How To Start A Newsletter Side Hustle [For Free]

Last Updated on August 14, 2023 by John Cirelly

Starting a newsletter side hustle isn’t the most popular way to earn a side income, but it really should be. Email newsletters have some of the best margins and require very few, if any upfront costs.

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In this article, I’ll share the exact 7 steps I used to grow my email list to over 2,400 members and explain how I earn roughly $500 a month from my list. Let’s get started!

1. Pick Your Niche

The way to make money from a newsletter is to pick an audience and help them achieve a particular goal. For instance, you may help women with meditation, or teach homeowners how to build a sustainable garden.

If you’re not sure what niche to choose, follow these steps:

What could you give a speech on at a moment’s notice? Write it down.
Make a list of things you like to do and are somewhat knowledgeable about.
Narrow that list by picking the audience you think you can help the most.
If all else fails, pick something you’re really in love with.

A few things to keep in mind. We want to be able to monetize our newsletter, so think about what you can sell your audience before you go all in.

I’ll touch on these in more detail later, but here are a few ways you’ll be monetizing your newsletter:

Affiliate Programs: You earn a percentage when someone buys a product or signs up for a tool. Earnings range from 3-40%.
Sponsorships: Relevant brands pay for you to mention them in your newsletter. This can range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars per post.
Membership: You can operate a paid version of your newsletter. I’d recommend always keeping a free version for new subscribers.
Digital Products: You can promote courses, ebooks, templates, presets, or checklists to your audience.
Physical Products: You can sell white-label products, handmade crafts, or even drop ship via your email list.

Take a moment to really imagine what you can sell your audience to help them on their journey. It’s ok to spend some time on this. Just make sure you actually get started! 🙂

2. Pick Your Platform

With your niche in mind, it’s time to pick a platform. Even if you’re not “tech savvy” you can still run a newsletter. There are a ton of platforms that make it easy to get started, some even have a free tier.

Here are my favorite platforms for starting a newsletter side hustle:

Convert Kit – Best Overall

ConvertKit is my best overall choice for a newsletter platform as it offers a free version and has everything you need to truly scale your newsletter side hustle.

ConvertKit really shines when it comes to its editor. It’s easy to modify templates you like and turn them into eye-catching newsletters. The best part is the platform comes with a landing page creator, perfect for selling your digital or physical products down the road.

Moosend – Easiest Overall

Moosend balances simplicity with everything you need to get your newsletter side hustle off the ground. I find Moosend best for those who aren’t tech-savvy, or find platforms like Convert Kit too complicated.

Moosend doesn’t have a free version but their pricing starts at just $9 a month for unlimited emails, landing pages, and automation workflows.

Mailerlite – Best For Multiple Newsletters

Mailerlite was one of the first email marketing tools I ever used and it’s still one of the best. The platform offers a free version meaning you can get started right away. What I love about Mailerlite is that everything is incredibly easy to use and they don’t cut corners to make their features more user-friendly.

You can quickly and easily toggle between different domains and email lists. So if you do find yourself juggling multiple websites and mailing lists, consider checking out Mailerlite.

Don’t spend too much time picking a platform. The truth is, most of them all do the same thing, with some of the tools I mentioned above being the best for creating a newsletter side hustle.

3. Write A Welcome Sequence

You’ve got your niche and newsletter creator. Now, let’s get some content created. We’re going to first start with what’s called a welcome sequence. We want to send at least one email welcoming our subscribers.

*Welcome email from the San Diego Chargers offering a discount.*

Your welcome email should deliver serious value. This way, subscribers will want to stick around. Consider what your audience considers valuable and give them that right away. Here are a few examples:

A 3-day drip email campaign teaching how to pick a niche.
A “secret” link to a bunch of helpful resources in one place on your site.
A discount code for a physical or digital product.
A free digital download (template, preset, checklist, etc)
A quick survey that tags their interests to receive more relevant messages.

If you’re really stuck consider using ChatGPT to help you craft your welcome messages. Hell, it could even help you write a majority of your content if you’re clever enough. 😉

After your welcome message, consider sending emails 1-3 times per week. These emails could be valuable industry insights, expert analysis of a trend, stock, or market, or even motivational messages.

What you send should align with your audience’s goals and desires. This is why having first-hand experience in your niche is so valuable.

4. Build Your Lead Magnet

First, we need to create a lead magnet to get people to sign up. Lead magnets are something valuable we give away for free in exchange for someone’s email address.

Checklists, templates, presets, lists, ebooks, secrets, hacks, and discounts are all solid examples of good lead magnets.

The trick is to give away something that feels like it should cost something. Give so much value upfront that you almost question if you should. For example, if you sign up for my newsletter you’ll get 10 email templates I used to generate over $35,000 in newsletter sales.

Don’t get hung up on what your lead magnet will look like, focus on the offer. A strong offer will trump a mediocre opt-in design every time.

5. Grow Your List

Armed with an irresistible lead magnet it’s time to grow your list. In order to grow your list, you’re going to need eyeballs. Not literally, but we will need to get in front of people.

You have two options: Paid and Free traffic.

Paid Traffic

You can choose to run paid ads on platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Reddit, and Instagram promoting your newsletter to your target audience. If you’re willing to invest some money into marketing, paid advertising is the fastest way to grow your newsletter.

In your ad, you can offer your lead magnet as an incentive for new subscribers. Keep in mind, mastering paid ads is a world all its own. If you go this route, consider experimenting with between $50-$100 and learning about the platform you’re running ads on.

If you’re interested in learning more about the basics of paid ads, Hubspot did a nice intro video I included below.

Free Traffic

Free traffic is great, but it often comes at the cost of your time. Sure you could post on social media, but those platforms are designed to suppress outbound links and keep you on a hampster wheel of creating content.

Instead, consider starting a blog or YouTube channel where you create relevant content that compliments your email list. Yes, this is more work but unlike social media, these platforms can provide long-term views that equal long-term email sign-ups.

By optimizing your blog or YouTube channel around certain topics, you’ll show up in search engines when people are learning about your topic. This continuous stream of traffic leads to newsletter sign-ups when you include them in your content.

6. Monetize Your Audience

Let’s touch on how we can start making money with our newly acquired newsletter. Below are some common methods for monetizing your newsletter.

Affiliate Marketing

This is one of the most popular ways to monetize newsletters. As an affiliate marketer, you promote a product or service in your newsletter and earn a commission on any sales made through your unique affiliate link.

To be successful with affiliate marketing, choose products or services that are relevant to your niche and valuable to your readers. It’s also important to disclose any affiliate links in your newsletter to maintain transparency. For example, if you write a newsletter about cooking, you could promote kitchen equipment or meal delivery services that you personally use and enjoy.

Advertising

This monetization method involves selling ad space in your newsletter to companies interested in reaching your audience. When selling ads, make sure they align with your niche and provide value to your readers.

Display ads should be relevant, unobtrusive, and not interfere with the user experience. Sponsored messages should be clearly labeled as such and not deceive readers. For example, if you write a newsletter about travel, you could include ads for travel gear or vacation packages from reputable brands.

Premium Content

This method involves offering exclusive content or additional resources to subscribers who pay for a premium subscription. To be successful with premium content, make sure it provides additional value to your readers beyond what they receive in your regular newsletter.

Premium content can include access to webinars, e-books, or online courses. For example, if you write a newsletter about fitness, you could offer subscribers access to exclusive workout routines or personalized training plans for a fee.

Product Sales

This method involves selling your own products or services related to your newsletter’s niche. To be successful with product sales, make sure your products or services align with your niche and provide value to your readers.

It’s also important to maintain a high level of customer service and provide clear and concise product descriptions. For example, if you write a newsletter about entrepreneurship, you could offer subscribers access to online courses or coaching services to help them start their own businesses.

Donations

This method involves asking your readers to support your newsletter through donations. To be successful with donations, make sure you provide high-quality content that resonates with your readers and encourages them to support your work.

It’s also important to clearly communicate how donations will be used and to maintain transparency about your finances. For example, if you write a newsletter about environmentalism, you could ask readers to donate to support conservation efforts or to fund research into sustainable energy solutions

I’d avoid asking for donations as your main source of revenue, and instead maybe focus on sales, even if you are planning to donate to a charity or cause.

7. Jab, Jab, Hook

Creating consistent quality content is the key to maintaining and growing your newsletter subscriptions.

Consider borrowing ideas from other newsletters you enjoy, and avoid posting just for the sake of posting. Jab jab hook refers to what type of content you should deliver and how often. Provide value often with your “jabs” then promote to your list with a “hook.”

This 2-3ish ratio is a good guide to follow so your newsletter subscribers don’t feel like they’re constantly being sold to.

Wrapping Up

I hope this sheds some light on how you can start your newsletter side hustle. While it does take some work, it’s easily one of the most profitable side hustles you can start.

Keep in mind, you can easily hire a single copywriter to write to your audience as it grows, removing yourself completely from the business to earn a truly passive income.

Do you run a similar side hustle? I’d love to hear about your successes.

How To Start A Newsletter Side Hustle [For Free]

1. Pick Your Niche