DEEP DIVE

The fastest way to reach $10k per month with your newsletter is not what you think.

It’s not about getting tens of thousands of subscribers, selling sponsorships, or creating the next hot online course.

• The fastest way to build an online business to $10k+ will always be selling services.

• Selling services is also the fastest way to reach $100k per month.

Selling services = building an agency.

I get it. Maybe that's not what you wanted to hear. Agencies can suck.

But let me explain how you can get the best of both worlds…

First, why is it the fastest way?

• Services have the greatest demand. They’re “done-for-you”. That’s more desirable than “done-with-you” (coaching/ consulting) or “do-it-yourself” (courses/ software).

• You don't need many customers. Most agency services cost $2k-$10k per month. 3 clients at $3500 per month = $10,500 MRR

• Recurring revenue. Your average client retention could be 6-12 months.

But, there’s a problem with services:

• You have to trade your time (or your team’s time) for money.

• They're not scalable in the same way media or software is.

Yes, I know there are agencies who scaled to 9-figures in revenue. But they did it with teams of 1,000+ to 10,000+ people.

Who wants to manage a company of 1000 or even 100 people? I certainly don't.

Software and media are leverage that works for you while you sleep.

It takes the same effort to deliver a newsletter, video, podcast, course, or ebook to 100 people or 1,000,000 people. Media is a product with no marginal cost of replication.

This makes scaling a media company (aka newsletter) faster and less of a headache.

• Agencies are easier to start and get to $10k to $100k per month

• Media is harder to start — but easier to scale.

Agencies get harder as you grow. Media gets easier as you grow.

I know this from personal experience:

• I started an agency 2.5 years ago and grew to 7-figures of ARR and a team of 15+ people (full time and part time)

• I started a media company (newsletter, podcast, videos, events, course) and grew to $1M+ of sales in 13 months (with 1-2 people).

• More importantly, I’ve seen it from the 100+ clients I’ve worked with.

But what if there was a way to start with an agency — then transition into a media company after you hit the $10k to $100k revenue per month mark?

Well, that’s what this post is about:

The fastest way to $10k per month with your newsletter (that can scale much more).

1) The best type of newsletter to start with

Daniel Bustamante recently posted about what he calls the The Niche Expert Breakdown Newsletter.

Here’s how it works (in Daniel’s words):

It’s that simple.

• Every week you breakdown a deliverable that you provide as a service provider

• Explain what’s good about it and/or what you would improve. Give a clear reason “why” from your POV.

• Do that, and you’ll demonstrate you know what you're talking about.

You could break down: Landing pages, lead magnets, ads, marketing emails, code, system design, SEO, design, sales, etc.

But this doesn't have to be just B2B stuff.

You could be a relationship counselor breaking down couples arguments from movies and TV shows, or a performance coach breaking down interviews with athletes, etc.

2) Create once. Distribute everywhere.

After you create that newsletter, repurpose the content into 3-5 LinkedIn and Twitter posts per week to get more social impressions and subscribers for your newsletter.

For more on this see: 30 ways to grow your email list (for free).

3) Get clients

Now, you've demonstrated expertise with your content. This makes closing clients easier.

Add a CTA (call to action) for client applications or discovery calls in the following places:

• End of each newsletter

• Automated emails

• Thank you page

• Welcome email

• Social profiles

• Website

• And more

4) Pricing and deliverables

If I were starting an agency again, I would do the following:

• Only do one service for one type of client.

• Only sell recurring services. Nothing one time only.

• Charge upfront with a recurring subscription (use Stripe).

• Your subscription should recur every 4 weeks (not monthly). You get 1 extra billing cycle per year.

• Have a $3500 to $6,000 price point (every 4 weeks). Never charge less unless you must to get your first 1-2 clients onboard.

• Offer discounts if clients pay every 8 weeks, 12 weeks, or bi-annually. The fastest way to reduce churn is to get clients to work with you over a longer timeline.

• Do all to client work yourself. Document the process step by step with Loom. Create a system and SOPs you can later handoff to your team.

• Start hiring after you have $8k-$10k MRR for two consecutive months. A virtual assistant is a great first hire for most people. Don't hire a VA from an expensive agency. Find one full time for $800-$1200/month from Upwork or onlinejobs(dot)ph.

• Aim for 12 month client retention (or better). If your retention is <6 months on average, you're likely doing the wrong service for the wrong type of client. Or just not doing a good enough job.

5) Your first $10k per month

3 clients at $3500 per month = $10,500 MRR.

If you get 1000 newsletter subscribers and 0.3% convert to a client, you’ll have 3 clients and over $10k per month in recurring revenue.

That’s doable with the right newsletter, audience, and offer.

6) Other revenue streams.

There are a few more ways you can make money from your newsletter without much additional work:

A. Offer consulting calls — 8 consulting calls per month at $250 for 45 mins = $2000.

If these customers later become agency clients you can apply that payment towards their first months fee. It’s a simple way to make more money and close more clients.

After you get more than 8 calls per month, raise your prices.

Use Calendly + Stripe to set these up.

B. SparkLoop Upscribe — Add 300 subscribers per month with at $0.50-$1.00 earnings per sub = $150-$300 per month.

I know this is not a ton of revenue but it’s essentially passive.

Set and forget and you’ll earn $0.50-$1.00 every time you get a new subscriber.

C. Beehiiv Ad Network — 400 ad clicks at $2.50 per click = $1000

beehiiv’s ad network is impressive. You can get advertisement opportunities even if you have less than 1000 subscribers.

• These will pay you anywhere from $1 to $5 per click you drive to the ad.

• No need to find sponsors, negotiate, write ad copy — beehiiv does it all.

Are these opportunities as lucrative is direct sponsorships? No, but beehiiv cuts out all the work. So if you don't have any ad inventory sold you should use them.

That’s 3 ways to make an extra $3300 per month on top of your agency revenue.

7) Scaling

Building an agency and a newsletter at the same time gives you options.

→ Agency provides: Cash flow.

You can use this to: quit your job, hire a team, invest in audience growth.

→ Your newsletter provides: Trust at scale. Your newsletter is a product with no marginal cost of reproduction. You’ll use it to build a relationship with an audience through a channel you have ownership of, email.

You can use this to: Get more clients, sell ads/sponsorships, promote affiliate offers, sell an information product like a course, book, or coaching program.

You can later transition your business from agency revenue (selling services) to media revenue (selling information, sponsorships, and events).

Or you can hire a team to manage the agency for you and do both.

Is this easier said than done? Yes.

But it's a model many people are having success with, including myself.