How to Grow a Newsletter to 100k Subscribers on beehiiv

TL;DR

A newsletter run as a side project with about five hours a week can earn between $20,000 and $30,000 a month, as shown by beehiiv co-founder Tyler Denk, who grew Big Desk Energy from zero to 90,000 subscribers in roughly 14 months. There is no single silver bullet; growth compounds from eight to ten features working together.

Transcript

people ask me all the time Greg if you were to start a business which one would you start if you're just trying to get to 10 to 20K a month and I usually say start with an email-based business so start with building a newsletter there are platforms like beehive that make it a lot easier to go from Z to 100,000 subs and then start monetizing at 10 1... Read More

Key Insights

• An email-based business is the recommended starting point for reaching $10,000 to $20,000 a month, because platforms like beehiiv make it easier to grow from zero to 100,000 subscribers and then monetize.
• A newsletter of around 90,000 subscribers can generate between $20,000 and $30,000 a month as a side project, even with a full-time job and only about five hours of work per week.
• There is no silver bullet for growing from zero to 90,000 subscribers in a year; it is a compounding of eight to ten different things, each adding roughly 100 subscribers a week until growth reaches 1,500 to 2,000 subscribers per week.
• beehiiv is an all-in-one platform combining a full customizable website builder, email capture, subscriber data collection, referral programs, and monetization, removing the need for separate tools like Substack, Kit, Framer, or Webflow.
• Publishing a newsletter on beehiiv simultaneously creates an email newsletter and an SEO-optimized web article hosted in the same location, so there is no need to copy content into WordPress or Webflow separately.
• Email capture popups can be customized per web page and per traffic source, showing different language for visitors arriving from Facebook or Twitter, and can lift conversion incrementally in a 'Death By A Thousand Cuts' approach.
• Custom signup flows control what a new subscriber sees after entering an email, including newsletter recommendations, a data-collection survey, and a thank-you page introducing the brand; different subscribe forms can route to different flows.
• Automations are automated email journeys that range from a simple welcome email to a 15-step sequence with logic; different signup pages and lead magnet pages can trigger entirely different automation sequences.

Questions & Answers

Q: How much money can a newsletter make each month?

According to Tyler Denk, a newsletter of around 90,000 subscribers can generate between $20,000 and $30,000 a month. He describes this as a side project rather than his main revenue stream, noting he has a full-time job and puts only about five hours a week into it. He calls the earning potential 'a joke' because people dismiss it as 'just a newsletter,' but it literally pays the bills, showing that email-based businesses can be highly profitable relative to the time invested.

Q: What business should you start to reach $10,000 to $20,000 a month?

Greg Isenberg says when people ask which business to start if they just want to reach $10,000 to $20,000 a month, he usually recommends starting with an email-based business, specifically building a newsletter. He explains that platforms like beehiiv make it much easier to go from zero to 100,000 subscribers and then begin monetizing at $10,000, $15,000, $20,000, or $30,000 a month, making it an accessible starting point for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Q: Is there a single trick to growing a newsletter fast?

No. Tyler Denk emphasizes there is no silver bullet for going from zero to 90,000 subscribers in a year. Instead, growth is a compounding of eight to ten different things working together, each adding roughly 100 subscribers a week. As referrals and other features compound, growth can reach 1,500 to 2,000 subscribers per week. He warns that people want a quick and easy silver bullet, but that typically does not exist, so publishers must build multiple channels.

Q: What features does the beehiiv platform include?

beehiiv is an all-in-one platform that includes a full customizable website builder, email capture popups, subscriber data collection, custom signup flows, automated email sequences, referral programs, and monetization tools. Tyler Denk highlights that this removes the need for separate accounts across tools like Substack, Kit, Framer, or Webflow. Publishing a newsletter also creates an SEO-optimized web version in the same location, so content does not have to be copied into WordPress or Webflow separately.

Q: How do email capture popups help grow a subscriber list?

beehiiv lets you drop customizable popups that control when, how, and on which pages they appear, and you can customize them per page. There is even logic so that traffic from Facebook or Twitter can trigger a different popup with different language. Tyler describes these as part of a 'Death By A Thousand Cuts' strategy that incrementally improves conversion. However, he cautions that popups are not the secret sauce; simply throwing popups and annoying every visitor is only one small part of overall growth.

Q: Why do email automations matter for a newsletter?

Automations are automated journeys of emails and other steps that begin when someone subscribes. Tyler explains they can be as simple as a single welcome email or as complex as a 15-step journey with logic and updating parameters. Different subscribe forms, signup pages, and lead magnet pages can route new subscribers into entirely different automations. His own welcome series is about 10 steps, allowing him to onboard and nurture new readers automatically depending on how and where they signed up.

Q: What is a custom signup flow and how does it work?

A custom signup flow determines what happens after someone enters their email. Tyler describes interstitial steps including a recommendation model that suggests other newsletters, a survey that collects data about the new subscriber, and a final thank-you page introducing who he is and what Big Desk Energy is. You can create multiple different signup flows, and each subscribe form or popup can send subscribers down a different flow, so acquisition from Twitter versus LinkedIn can each have their own tailored path.

Q: Do you need separate tools for your website and newsletter with beehiiv?

No. Tyler Denk stresses that you do not need eight different accounts for your website, automations, and newsletter, because beehiiv does all of it. Beyond convenience, keeping everything in one place matters for data: beehiiv tracks where subscribers and visitors come from, whether X or LinkedIn, using UTM parameters, and follows what they do on the website down to which links they click in emails. This unified data helps publishers understand who their readers and customers actually are.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Greg Isenberg advises anyone aiming for $10,000 to $20,000 a month to start an email-based business by building a newsletter, since platforms like beehiiv simplify growing from zero to 100,000 subscribers and monetizing at $10,000 to $30,000 a month.

• beehiiv co-founder Tyler Denk, who earlier helped Morning Brew reach 3.5 million subscribers and a $75 million acquisition, grew his own newsletter Big Desk Energy from zero to 90,000 subscribers in about 14 months while working a full-time job.

• The platform serves as top-of-funnel, driving social traffic from X, Instagram, and TikTok to a customizable website and subscribe pages, using per-page email capture popups, custom signup flows with surveys, and automated welcome sequences to convert and onboard subscribers.