In partnership with
🚨 Early bird: Join waitlist now, lock in $1,794 discount
HeyNews AI Agent launches in January. Get 50% off your first year ($149/mo instead of $299). Saves 40+ hours weekly. Agent writes in YOUR voice. Don't you want to grow your newsletter? Of course, you do.
{{rh_onboarding_line}}
👋 Hey!
This week's all about the money and growth moves. Sponsorships are dominating newsletter monetization while paid subscriptions hit a plateau. Plus, we're breaking down new growth tactics, dissecting a newsletter that's crushing it with a niche audience, and showing you how to get your newsletter audited by the pros.
Ready to boost your revenue and grow? Let's dive in! 👇
Get the 90-day roadmap to a $10k/month newsletter
Creators and founders like you are being told to “build a personal brand” to generate revenue but…
1/ You can be shadowbanned overnight
2/ Only 10% of your followers see your posts
Meanwhile, you can write 1 email that books dozens of sales calls and sells high-ticket ($1,000+ digital products).
After working with 50+ entrepreneurs doing $1M/yr+ with newsletters, we made a 5-day email course on building a profitable newsletter that sells ads, products, and services.
Normally $97, it’s 100% free for 24H.
🔥 This Week's Hot Takes
Sponsorships dominate as 77% of newsletters seek ad revenue. Paid subscription growth is stalling, smart creators are doubling down on engaged niche audiences and ad-friendly metrics for stable, scalable income.
Top newsletters multiply revenue with multi-channel earnings. Subscription-first creators should add ads, Boosts, products, and events to diversify revenue streams and protect margins.
Follower counts have never mattered less. LTK CEO Amber Venz Box says 2025 was the year algorithms completely took over, but 97% of CMOs plan to grow influencer budgets anyway. Focus on engagement, not vanity metrics.
Building in public is now business infrastructure. Entrepreneurs are ditching the "protect your secrets" mentality. Transparency accelerates trust, and trust creates long-term leverage for newsletters and brands alike.
💡 Growth Hack of the Week
The 7-Day Sprint
How:
Day 1: Pick 7 complementary tactics like referral, content upgrade, syndication, guest post, social snippets, community posts, and CTA optimization.
Day 2: Build one content upgrade (quick checklist or swipe file).
Day 3: Add a referral/banner to your signup page and the top of the newsletter.
Day 4: Repurpose your best issue into a LinkedIn/Medium post with a newsletter CTA.
Day 5: Post targeted snippets in 3 relevant Slack/Discord/Reddit communities (follow rules).
Day 6: Send a single-segment "bring-a-friend" email to engaged readers with a one-click share link.
Day 7: Measure signups, traffic, and opens; double down on the top 2 tactics.
Why: These tactics remove friction and multiply reach: content upgrades convert visitors, syndication taps built-in audiences, and referrals turn readers into acquisition channels.
Expected Result: Implementing 3–5 sprint tactics typically yields +10–25% new subscribers in 30 days and a 5–12% lift in opens; it also saves you hours by replacing guesswork with a repeatable playbook.
🤝 Deal of the Week
What the Deal Is: A complete newsletter audit from operators who manage 300K+ subscribers. You'll get a personalized score, uncover hidden revenue opportunities, and walk away with a custom growth roadmap built specifically for your newsletter. Regular price: $99, but the first 50 readers get 50% off with code HEYNEWS50. That's just $49.50 for a full audit and actionable playbook.
Who Should Take the Deal: Newsletter creators stuck in a growth plateau, operators looking to diversify beyond ads, and anyone who wants an outside perspective on what's working (and what's leaking subscribers). If you've been guessing at your next move instead of following a roadmap, this is for you.
Spotlight: This Week in Social Media (TWISM)
What Works:
High-frequency niche authority: 4x weekly sends to 70K+ subscribers builds habit and keeps the brand top-of-mind for social media marketers.
Marketing Autopsy series: Teardowns of real marketing wins and fails generate engagement and position the creator as a practitioner, not just a curator.
Enterprise-level trust signals: Readers from Adidas, Google, Amazon, Adobe, and UNICEF give instant credibility for sponsorships and partnerships.
Creator Quote: "Go big or go home." — Joshua Parkinson
🛠️ Tool of the Week
Why You'll Love It: An all-in-one creator platform for podcasts, blogs, videos, courses, and digital downloads, with 0% platform fees, built-in memberships, and an AI website builder that auto-generates your site.
Best For: Multi-format creators who want to consolidate hosting, monetization, and audience management into one platform instead of juggling Substack, Gumroad, Teachable, and WordPress separately.
🧪 A/B Test of the Week
Test: Emoji vs. no-emoji subject lines.
Result: Search Engine Journal's test found non-emoji subject lines won 52.94% vs 47.06%, but the emoji version drove 64.71% higher click-through rates.
Takeaway: Emojis may slightly hurt opens but significantly boost clicks. Test sparingly, one relevant emoji per subject line performs better than emoji overload. Champagne bottle (🍾) tested 22% vs 18% baseline for New Year's campaigns.
Don't keep us a secret: Share HeyNews with a fellow newsletter nerd.
😂 Meme of the Week
Just a newsletter operator owning the CTR…
🔗 Quick Links
Questions? Just write a comment below. I read all the comments and respond to them.
Thanks for reading,
Eren Daskesen
BEFORE YOU GO
📢 Want to automate your newsletter and reclaim your time?
See how HeyNews Automation can help you boost efficiency and engagement; risk-free!
If you have something important to share, you are a writer. If you are a writer, you need HeyNews to create unique and engaging content easily.
No technical background is needed. All you need to do is book a meeting, and you’re all set!
So what are you waiting for? Don’t you want to grow your newsletter? Of course, you do.