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independence6 unconnected
applies to

b2b and consumer, needs an existing audience

confidence

high

evidence

7 claims · 7 articles · 4 receipts

window

2012-04-01 → 2024-10-01

6 builders who never spoke to each other

Package more of what you own into sellable slots

Bundle the mentions across every surface you control, team up with a title that shares your readership, sell sponsorship of individual physical components, and fill an unsold slot with a paid recommendation rather than running it empty.

The method

  1. 01

    Sell a sponsorship as a package of touchpoints across every audience you own, so the advertiser appears in social posts, community shoutouts and the newsletter itself rather than in a single slot.

  2. 02

    Team up with a newsletter that shares your readership and sell your ad inventory jointly, presenting combined reach to advertisers and splitting the sales work.

  3. 03

    Fill an unsold sponsor slot with a paid newsletter recommendation instead of running it empty, which on an engaged list can pay more than the advertiser would have.

  4. 04

    Sell local businesses a commission or fee deal on exclusive reader offers, which gives you revenue that no advertiser controls and gives readers a reason to stay subscribed.

  5. 05

    Keep selling ads, sponsorships and affiliate placements inside the free edition even after subscriptions start converting, so the free tier pays for itself instead of being pure cost.

What it returned

  • 50

    SparkLoop puts the uplift at 50 to 100% more revenue than a comparable sponsored placement for highly engaged audiences, and notes it also builds a track record of results to show future advertisers.

  • $50k

    Eric Lam earns from sponsors and affiliate placements inside the free Sunday send, on top of roughly $50k of subscription revenue.

  • Amanda Goetz sells sponsorships for Life's A Game as bundled mentions across Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram feed, Stories and Reels, newsletter editions and community shoutouts.

  • Mike Benitez bundles ads with International Intrigue, a title around three times The Merge's size with overlapping demographics. They pitch as a small network and set the revenue split by audience size, effort and who brought the advertiser in.

Sources

the second source

Three plays a week, for the phase you are in

No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.

One email a week. Unsubscribe in one click, and the address is used for this and nothing else.

More in sales

all sales plays

the second source

Three plays a week, for the phase you are in

No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.

963 corroborated plays to draw from · 3 a week

One email a week. Unsubscribe in one click, and the address is used for this and nothing else.