Newsletter writers need to focus more on revenue diversification
Newsletter writers need to focus more on revenue diversificationMost creators should probably have at least two or three business models.
Welcome! I'm Simon Owens and this is my media industry newsletter. If you've received it, then you either subscribed or someone forwarded it to you. If you fit into the latter camp and want to subscribe, then you can click on this handy little button: Let’s jump right into it… Newsletter writers need to focus more on revenue diversificationLast week I profiled Maria Brito, an art enthusiast who’s built up an audience of over 200,000 followers across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and email. The most striking part of the interview came when she talked about why she’s largely eschewed the most common form of monetization for social media influencers: advertising. Here’s the relevant passage:
Brito has built her art consulting business up into the seven figures. What I like about her model is that it’s much more scalable than the typical consulting business, which is limited by the number of hours the consultant can work and the hourly rate they can charge. Brito makes a commission on any art sales she facilitates, so her revenue grows as she brings in wealthier and more sophisticated buyers. Here’s how she talked about that scale:
By my count, Brito monetizes her huge audience in four ways. The art consulting is, by far, the most lucrative. Then there are the Instagram sponsorship deals. She sells an online course for $300. And then finally she has a book coming out from a traditional publisher later this year. I interview a lot of creators and bootstrapped media entrepreneurs for my podcast and newsletter, and I’ve been consistently impressed by their ability to develop new business models. YouTubers are especially good at this; the typical YouTube business monetizes in at least six different ways: programmatic advertising, direct sponsorships, affiliate advertising, subscriptions, live events, and merchandise. If I had to pick a cohort that’s been slow to adopt new business models, it’s newsletter writers. I get a lot of journalists who reach out to me for advice on launching a paid newsletter, and my first question to them is why they want to monetize through subscriptions in the first place. Is it really the best way to monetize their audience? I think the rise of platforms like Substack and Revue has oriented writers into thinking of subscriptions as the only viable option, and so they don’t even consider the other approaches they can take. And while yes, newsletter readers are especially loyal and therefore more likely to convert into paid subscribers, there are plenty of other options available. To get a sense of what I mean, check out this article I wrote about the five different ways Josh Spector monetizes his 25,000 newsletter readers. Of course, I could probably stand to take some of my own advice on this front. For the first six or so years of this newsletter’s existence, I used it mostly as a form of lead generation for my content marketing consulting business. But though the newsletter was successful in bringing in clients, I was always frustrated by how that client work reduced the amount of time I could spend working on the newsletter. In 2020, I went all in on paid subscriptions, and while that model has formed the bedrock of my business, I decided this year that I want to focus more on diversifying my revenue. That’s why I recently partnered with the University of Oregon to launch a new course on entrepreneurial journalism. I’m also strategizing around a way to introduce sponsorships into the free newsletter. I’ll probably have more to announce on both fronts later in February. So if you’re a full-time, salaried reporter who’s dreaming of quitting your job to launch your own newsletter business, don’t just assume that a paid subscription model is the only one available to you. In fact, some Substack writers are making six figures in income without offering paid subscriptions at all. Speaking of newsletter subscriptions……the future of this newsletter is entirely dependent on your support. The price to subscribe for an entire year is about the same as what you’d pay for two Uber trips. If the insights I give here help you with your own content business, please consider a subscription. Use the link below and get 10% off for your first year: Quick hitsTwitter has never done a good job of explaining what "verification" is supposed to accomplish. It doesn't verify identity, since blue checkmark users can still change their names on the app. It doesn't verify fame, since some verified users have only a few hundred followers. So what's its point? [Press Gazette] The Atlantic is no longer orienting its goals around subscription counts, but instead is setting goals for total reader revenue. The former can be manipulated by massive discounts. [Press Gazette] One interesting tidbit from this article: The Atlantic has actually INCREASED its print subscriptions within the last year, which seems to buck larger trends. Man, G/O Media is just not good at keeping talent. [Gawker] I've often wondered how publishers get featured on Twitter's "What's Happening" tab and whether there's an undisclosed payment involved. Turns out there's a team at Twitter that handpicks stories to be featured. [Press Gazette] There's increasing appetite from retailers to syndicate content from publishers so they can run it on their own websites. [Digiday] FUN FACT: Advertising revenue is basically a rounding error for Microsoft, and yet it produces more than Twitter, Snapchat, and TikTok COMBINED. [Digiday] Jack Conte's filmmaking skills are amazing. It's incredible that he does all this while simultaneously running a major tech company. [Jack Conte] This will probably go down as the definitive takedown of NFTs and "Web3." It's two hours long but so entertaining. [Folding Ideas] YouTube "can enter practically any space it wants and immediately become a power player, because it's writing bigger checks to creators." [Protocol] ICYMI: How Taegan Goddard built a thriving paid membership for Political WireHe already had a robust advertising business, but he wanted to foster a deeper connection with his audience. Want to chat with me directly?I have a private Facebook group that I only promote within this newsletter. That ensures that its 659 members are nearly as obsessed with media industry news as I am. We get up to some pretty good discussions on a weekly basis. You can join here: [Facebook] You’re a free subscriber to Simon Owens's Media Newsletter. For the full experience, become a paid subscriber. |
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