gillian Perkins leverages Kit’s automation and tagging capabilities to target her product validation newsletter subscribers at the right point in the buying cycle. She has used these capabilities to monetize her newsletter via courses, memberships, ads and affiliate sales, and this is how she does it… Read | 9 Newsletter Platforms To Consider: As mentioned in the Welcome section, there are many email platforms to consider for launching and operating your newsletter. While beehiiv / Substack / Kit (BSK) likely have the most newsletter-centric features, email platforms are very versatile and your needs can be met by other options. One of the challenges is that the features and pricing change frequently in this space; this recent roundup by BigMailer gives a fairly thorough roundup of options to consider… Read | | | | | 📰 Classifieds | The 16-Word Sales Letter - Are you a master copywriter? Most of us aren’t, and the best way to learn is from a master. Evaldo Albuquerque’s proven but simple copywriting system has generated over $120 million in online sales and is applicable to any niche. Up Your Copy Game | The Newsletter Is The Business (TINTB) - All you need to know about launching, monetizing and selling editorial newsletters. Get smart fast | Megahit - Need sponsors? Find sponsorship leads among your newsletter subscribers using LinkedIn data enrichment. Find sponsors |
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| 🧠Get Smart | It’s rumored that life is more than newsletters (gasp), and so we need to seek inspiration from a variety of sources to breathe new life into our newsletter offerings…here’s what I’m reading: | Marketing Machine: Twice weekly marketing deep dives and roundups to maximize your marketing channel strategies. The Affiliate Wire: Weekly tips illustrating how to leverage affiliate marketing in a variety of channels from social to email. Monetization Monthly - The Online Business Memo: Weekly insights from an expert affiliate marketer and coach that is using all of the marketing and tech tools at their disposal. AI Daybreak: Daily AI highlights to stay on top of the fastest moving technology arena.
| | 🎉 Just For Fun | Rumble In The Newsletter Platform Ring | | | Looking to reach 4500+ newsletter operators? | | Disclaimer: Not financial or business advice. This newsletter is strictly for information and education purposes and may contain affiliate links or sponsored content from a variety of partners to keep this newsletter free of charge. | Newsletter Business is published by Digiventures Media Group LLC. |
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