10 Online Newsletter Writing Business Success Stories [2024]

Updated: November 19th, 2023
Start An Online Newsletter Writing Business

An online newsletter is sent to subscribers’ emails regularly to keep them informed about the latest news and updates about their product or brand. You can send the newsletter weekly or monthly depending on the content and your objective.

To start an online newsletter service, choose the email newsletter tool and define the newsletter’s goal. Then, choose the best template for your newsletter and personalize it to meet the reader's expectations.

With a professional strategy, an online newsletter can be a successful business.

Here are some real life success stories of starting a online newsletter writing business:

1. We Do It Remotely ($6K/year)

Joseph Solomon, the founder of We Do It Remotely, came up with the idea for his business after experiencing the freedom and fulfillment of a location-independent lifestyle as a freelancer. Through his own successes and challenges in the freelance world, he recognized a lack of powerful, actionable advice for freelancers and decided to create a resource to empower other freelancers. Starting as a content agency and evolving into a premium course and newsletter, We Do It Remotely aims to provide freelancers with valuable insights and strategies to grow their remote freelance businesses.

How much they make: $6K/year
Current team size: 0

article

We're Using Our Agency Experience To Build A Paid Newsletter

We Do It Remotely founder Joseph Solomon began as a content agency, which then transformed into a 4-week training program earning $500-2500 per month and is now a paid newsletter focusing on offering actionable tips and insights to freelancers worldwide, most of whom are writers and marketers.

About
Joseph started We Do It Remotely about 6 years ago
Revenue
Joseph grew the business to $500/month
Read by 3,816 founders

2. Content-Whale Private Limited ($750K/year)

Vaibhav Kishnani, an engineer turned writer, came up with the idea for Content-Whale after noticing the unprofessional conduct in the Indian content market. With just Rs. 2,500 ($35) in capital, he started the content agency which now generates a revenue turnover of Rs. 4 crores ($514,000) and serves clients like Quikr and The Boston Consulting Group.

How much they make: $750K/year
How much did it cost to start: $35
Current team size: 30

article

How We Started A $514K/Year Content Curation Agency With Just $35 [From India]

Content-Whale, a content curation agency, has achieved a Rs. 4 crore ($514k/year) turnover 4-5 years after being started with just Rs. 2500 ($35), and has a pool of more than 500 writers, aiming to become a market leader in the global content market.

About
Vaibhav started Content-Whale Private Limited almost 7 years ago
Revenue
Vaibhav grew the business to $62.5K/month
Costs
It cost Vaibhav $35 to start the business
Read by 5,085 founders

So... can you actually make money with a online newsletter writing business?

Of course. There are millions to be made in this industry.

But how?

  1. Research real, profitable businesses and see exactly how much money they make.
  2. Study exactly what works, and what doesn’t.
  3. Take action, because now you have the roadmap.

Join Starter Story and build your next big thing:

Start Now

3. The Bootstrapped Founder ($6K/year)

How much they make: $6K/year
Current team size:

article

Balancing the Grind With Arvid Kahl

Learn from The Bootstrapped Founder's blogger who made $500/mo and grew his newsletter to 2500 subscribers, while promoting his website to 79.7K Twitter followers.

About
Arvid started The Bootstrapped Founder over 5 years ago
Revenue
Arvid grew the business to $500/month
Read by 505 founders

4. Merrative ($24K/year)

Harshala Chavan, the founder of Merrative, came up with the idea for her business after noticing a lack of dedicated spaces for people to discuss literature. After attending a book club meetup, where she had a great discussion with others who had read the same book, she wondered if she could bring this experience online at scale. She validated her concept through participating in BPlans and growing her Instagram page, which eventually led to the launch of Merrative as a community-led marketplace for publishing talent.

How much they make: $24K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100
Current team size: 0

article

How I Bootstrapped A $2K/Month Online Community To Discuss Literature

Merrative, a community-driven marketplace for publishing talent, generates an average of $1,500 per month in marketplace transactions from their 5,000+ strong community of readers, writers, journalists, and scholars.

About
Harshala started Merrative almost 4 years ago
Revenue
Harshala grew the business to $2K/month
Costs
It cost Harshala $100 to start the business
Read by 3,241 founders

So... can you actually make money with a online newsletter writing business?

Of course. There are millions to be made in this industry.

But how?

  1. Research real, profitable businesses and see exactly how much money they make.
  2. Study exactly what works, and what doesn’t.
  3. Take action, because now you have the roadmap.

Join Starter Story and build your next big thing:

Start Now

5. The Mallorcan ($29.4K/year)

Art has also been a great resource for overcoming creative resistance. In terms of podcasts, I love listening to How I Built This with Guy Raz. It's inspiring to hear the stories of successful entrepreneurs and how they built their businesses from the ground up. Lastly, I find a lot of value in online communities like Indie Hackers and Starter Story. These platforms provide a wealth of information and support for aspiring founders.

How much they make: $29.4K/year
How much did it cost to start: $200
Current team size: 1

article

How I Created A $30K/Year Local Newsletter With $100

The Mallorcan is a local media brand in Mallorca, Spain generating $2.5k per month revenue, offering a weekly newsletter supported by web and social content, attracting over 2.5k subscribers across its website, newsletter, and Instagram.

About
Ida started The Mallorcan about 2 years ago
Revenue
Ida grew the business to $2.45K/month
Costs
It cost Ida $200 to start the business
Read by 5,127 founders

So... can you actually make money with a online newsletter writing business?

Of course. There are millions to be made in this industry.

But how?

  1. Research real, profitable businesses and see exactly how much money they make.
  2. Study exactly what works, and what doesn’t.
  3. Take action, because now you have the roadmap.

Join Starter Story and build your next big thing:

Start Now

6. The Newsette ($40M/year)

How much they make: $40M/year
How much did it cost to start: $15K
Current team size: 38

article

The Newsette's Daniella Pierson on how to prove your haters wrong

This case study shines a light on Daniella Pierson, the founder of The Newsette, who managed to grow her newsletter from 15,000 to over 500,000 subscribers and increase its revenue from one million dollars to 40 million dollars in only a few years, securing herself a spot as one of the richest women of color in the United States.

About
Daniella started The Newsette over 9 years ago
Revenue
Daniella grew the business to $3.33M/month
Costs
It cost Daniella $15000 to start the business
Read by 792 founders