Niche Newsletter Success Stories [2024]
Think your insights could use a wider audience? Try starting a niche newsletter. A niche newsletter focuses on specific, targeted content for a highly interested audience.
By curating and delivering valuable information to a defined group, you can carve out a space in your area of expertise. Whether it's vegan recipes, sustainable fashion, or cryptocurrency trends, there's an audience hungry for specialized knowledge. The demand for high-quality, focused content is strong, and people are willing to pay for information that helps them make informed decisions or enhances their lifestyle.
Creating a niche newsletter requires consistent research, writing, and marketing. You'll need to grow and maintain a subscriber list, create compelling content, and possibly integrate sponsorships or advertisements. Despite the initial effort, a niche newsletter can become a sustainable and rewarding venture, providing both financial and personal fulfillment.
In this list, you'll find real-world niche newsletter success stories and very profitable examples of starting a niche newsletter that makes money.
1. NW Adventure Rentals ($3M/year)
John Higgins, the founder of NW Adventure Rentals, came up with the idea for his business during a family vacation when they decided to rent an RV but were met with hidden fees, poor quality, and bad customer service. After having a successful trip in their own purchased travel trailer, John put an ad on Craigslist to rent it out and was overwhelmed with the response, realizing there was a real need for high-quality RV rentals without hidden fees. This led him to start NW Adventure Rentals, which has now grown to three locations, 85+ rental units, and $3 million in annual sales.
How much money it makes: $3M/year
How much did it cost to start: $10K
How many people on the team: 19
NW Adventure Rentals is a thriving business with three locations, 85+ rental units, and $3M in annual sales over the last 10 years, offering clean, well-maintained luxury RVs for road trip adventures with a leaseback program that has proven to be a win-win for all.
2. ryrob.com ($480K/year)
Ryan Robinson started his blog ryrob.com in college as a way to share the lessons he learned from starting a business around his product, the iStash. After a viral post on HackerNews and Twitter, Ryan saw the potential to build a community around his blog and turned it into a full-time business. Now, his blog has around 500,000 monthly readers and generates between $25,000 to $55,000 in revenue each month through affiliate partnerships, sponsorships, and the sale of his own digital products.
How much money it makes: $480K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 1
Ryan Robinson explains how he built a blog with over 500k monthly visitors and generates $25,000-$55,000 in revenue each month through affiliate partnerships, sponsorships, and his own digital products like courses and books.
3. Crowded Kitchen ($204K/year)
Lexi Harrison, the co-founder and CEO of Crowded Kitchen, came up with the idea for her plant-based recipe website and content business while studying abroad and facing dietary challenges. With the help of her mom, she grew their audience to 20k followers within the first year. With their expertise in photography and recipe development, they diversified their business by offering content creation services to food and beverage brands, which now accounts for 50% of their revenue.
How much money it makes: $204K/year
How much did it cost to start: $5K
How many people on the team: 3
How co-founders of Crowded Kitchen, a plant-based recipe website and creative content business, grew their social media following to nearly 200k and became a leader in the plant-based recipe space, while also offering photography and recipe development services to major food and beverage brands.
4. Sustainably Chic ($204K/year)
Natalia's business idea for Sustainably Chic stemmed from her passion for sustainable fashion, which she developed after becoming fatigued with the industry’s wastefulness and unethical practices.
At the time, sustainable fashion was not a popular topic and she felt like no one talked about it.
Motivated by a desire to create an impactful platform and realizing the lack of resources in sustainable fashion, she started her online community to showcase ethical brands, which quickly gained a significant following.
How much money it makes: $204K/year
How much did it cost to start: $3K
How many people on the team: 1
This case study follows the founder of Sustainably Chic, a sustainable fashion blog with 60k monthly visitors and $6k monthly revenue, providing insights on building a successful blog, effective branding, and the importance of value and sustainability.
5. Stephan & Adriana ($168K/year)
Stephan and Adriana, former professional ice skaters, discovered a passion for photography during their time touring the world. When Stephan missed his deadline to apply for college, he decided to give photography a chance, and the couple started shooting houses, landscapes, and weddings. The pandemic unexpectedly revealed a high demand for smaller, outdoorsy weddings, propelling their business to new heights as they focused on elopements and intimate weddings in breathtaking locations like Yosemite National Park. Their business now brings in an average of 12-18k per month, allowing them to spend quality time with their families in both California and Brazil.
How much money it makes: $168K/year
How much did it cost to start: $30K
How many people on the team: 2
How two ice-skating world travelers built a wedding photography business with a focus on intimate, outdoor weddings, working mainly in Yosemite National Park, where they managed to attract clients almost solely through content marketing and SEO, bringing in an average of 12-18k per month.
6. Indie Worldwide ($24K/year)
Anthony came up with the idea for Indie Worldwide after experiencing setbacks in his career and freelancing. He leveraged his experience in running events and his desire to be like other successful founders in the indie hacking community to create a virtual meetup for indie hackers. Through organic growth and strategic launches on platforms like Product Hunt, the community has grown to over 2,000 members and has multiple revenue streams, including a successful Founders' Club with $5.5k in ARR and sponsorships.
How much money it makes: $24K/year
How much did it cost to start: $1.2K
How many people on the team: 1
Indie Worldwide has scaled to 2,000 members with revenue streams generating $5.5k ARR and $3k in sponsorships, offering aspiring founders a blueprint for creating profitable virtual communities.
7. Super Smash Cache ($24K/year)
Cy, an award-winning sex blogger, started her review blog, Super Smash Cache, after realizing the lack of honest information about body-safe sex toys. With a background in biology and art, Cy wanted to create a platform that challenged assumptions about sexuality and provided a space for sexually expressive individuals. Today, her blog has amassed over 11,000 followers on Instagram and brings in around $2,000 a month through affiliate commissions, sponsored posts, and banner ads.
How much money it makes: $24K/year
How much did it cost to start: $14
How many people on the team: 0
Sex blogger turns a free WordPress blog into a $2,000 a month part-time digital business by investing in education, self-hosting, and building relationships within the NSFW community.
8. Cars of Carlisle ($5.03K/year)
Darren Reighard, founder and CEO of the Cars of Carlisle Network Podcast, came up with the idea for his profitable podcast after a friend recognized the need for an automotive podcast in their hometown of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. With his love for cars and background in mass communications, Reighard quickly established a virtual product to fill this niche and market gap, resulting in over 12,000 downloads and an increasing annual revenue.
How much money it makes: $5.03K/year
How much did it cost to start: $3.11K
How many people on the team: 1
Cars of Carlisle Network Podcast, founded by Darren Reighard, has grown into an increasingly successful entrepreneurial pursuit with over 130 episodes and is continuing to expand, with an annual revenue that is increasing, over 12k downloads from 45 countries, and a 18-month goal to expand sponsorship to become a full-time CEO managing the business with a 5 employee team.
9. Get Out Alive Podcast ($4.8K/year)
Ashley Bray, host of the Get Out Alive Podcast, came up with the idea after working in wildlife biology and experiencing frustrations with not being able to be honest about wildlife conflicts. She and her high school friend, Nick, decided to create a podcast about animal attacks that provided honest advice on how to coexist peacefully with wild animals. They invested in equipment, reached out to other podcasters for guidance, and launched the podcast, attracting initial listeners through social media.
How much money it makes: $4.8K/year
How many people on the team: 0
Get Out Alive LLC's success story of how they grew to making a nearly $400/month profit on Patreon in just over a year, without spending any money on ads, through producing an animal attack podcast and selling merchandise.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
