#7 - How To Build Two $75m+ Newsletter Empires w/ Beehiiv Founder Tyler Denk
Nov 16, 2023
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Tyler Denk, newsletter industry titan, talks about his journey from being an engineer at Morning Brew to starting Beehiiv, the #1 newsletter tool. They discuss the early days of the newsletter bubble, Morning Brew's growth to $100m+ in ARR, and the future of newsletter businesses.
Beehive aims to revolutionize the newsletter industry by providing an all-in-one platform with features such as content creation, email distribution, and website hosting.
Morning Brew and Beehive have collaborated and found common ground as partners and investors, showcasing the potential for growth in the newsletter industry.
Morning Brew's focus on optimizing subject lines to improve open rates exemplifies their commitment to delivering value to subscribers.
Deep dives
Beehive: A Comprehensive Newsletter Platform for Content Creators
Beehive is a powerful all-in-one platform for content creators in the newsletter space. Designed to replicate the success of Morning Brew, Beehive provides features such as content creation, email distribution, and website hosting. Their unique Boost network allows newsletters to pay for promotion through trusted and high-quality channels, while the ad network offers monetization options for content creators. With a focus on value-additive services and competitive pricing, Beehive aims to revolutionize the newsletter industry.
The Rise of Morning Brew: A Success Story Built on Customization and Growth
Morning Brew, known as one of the industry's darlings, has paved the way for the newsletter business model. Starting with a referral program inspired by The Skimm and The Hustle, Morning Brew quickly scaled to over a million subscribers. While they have mainly focused on advertising revenue, there were missed opportunities for diversification. Ideas like premium subscriptions, industry analysis, and exclusive webinars could have been explored to expand revenue streams. Despite some differences in vision and past tensions, Morning Brew and Beehive have found common ground as collaborators and investors, showcasing the potential in partnership and growth.
Boosting Growth and Monetization in the Newsletter Industry
Beehive's Boost network has become a game-changer in the newsletter space, offering paid promotion opportunities for newsletters to reach new audiences. With a focus on first-party data and quality control, newsletters can pay to appear on trusted channels, ensuring value and engagement. The recent introduction of an optimized algorithm enhances the potential for growth and monetization. By offering value additive services and leveraging unique insights, Beehive aims to provide a comprehensive solution for content creators to maximize their reach and revenue potential.
Monetization Strategies of Morning Brew
Morning Brew, with its large audience, has explored various monetization strategies beyond advertisers and subscriptions. They have considered becoming a private equity fund to acquire their best advertisers and promote them in their newsletters. However, Morning Brew has focused on writing the best newsletter and delivering quality ads to their subscribers. They have resisted the temptation to diversify into video, events, or podcasts, maintaining a relentless focus on their core offering and rapid growth.
The Importance of Open Rates in Email Newsletters
Open rates are crucial in measuring engagement for email newsletters. Morning Brew's team placed significant importance on optimizing subject lines to improve open rates. They ran A/B tests and found that shorter subject lines usually performed better, while attention-grabbing but ambiguous subject lines generated intrigue. However, they cautioned against overusing clickbait subject lines. Morning Brew's emphasis on open rates reflects their commitment to growing and delivering value to their subscribers.
