Is a paid email newsletter a good idea?

7 years ago

I can make guaranteed money and not be as salesy.

When it's about you rather than your customer - it's often not a good idea.

Why would people pay for a newsletter in that niche? Can you provide expertise or advice that is not available on other sites online?

I don't think it's a good idea but that's just my take on it.

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Intrepidmilkyway

7 years ago

Valid points but people who are passionate about this niche may love to have new relevant info on it dropped into their lap for a measley 1 figure-month sum.

If I use proper marketing techniques to convince them why me and have a high quality lead magnet then at the very least they may sign up just for my cheap/free ebook etc, and if they immediately unsub after the freebie at least they paid for themselves and the ones that stay will become recurring income and potential buyers.

just offering my perspective. What are your thoughts? Am I off at all?

Thanks
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hardraysnight

7 years ago

Originally Posted by Intrepidmilkyway

Valid points but people who are passionate about this niche may love to have new relevant info on it dropped into their lap for a measley 1 figure-month sum.

If I use proper marketing techniques to convince them why me and have a high quality lead magnet then at the very least they may sign up just for my cheap/free ebook etc, and if they immediately unsub after the freebie at least they paid for themselves and the ones that stay will become recurring income and potential buyers.

just offering my perspective. What are your thoughts? Am I off at all?

why not just use your passion to convince them why you

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Intrepidmilkyway 7 years ago

Because I'm passionate about their money lol. Which requires proper marketing
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spartan14

7 years ago

Well i think the best thing you can do its to test it and please update us with results

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Intrepidmilkyway 7 years ago

Honestly thought I'd get more responses here. I know there are paid newsletters but I've only heard about them in the MMO niche and other finance related niches where the customer feels that they are directly exchanging that money for info that could possibly make them money.

Think I'm gonna just go the free route here, for this niche. There are other ways that I can make recurring commissions with various subscriptions I can promote.
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Enfusia

7 years ago

It depends on the niche.

I had a paid newsletter that I sold a while back that was a daily newsletter.

I charged $5 per month for it for many reasons.

it doesn't seem like much money. But when you're over 10K subs it starts to add up.

Before anyone asks, I sold it because it wasn't my #1 passion. I saw a niche that was wide open for this type of thing and went for it.

Plus I sold them other products that I used and tested thoroughly before recommending. This was a significant source of income.

So, yes, it can be done, it's actually rather easy to do.

My real advice is; what are you so passionate about that you'd do it for free? What gets you off (not sexually), but, what gets you off in life. What do you love so much it consumes you and you lose sleep over it.

Whatever that is, do your newsletter in that niche if possible. That way you won't tire of is as I did.

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Intrepidmilkyway

7 years ago

So you just sold a 50k/mo goldmine because there was no "passion"? Ever heard of outsourcing? Could have kept it running investing 30 min-1 hr a day. I'm guessing you sold it for millions? How many subs did you have for it? Something doesn't add up here, sorry I'm not buying it lol.

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Enfusia

7 years ago

Originally Posted by Intrepidmilkyway

So you just sold a 50k/mo goldmine because there was no "passion"? Ever heard of outsourcing? Could have kept it running investing 30 min-1 hr a day. I'm guessing you sold it for millions? How many subs did you have for it? Something doesn't add up here, sorry I'm not buying it lol.

Why would you question me, you don't know me.

Here's a pic of me with one of my trucks that I had when I lived in Sedona, AZ.
I'm doing this so you can see that you're mistaken.

Yeah, that's a $214,000 truck that I paid cash for that I sold before I moved to Florida (Florida's flat).

I now travel the world and enjoy life, I spend a little time in the states.

Now, please, don't think I'm starting something with you. Nothing could be further from the truth. I'm just wanting to explain that you might be seeing things in a limited perspective.

You see, just because I've sold a few of my assets along the way, doesn't mean that I don't have more. You can google: patrick shelley nutriharmony
I owned an international nutritional supplement company that was a network marketing company as well. I sold it for a nice sum too. I sold it 9 years ago now and there are still about 100 references cached in Google.

There are many opportunities, why would I continue to own something that doesn't fit with my standards or my new direction? Why wouldn't I let it go and pursue things that interest me?

Before you make statements like" I don't buy it", basically saying that what I've said is untrue, maybe you should just PM that person so it doesn't come back to haunt you.

One last thing. You may wish to consider studying how much businesses are actually sold for. Let's say you have a small business that brings in $50K per month. And with ad spend, expenses, salaries offices etc you have a pretax net of $25,000. If you get the minimum of 12 times or the maximum of 24 times monthly pretax net you're not looking at millions.

With the 12 times pretax net you can buy one of my trucks (with the mods I like on them) and have enough left to go on an off road expedition or two.

Please research your position prior to espousal.

Thanks!

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Intrepidmilkyway

7 years ago

Chill man, I'm just some random on the internet, and so are you. Its funny you say why would I question you, when I don't know you. Well you answered your own question. Lol anyway okay okay so you're balling sir. Congratulations. Nothing came back to haunt me, I'm still here, in decent health, breathing and unscathed. Imagine that.

And I get that businesses sell for about their yearly rev, I just threw that number out there basically just meaning "a lot". You never specified how many subs you had, and you said you monetized it in other ways, so really millions wasn't a bad guess.

I don't know what research would have done for me, what would I research? Faceless guy on the internet claims he had a million dollar asset that required little to no upkeep, sold it because he was not "passionate", should I believe him? *hits search* You sound really hyper sensitive dude. I question everything, don't be offended.

What niche was your newsletter in?

And btw that truck is huge lol.

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Enfusia

7 years ago

Originally Posted by Intrepidmilkyway

Chill man, I'm just some random on the internet, and so are you. Its funny you say why would I question you, when I don't know you. Well you answered your own question. Lol anyway okay okay so you're balling sir. Congratulations. Nothing came back to haunt me, I'm still here, in decent health, breathing and unscathed. Imagine that.

And I get that businesses sell for about their yearly rev, I just threw that number out there basically just meaning "a lot". You never specified how many subs you had, and you said you monetized it in other ways, so really millions wasn't a bad guess.

I don't know what research would have done for me, what would I research? Faceless guy on the internet claims he had a million dollar asset that required little to no upkeep, sold it because he was not "passionate", should I believe him? *hits search* You sound really hyper sensitive dude. I question everything, don't be offended.

What niche was your newsletter in?

And btw that truck is huge lol.

I am chill, I just gave you a thank you too show no worries. That response IS when I'm chill.

Being a former fighter, a former Marine and a man I'm a little aggressive, no worries, it's just my nature.

When you asked what would you research, my reference was the selling for millions. Then, you explained yourself and I understand.

Plus, by research I meant PM that person and verify first as I mentioned.

Let me give you a little secret about being in the 1%.

It's easy.

You know why?

Because most people aren't even in the race!

What that means is; go down your street and ask the two Earl Nightingale questions.

Ask 1,000 men and women and you'll be lucky to find 2 or 3 who can answer both questions.

That's a lot less than 1%.

I'd be willing to bet that if you asked 1,000 people on this forum, went to there house and asked them, so that they had to show you that they already have both in writing already written so they cant BS, that less than 5 in that 1,000 would be able to prove they had.

I'd be willing to bet that, if you were honest about it, you'd have to reply that you don't have them either.

It's not hard to be in the 1% when most people aren't even trying.

I know if I don't put the URL to the video there will be PM's asking what 2 questions. So, here you go:
https://youtu.be/6tbHYvH347A

The niche was personal finance.

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fratt55

7 years ago

hey there

it all depend on the niche

since it varies depending on the niche... the only way to find out if it good for that type niche is to run a small test

testing do not lie... it will answer your question

ok
talk soon
sam f

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luxazan

7 years ago

Many Mass Mailing services are now tagged as spammers and the Emails are sent to Junk boxes and not viewed. Generally speaking it is not a bad Idea but depends on the contractor.

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Mark Singletary

7 years ago

If your niche needs or wants constantly updated information, advice, resources, etc. and if they have the willingness and ability to pay for it, no reason to not try.

One thing I think people get hung up on every time this question is asked is the word "newsletter" which most believe are supposed to be free.

In the real world though, I've subscribed to newsletters, magazines, and other types of regular content. In the IM world, I know that some "gurus" do this. Ben Settle and Terry Dean come to mind.

However, many more do the exact same thing but they don't call it a newsletter.

They call it a Fixed Term Membership (3/6/9/12/24 months) where a new lesson or guide is posted every week, two weeks, or month. Or they may refer to it as something like a drip fed membership site. Depending on the topic you may can call the length or term something else. For example, weekly scores, news, etc. about college football would be for a season maybe and might last August through the middle of January.

Many people here pay for those types of membership sites. It's the same idea as a newsletter but just isn't called a newsletter.

Some people don't like these kinds of sites because they want the whole thing now. They are used to buying a whole book instead of a chapter at a time.

Whether it would work or not depends on so many factors, though, that you really just need to try for yourself. You can limit your obligation in case things don't work out by selling 3 or 6 month subscriptions only. Then you only have to provide 3 or 6 sets of content. Once you know whether it works or not, you can offer longer term subscriptions.

Many consumers would be more inclined to buy something like this, though, after they trust the vendor I think. Consumers that have made a small purchase and were happy with the results may be more likely to pay for something longer term.

Mark

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Intrepidmilkyway 7 years ago

Good stuff man, thanks. Idk if my niche would provide "weekly updates" in the same way NCAAF scores could, but im thinking of some similar angles relevant to mine, so we will see.
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yukon

Banned 7 years ago

Originally Posted by Intrepidmilkyway

Example: an email opt in page for a niche website that captures visitors and converts them into subscribers to a PAID weekly/daily newsletter. Does this work for anything outside of MMO or finance/investment niche??

I've thought of a niche that is more hobby/interest oriented, but it's quite broad and passion filled.

I still plan to promote aff offers but this way I can make guaranteed money and not be as salesy.

This niche won't be making any money for the sub, and I will just be sending out tips and tricks, stories, possibly videos, etc. So it will purely be information and entertainment. I'm a very good writer so I believe I could make this work.

Is this a good or bad idea? Should I stick with a free NL and just promote products within them? How bad would you say my opt in rate would suffer as opposed to free? I'm sure a significant amount, from like 30% to about 3%, maybe lower.

What should my price point be, .99 cents/mo, 2.50/mo, 7/mo, 10/mo??

It will be a lot on the front end, but for those that do decide to opt in, I could send them an offer attached to a thank you page to try and make some of it back.

Any advice/answer will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

The easiest way to test this is to have two newsletters, a free newsletter that's useful but teases traffic into being curious about the more advanced paid newsletter.

I have no idea what niche you're targeting but money wise don't go any lower than $5 because you'll still have some transaction fees to cover.

Keep in mind some folks are weird when it comes to perceived value, so If you're selling high end content jack the price up or at least split test it.

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Intrepidmilkyway 7 years ago

What sorts of transaction fees would I have? Any other costs besides the email host?
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depotgang

7 years ago

I dont think it will do very well...just my opinoin

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786miller

7 years ago

Charging for a newsletter is StraightUp not a good idea, you might lose a lot of your audience that way

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GrowthMonger

7 years ago

Hey there bud, you should check out this YouTube video on the subject. Long video with great educational content that i think will answer alot of your questions.

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kaderiem

7 years ago

We always suggest paid newsletter for getting better result for any niche .We might get some extra services to in paid email marketing system via newsletter

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Intrepidmilkyway 7 years ago

My only worry is the cost. My conversion/opt in would plummet, thus my profit per sub would not justify the cost...it could take something like a year to break even, and I do not have that much start up cash. My only solution would be to make it abundantly clear in the ad copy that it is a paid newsletter, so as to reduce non converting clicks. But then my ctr would be terrible I would think...and doesn't that effect your cpc? Guess I just have to test.
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nishagarg

7 years ago

i am also a chrome extension developer. I have tried above methods it didn't work for me.
I prefer using 3rd monetization platform such as Adsverge - Best Browser Extension Monetization & Analytics Platform to monetize extensions.

It totally upto you what you do i told you my personal experience.

Cheers