All businesses / Paid newsletter

Fingerprint: capital · hours · speed to income · margin · ceiling. The dashed line is mid-scale.

Start a paid newsletter: the real numbers

Writing to a list that pays for it. Below is what it actually costs, how long before money arrives, and the part most guides leave out.

Startup capital

€100–€600

Hours / week

6–20

First income

~28 wks

Net margin

93%

Saturation

medium

Realistic ceiling

€200–€3,500+

This ceiling is not a wall

The figure above is what this earns in the shape described — you, running it. Past that it keeps going, but by hiring people or adding units, not by you working more hours. That is a different job from the one you would be starting, and worth knowing before you start it.

What nobody usually tells you

The maths is unforgiving but honest: free-to-paid conversion runs about 2–5%, so a list of 20,000 gets you perhaps 600 payers. At €8 a month that's €4,800 — real money, but 20,000 subscribers is two to three years of weekly writing.

The route, in five steps

  1. Write 20 free issues before charging for anything
  2. Pick a topic where the reader's job depends on it
  3. Ask for the email everywhere, relentlessly
  4. Launch paid at €5–10 a month, not €3
  5. Keep the free issue good — it's the entire funnel

What you'll need to buy

These are the categories every paid newsletter pays for in the first month. We break down what each one actually costs at this size on the tools page.

email platformdomainpayment platform

Does it hold up for you?

These numbers are the average case. Whether this business clears your target depends on your capital, your hours and how long you can wait — put them in and see.

Run my numbers → See the tool stack