She Grew A $5800/Month Newsletter In 2 Months
Read Time: 3 mins
When you hear the word “newsletter business,” who do you think of? Most people think of Justin Welsh’s $5 million-a-year newsletter business.
But there’s a new celebrity in the world of newsletters in 2024.
In 14 days, Jennifer’s viral Instagram posts gained her 12,000 new fans in the form of email subscribers.
Two months later, she’s running a newsletter that earns $5800 in MRR (monthly recurring revenue) and has a 97% net profit margin.
Before I share how she did it and why I think she’s different than 99% of solo founders, let me share how we met.
Question: When someone goes viral, how do you get their attention?
First, they need to know you exist!
Last week, I wanted to convince Jennifer to tell me every detail that led to her success.
The problem? Her DMs were blowing up.
Famous marketers started following her and reaching out. Companies came out of the woodwork to sponsor her newsletter. Dozens of new customers were spamming her email inbox.
Why would she make time for a small potato like me?
Here’s how I did it:
She was hosting her first masterclass and promoted it to her 12,000+ email list.
20 spots available. $29 for a seat at the virtual table.
The virtual webinar started at 5 AM on a Saturday, but I said screw it and bought a ticket.
When the masterclass started, she asked everyone to introduce themselves.
Me: “Hey! I write about profitable side hustles started by people with full-time jobs. Btw it’s 5AM where I’m at 😅”
She immediately responded with “Hi Fre-Wow! Omg thank you so much for joining.”
Boom. Impression made.
A couple days later, I sent her this cold email:
And she agreed to chat!
I truly believe in the saying, “People don’t remember who you are, they remember how you made them feel.”
It’s been my north star in marketing my business this year.
Here’s her story.
How Jennifer (Vegantechnomad) Went Viral And Grew Her Newsletter To 12,000 Subscribers In 14 Days
Today's side hustle is...
You ever talk to someone and get the “Oh, this person’s going to be successful” type vibe?
That was me when I met Jennifer.
Jennifer is recognized as the Vegan Tech Nomad, the unhinged productivity girl, and the woman who gained 12,000 organic newsletter subscribers in 14 days.
In December 2023, she accidentally fell into the newsletter game when she went viral with her productivity content.
At first, her content failed to get any traction.
And her newsletter pointed to a “Coming Soon” page for months.
But she knew she had built something special. Every time her friends saw how she tracked her productivity, she would receive incredibly positive reactions.
She had eight revenue streams in February, but the majority of it came from selling premium productivity templates, a premium newsletter subscription, and ad slots to companies wanting to sponsor her email list.
Why it works
Most people start a business, and the first thing they do is build a website, logo, and choose brand colors.
Jennifer is the opposite.
She built distribution first by posting high volumes of content, then let the market tell her what to build.
When she went viral, her productivity templates were still free.
This became a growth hack for getting new fans. People could access her products and offer feedback with zero commitment.
After her socials blew up and exploded her email list, she still offered free templates as a lead magnet, but launched several paid templates.
Starting costs
Jennifer started with a beehiiv (to collect emails and host her newsletter) and ManyChat (DM automation for Instagram). In total, it cost her $165 to start.
Growth strategies & skills
*gold nugget incoming*
Jennifer told me all her email subscribers and followers came from 1 viral Instagram post.
But she said, “You can’t really get to that one post until you post a lot, your videos get better, and you kind of understand what people like to see.”
In essence, volume ALLOWS for virality.
And her funnel is simple:
Create social media posts > drive new email subscribers > sell through email
By recording her screen and batch-filming content, she would pump out up to 5 posts on TikTok a day.
Time investment
Jennifer works a full-time job as a growth marketer.
She spends 15-20 hours a week on her newsletter business.
Earnings
In February 2024, Jennifer earned $5890.61 in revenue with 97% profit margins.
It came mostly from B2B (ad sponsorships, agency services) and B2C (selling productivity templates)
Here’s how she’s planning on making $10k this month:
You can read Jennifer’s full story to learn more about how she went viral, tracks her finances and focuses on high-leverage tasks.
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Join side hustlers who are earning beyond their full-time jobs. Unlock side hustle ideas and tips to earn an extra $500–$10,000 a month by building a legitimate side business.
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Join side hustlers who are earning beyond their full-time jobs. Unlock side hustle ideas and tips to earn an extra $500–$10,000 a month by building a legitimate side business.