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How to Start a Newsletter (and Actually Make Money From It)
This guide covers the most effective tool and strategies for growing and monetizing your newsletter.
Kay Singh
November 29, 2025
Editor’s Note
In this guide, you’ll learn how to start a newsletter, choose the right platform, design it, grow subscribers, and monetize it through ads, paid subscriptions, and affiliate marketing.
Why is everyone suddenly talking about newsletters?
Email newsletters are more popular than ever. Email has been a primary communication tool for over 50 years. The first email ever was sent in 1971, by Ray Tomlinson and by 2026 the number of active email users is projected to reach 4.73 billion. With that kind of reach, it’s easy to see why everyone is talking about newsletters right now.
Creators worldwide are quietly building profitable email newsletters either as a side-hustle or a full-time business. The Daily Email Newsletter market size is estimated to be $18 billion by 2031. It is widely believed that the email newsletters of today have replaced the magazines of yesteryears.
Plus, the barrier to entry is very low. You don’t need a website, coding skills nor a big audience to start a newsletter. All you need is:
A clear topic
A simple newsletter platform
A smart way to grow and monetize your newsletter
What is a newsletter, and what's in it?
An email newsletter is a regular email that contains curated and easily digestible information you send to your subscribers. It can be daily, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly.
The typical elements inside a newsletter are the following:
Subject line: The first thing people see in their inbox
Header: Logo or Newsletter name
Introduction: A short and conversational opening paragraph
Main content: Tips, news, guides, curated links, case studies etc.
Call-to-action (CTA): “Reply with your thoughts”, “Check out this product”, “Read the full article” etc.
Footer: Unsubscribe link, social media links etc.
With newsletter tools like Beehiiv (discussed later), you can also add:
Polls & surveys to understand your audience
Sponsored sections from advertisers
Referral rewards to readers for sharing your newsletter
Can you really earn money from newsletters?
Yes, newsletters provide several monetization opportunities. Below are the main ways people earn money from newsletters:
Paid Subscriptions: Premium content behind a paywall for eg. $399/month for weekly in-depth reports
Newsletter Ads & Sponsorships: Brands pay to be featured in a newsletter. Many newsletter platforms have their own ad network to help you monetize, even if your audience is small
Affiliate Marketing: Promote tools, courses, books or products and earn a commission on sales generated through your links
Your own Products & Services: Sell your own courses, offer coaching, digital products or freelancing services
Lead Generation for your business: If you run an agency, SaaS, or provide consulting services, newsletters can bring in warmer, qualified leads
With the right newsletter platform, you can combine several of the above options and turn a simple email list into a serious revenue-generating machine.
Some of the most successful newsletter exits are:
Morning Brew: It was a business & markets newsletter started by Alex Lieberman and Austin Reef and was acquired for $75 million
The Hustle: Daily business & tech newsletter plus media brand. It was acquired by HubSpot for around $27 million
Milk Road: It was a crypto newsletter created by Shawn Puri & Ben Levy and was reported as an eight-figure acquisition.
Why you shouldn't run newsletters from Gmail
Many people try to run newsletters by blasting bulk emails to bought or scraped lists from a personal Gmail or standard business account. This kind of spray-and-pray approach quickly destroys your email and domain reputation, and will either get you blacklisted or, at best, dumped straight into the spam folder.
Gmail is not optimized for newsletters because of the following reasons:
Gmail is not built for bulk sending
There is no built-in unsubscribe link (this can get you in trouble with email regulations)
There are no essential analytics like Open rate, Click-through rate (CTR), subscriber growth metrics etc.
Gmail lacks automation, referral programs and audience segmentation
If you’re serious about building a newsletter website with an email presence, you need a proper newsletter tool. That’s where Beehiiv comes in.
Why Beehiiv is the Best Newsletter Platform
Beehiiv is a modern newsletter platform built by the team behind Morning Brew, one the world’s most successful newsletters, which was acquired for about $75 million. Its simplicity and built-in monetization solutions make it the perfect choice.
The key Beehiiv features are as follows:
Beautiful newsletter editor: You can write and format your newsletter directly in Beehive’s editor without needing any coding skills
Free plan: You can send unlimited email newsletters to up to 2,500 subscribers for free, plus host your newsletter online with a website
Built-in newsletter website: Beehiiv automatically creates a public website where all your posts or blogs live. It is excellent for ranking on Google. They even launched an AI website builder very recently. It is a no-code website builder with a conversational feature.
Monetization Superpowers:
a. Ad Network: Select brands to feature in your newsletter and get paidb. Boosts: Earn when subscribers opt into other newsletters promoted by you
c. Paid Subscriptions: Create a premium tier option for your loyal readers
d. Products: Beehiiv has just launched a digital products feature that lets you get paid for ebooks, guides, templates, etc.Advanced Analytics: Beehiiv provides a beautiful dashboard where you can track open & click-through rates, understand which pages or campaigns bring you the most engaged subscribers, and also see where your audience is coming from, geographically.
Referral Program & Growth tools: Beehiiv makes it easy for subscribers to invite friends.
Custom Domain: In their paid plan, you can map Beehiiv to your own domain
Customer Support: Beehiiv’s customer support team is exemplary. They get back to you with perfect answers and screenshots within 24 hours. This makes it very easy for non-tech-savvy folks.
I must add that Beehiiv ships new features so fast and so often that it is hard to keep up. This is a good problem to have.
Beehiiv Pricing, Free Plan & Discounts
Beehiiv offers a free Launch plan and several paid plans like Scale and Max. As of today, their pricing model generally looks like this:
Launch (Free): Up to 2,500 subscribers, unlimited sends, hosted website
Scale (Paid): Adds Automations, referral program, advanced analytics, monetization features
Max (Paid): Removes Beehiiv branding, supports more publications, adds audio newsletters, etc.
Your bonus: Use my link below and unlock
30-day free trial of Beehiiv’s paid features
20% Off for your first 3 months
Step-by-Step: How to Create Your Newsletter with Beehiiv
If you’re wondering “How do I create my newsletter?”, here’s a simple walkthough
Step 1: Sign up for Beehiiv
Go to Beehiiv via this link
Create your account (email and password)
Activate the 30-day free trial + 20% Off for 3 months promo
Step 2: Set up your publication
Choose a name like David’s report, Finance Simplified, etc.
Add a short description - this is what people see before subscribing
Upload a logo or simple text-based brand name
Step 3: Configure your newsletter website
Beehiiv auto-generates a newsletter website where issues are published online, so you don’t need a separate blog.
Pick a layout and basic design
Customise fonts and colors to match your brand
Set your URL
Step 4: Import or grow your email list
If you already have subscribers from another platform or a CSV, then import them
If you’re starting from zero:
a. Share your Beehiiv sign-up link on a discovery platform like Instagram, LinkedIn, X, Facebook or WhatsApp groups.
b. Add the link to your bio: “Join my free newsletter”
c. Include it on your website
Step 5: Write your first newsletter email inside Beehiiv
Click “Write” to create a new post
Add your subject link and preview text
Write your content in sections:
a. Hook/Intro
b. Main value (tips, stories, etc.)
c. CTA (reply, share, click, buy, etc.)
Step 6: Schedule and send
Choose to send immediately or schedule for later
Beehiiv automatically handles delivery, sending and unsubscribe links
Post sending, check your analytics to see how many opened and clicked
You will also need to set up your DNS settings, Google Analytics etc., which is not hard but if you have any issues, do reach out to Beehiiv’s customer support team. They also have a YouTube channel where they share tips and step-by-step instructions:
Newsletter ideas that work well
If you’re stuck on what to write about, here are some topics that perform well:
Personal Finance & Investing
Audience: Salaried professionals, retail investors, young adults learning about money
Why it works globally: Money is universal, and every segment of the population searches for investment-related content
Total Addressable Market (TAM): 500 Million People
Career Growth & Job Search
Audience: White-collar workers, students, career switchers, remote workers
Why it works globally: People constantly want better jobs, promotions, remote work and interview tips
Total Addressable Market (TAM): The global labour force is 3.8 billion, and hundreds of millions are knowledge workers or aspiring white-collar workers
Tech & AI Tools
Audience: Knowledge workers, solopreneurs, small businesses
Why it works globally: AI tools, productivity apps, etc., are popular because everyone wants to work faster and smarter
Total Addressable Market (TAM): 100M -500M People. Think office workers, tech-curious students and solopreneurs
Startup, SaaS & Product Thinking
Audience: Founders, aspiring founders, PMs, startup employees, VCs/angels
Why it works globally: Startups are everywhere now
Total Addressable Market (TAM): 20M-100M
Health, Fitness & Habit-Building
Audience: People wanting to lose weight, get fit, and improve mental health
Why it works globally: Eternal problem, massive interest across geographies
Total Addressable Market (TAM): 500M+
Pick something you can talk about for years, not just weeks.
How to Design a Clean, High-Converting Newsletter
A successful newsletter does not require fancy design skills. The best-performing newsletters are simple.
Here is a checklist for a good newsletter design:
Clean, mobile-first layout
One main idea per email
Use short paragraphs and bullet points
Add bold for key phrases, but don’t overdo it
Include at least one clear CTA
FAQs about Newsletters and Beehiiv
Q.1. What is in a newsletter?
A newsletter is a recurring email sent to subscribers that usually includes a subject line, short intro, main content like tips, news, strategies etc., a clear CTA and a footer with your details and an unsubscribe link
Q.2. Can I earn money from sending newsletters?
Yes, you can earn money from newsletters through paid subscriptions, sponsorships, ads, affiliate marketing and even promoting your own products or services. Platforms like Beehiiv make this easier with built-in monetization tools.
Q.3. How do I create my newsletter?
To create your newsletter, choose a topic, sign up for a newsletter platform like Beehiiv, name your publication, and set up your newsletter website or landing page. Then start collecting subscribers with your opt-in link, write your first issue, and schedule or send it. Thereafter, be consistent and send atleast weekly.
Q.4. Is Beehiiv free?
Yes, Beehiiv offers a free plan that allows you to host your newsletter website and send unlimited email to up to 2,500 subscribers. You can upgrade to a paid plan later to unlock advanced analytics, automations, referral programs, and monetization features. You can my link to unlock 30-day free trial plus 20% Off for your first 3 months.
Q.5. Is Beehiiv good for users outside the USA?
Absolutely. Even though pricing is in USD, Beehiiv works perfectly outside USA like in India, UK, Singapore etc. Your subscribers can also be from any country and payments for paid newsletters and sponsorships can be managed globally. It’s ideal if you want to build an international audience or a niche community within your country.
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