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Happy Thursday {{first_name | EduCreator}},

Yesterday I hosted a workshop about turning your newsletter into a business using beehiiv's monetization features. The participants spanned from beginners who started with 0 subscribers to social media influencers with over 100k followers across platforms and a few thousand subscribers.

The cool thing about the newsletter business is that it equalizes the playing field. One community member shared her story of monetizing with ad revenue while only having 16 subscribers!

By her 3rd newsletter, beehiiv sent an ad offer. She’s grown to 46 subscribers and has made $120 in ad revenue this month. 🤯

Stories like this make me so excited to share what’s possible because I can’t think of any other way to start monetizing your high-value content and truly build predictable revenue so fast.

I created this quiz inspired by the questions and feedback from yesterday’s workshop. It’ll give you a custom report with recommendations for next steps. Please give it a try and let me know if it was helpful.

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Go from publishing content to generating assets

Publishing alone does not build a business.
Assets do.

If you have been writing, posting, or sharing content consistently but still feel unclear about revenue, you are probably not fully aware of what’s possible.

The session was designed to replace guesswork with clarity and to show what actually works when you want your newsletter to become a real business asset

The reframe needed to start monetizing

Most newsletters stall because they stop at publishing.

Publishing creates visibility.
Assets create leverage.

The framework we walked through moves through 4 clear stages:

  1. Publish content

  2. Build authority

  3. Create assets

  4. Generate revenue

When founders skip the asset stage, monetization feels forced or premature. When assets are built intentionally, revenue becomes a natural outcome.

This is why so many people feel stuck even with consistent output. They are doing the work but not capturing the value.

The 6 monetization paths every founder should understand

During the workshop, we broke down the 6 core revenue paths available inside beehiiv, ordered from easiest to most advanced:

1. Ad revenue

Your first and simplest stream. Ads are offered weekly and you choose what fits your audience. Consistency compounds here.

2. Boosts

Get paid to recommend other newsletters through email, web placements, or direct links. Alignment matters more than volume.

3. Premium subscriptions

Recurring revenue through paid tiers. Pricing can be simple and flexible, with room to grow over time.

4. Products and services

Sell guides, templates, downloads, or sessions directly inside your newsletter with 0 percent platform commission.

5. Affiliate commissions

Earn recurring revenue by recommending tools you already use. Small monthly actions can add up quickly.

6. Newsletter driven sales

Your newsletter becomes the primary sales channel for your offers, using segmentation and intent instead of blasting everyone.

The key insight is not to do all 6 at once.

It is to layer them strategically.

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A simple monetization roadmap

To keep things realistic, we mapped monetization into 3 phases

Phase 1 Foundation

Activate ad revenue and boosts
Goal: baseline income with minimal effort

Phase 2 Expansion

Launch a premium tier
Goal: predictable recurring revenue and deeper engagement

Phase 3 Ownership

Introduce products, affiliates, and direct sales
Goal: maximize value with assets you own

This approach removes overwhelm and replaces it with momentum.

The mistakes that quietly kill progress

We also addressed the 3 most common mistakes founders make when trying to monetize too early or too fast

Monetizing before trust

Fix: focus on value and engagement first

Doing everything at once

Fix: layer strategies intentionally

Neglecting optimization

Fix: test, track, and double down on what works

Revenue is not set and forget. It is built through feedback and iteration.

Why this matters

This work matters because newsletters are not just content channels. They are ownership vehicles.

A newsletter is a direct line to people who trust you.
It is an asset you control.
It compounds over time.

Entrepreneurship should not be gatekept. Founders deserve a clear path from knowledge to income, without complexity or burnout.

What to do next

If you attended the workshop, revisit your notes and pick 1 monetization layer to activate this week.

If you missed it, this newsletter is your invitation to stop publishing in isolation and start building with intention.

Your newsletter does not need to be bigger.
It needs to be structured.

Let’s build assets.

That’s all for now,

Christel

Want to support my work? You can buy me a flower here 🌸

Ready to start your newsletter? Click here to sign up for a free trial and reply to any of my emails to let me know so I can help you set up. Already have an account? Use my coupon code CHRISTEL for a 20% off discount on the upgrade price (for 3 months).

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