What is it?
Add a recommendations widget, such as SparkLoop Upscribe, to your site and choose newsletters to recommend. You can then get paid for subscribers referred through your recommendations.
This method is also an excellent way to passively monetize your site while building relationships with related newsletters. You can set up a reciprocal arrangement where they also add you to their Upscribe widget, bringing you some free growth as a bonus!
The Good and the Bad
- Earn $1-3 per subscriber straight away.
- Offset some or all of spend on growth (eg Facebook ads).
- Automated and no work (if using SparkLoop).
- Can scale to millions of dollars per year.
- Your audience will love it.
- (If not using SparkLoop) your payouts will be low.
- (If not using SparkLoop) it's tough to find suitable newsletters and get approved.
- Only drives revenue when your own newsletter is growing.
- Doesn't work well for non-English newsletters.
Examples to Steal
Grow My Newsletter (that's us!)
We use a paid recommendations widget to share other publications we think you'll love.
Because our reputation is on the line, we only recommend newsletters we read ourselves that we think will actually help you move towards your newsletter goals.
Here's what our pop-up looks like:
We include 5 different creators who each tackle newsletter growth, but with their own unique twist.
We aim to give you something different enough that you might still be interested - despite the fact you're already subscribing to us. And that's the key.
These guys are all about helping their readers "land the job of their dreams", so recommending newsletters diving deeper into exciting career areas (AI, Crypto, Nomad lifestyle) makes a lot of sense.
And according to CEO Tyler Parker, he's actually "making more money from paid recs than we're spending on ads, so we’re essentially growing for free!"
I also love their twist on the "no thanks" button. It's a playful way to apply just a touch of social pressure to accept the recommendations offered, without crossing the line.
Gunnar Holm runs a newsletter growth agency, and frequently uses paid recommendations widgets with his clients on their landing page.
He's got it down to a science where he's able to recoup the vast majority of cash spent acquiring subscribers.
The thread below is pure gold and I strongly recommend it:
