I recently wrote about the power of an email list, and how you can send traffic from the list to your site and make money from ads.

Something I didn’t mention is that you can make far more from newsletter sponsorships.

For example:

I recently learned of a local newsletter making over $7,000/month from 3,000 subscribers. $6,000/mo is from sponsorships!

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The newsletter I’m referring to is Side Dish with Schniper, a newsletter about the culinary scene of Colorado Springs.

Most newsletters with 3,000 subscribers make hardly anything from sponsorships, so I was shocked to hear how much this one was making.

The owner, Matthew Schniper, doesn’t follow the traditional sponsorship model where you have one main sponsor per issue (such as my newsletter you’re currently reading).

Instead, he found 12 sponsors (like restaurants, bars, and coffee shops) in Colorado Springs who were willing to be exclusive sponsors for $500/mo.

12 X $500/mo = $6,000/mo!

In exchange for $500/mo, those 12 exclusive sponsors get:

Matthew goes into a lot more detail in this interview.

What I love about this sponsorship model

Most newsletters have a hard time landing consistent sponsors. And it’s a constant treadmill, even if you are landing consistent sponsors. Most sponsors will run an ad or two, and then move on, so you constantly have to find new sponsors.

Signing exclusive sponsors for a given time period eliminates much of the headache.

And, having multiple sponsors per email is far more lucrative than one per email. It’s also better for the sponsors! Here’s why:

Matthew sends one email per week with sponsors.

If he followed the traditional sponsor model, he’d have 1 sponsor per email. Let’s say he charged $500. That would be $2,000/mo in revenue, and he’d constantly have to find new sponsors to keep it going.

On the sponsor side, they’d pay $500 to be featured just once.

By having 12 exclusive sponsors, he earns much more per month, and those sponsors get visibility in every single issue, not just one. Win-win.

I wonder if this would work for my newsletter haha!

(actually not joking, so if you want to be an exclusive sponsor with visibility in every issue for $500/mo, reply and let me know!)

Try this for your newsletter

I haven’t seen this exclusive sponsorship model anywhere else, but it makes so much sense that I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes popular.

If you have a newsletter, consider trying it. And, all the better if your newsletter is for a local area. There’s already proof it can work, even with just 3,000 subscribers (which is not hard to achieve at all, especially if you run some Facebook ads).

I’m very tempted to start a local newsletter in a specific niche such as local events or real estate… a lot of people have started doing this, and many have seen success early on. It makes sense. Once you have a decent audience (1,000s of subscribers), your newsletter will be one of the most relevant places for local companies to advertise. Do it with the exclusive sponsorship model, and you’ll likely triple your revenue.

If you don’t know much about email marketing but want to learn, sign up for the 100% free email marketing course from today’s sponsor.

I hope this email has sparked some new ideas for you!

Thanks for reading,

Ian

P.S. I first heard about Side Dish with Schniper from the eBiz Insider newsletter. It’s one of my favorite newsletters, regularly sharing unique online business ideas and inspiring success stories. I’m not receiving compensation for this shoutout - it’s a genuine recommendation.

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