Question 1

How much can I earn from a newsletter?

Accepted Answer

Newsletter revenue benchmarks: 1,000 subscribers with 40% open rate: $500-2,000/month from sponsorships. 10,000 subscribers: $3,000-15,000/month. 50,000+ subscribers: $15,000-100,000/month. Revenue varies enormously by niche: B2B finance newsletters with 5,000 subscribers earn more than lifestyle newsletters with 50,000. CPM (cost per thousand opens) ranges from $30 (general) to $200+ (niche B2B).

Question 2

How do I price newsletter sponsorships?

Accepted Answer

Newsletter sponsorship pricing formula: Rate = (Unique Opens × CPM) / 1,000. Average CPM by niche: B2B SaaS/tech: $60-150. Finance/investing: $50-200. Marketing/creator: $40-80. Health/wellness: $30-60. General business: $35-70. Start 20% below market to secure first sponsors, then raise rates as you build case studies. Include metrics (open rate, click rate) in your media kit.

Question 3

Beehiiv vs Substack for monetization?

Accepted Answer

Substack takes 10% of paid subscription revenue but provides discovery platform. Beehiiv: 0% cut on paid subs, built-in ad network (Beehiiv Ad Network) for automatic sponsorships at competitive CPMs, strong analytics. ConvertKit Commerce: 3.5-5% cut. For early-stage creators: Beehiiv's Ad Network is easiest path to sponsorship revenue. For large paid audiences: Ghost or custom setup at 0% cut pays off over time.

Question 4

What metrics do newsletter sponsors care about?

Accepted Answer

Sponsors prioritize (in order): (1) Unique opens — not total opens (spam filters skew total open rates); (2) Click-through rate on previous sponsor links (1-3% is good, 5%+ is excellent); (3) Audience fit — title, industry, company size of subscribers; (4) List quality — how subscribers joined (organic > purchased). Send sponsors: open rate, CTR on last 3 sponsor slots, audience demographics from survey or LinkedIn.

Newsletter Monetization Calculator — Sponsorships, Paid Subs & Product Revenue

Frequently Asked Questions

From the Blog