How Jared Newman built Cord Cutter Weekly, a TV streaming newsletter with 32,000 subscribers
Jun 27, 2024
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Jared Newman, Founder of Cord Cutter Weekly, discusses launching his newsletter during the streaming boom, gaining 32,000 subscribers. He shares insights on monetization, strategies for promotion, and potential transition to full-time newsletter growth.
Jared Newman's Cord Cutter newsletter benefited from timing with the rapid growth of the streaming TV market.
Newman successfully diversified revenue streams for his newsletters through unique tech guides and flexible pricing options.
Deep dives
Jared Newman's Cord Cutter newsletter launch perfectly timed with streaming TV market growth
Jared Newman's Cord Cutter newsletter launched in 2016, coinciding with the rapid expansion of the streaming TV market as major Hollywood studios shifted to streaming services. The newsletter now boasts over 32,000 subscribers, with a tech advice spin-off newsletter counting 1200 paying members. The conversation delved into Newman's motivation for starting the newsletter, his editor's endorsement embedded in columns, and potential full-time dedication to newsletter growth.
Jared Newman's Tech Journalism Journey and Niche in Streaming & Cord Cutting
Newman's tech journalism career, evolving from local newspapers to LA freelance work in 2008, focused on streaming and cord-cutting topics. His engagement with streaming technology-related challenges led to dedicated columns on streaming services like Sling TV since 2014, exploring the changing landscape of standalone streaming apps in the evolving market.
Diversification into Advisorator: Broadening Tech Advice and Audience Reach
The expansion into Advisorator in 2018 broadened Newman's tech advice reach beyond streaming topics. Advisorator, offered as a paid newsletter with a complimentary free version, caters to a broader tech-savvy audience seeking diverse tech insights. The strategic leveraging of Cord Cutter Weekly to introduce and convert readers to Advisorator underlines Newman's audience engagement approach.
Monetization Strategies: Direct Revenue & Pay-What-You-Can Models
The introduction of a pay-what-you-can model for Advisorator, alongside direct revenue avenues like 'buy me a coffee' and premium content, marks Newman's monetization evolution. While subscriptions remain the predominant revenue stream, uniquely crafted tech guides, such as a cord-cutting guide with flexible pricing options, showcase Newman's growing exploration of diverse monetization methods.
When Jared Newman launched his Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter back in 2016, the streaming TV market was much smaller than it is today, with most TV networks either not having their own streaming app or requiring a cable subscription to access it. But as it turned out, he timed his launch perfectly, as it was only a matter of years before virtually every Hollywood studio pivoted to streaming. Today, his newsletters has over 32,000 subscribers, and a spinoff newsletter that gives tech advice has also grown to 1,200 paying members.
In our interview, we discussed his motivation for launching the newsletter, why his editor let him promote it at the end of his columns, and whether he ever wants to leave his freelance career entirely to just focus on growing his two newsletters.
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