Can you run a local newsletter as a passive side hustle?

It's a big opportunity, and it's also not right for most people. Number one: do sales, or have somebody who will.

"If this is passive, I'm just going to launch the Meta ads and use Claude to write a newsletter and maybe chat with some businesses here and there, don't do it, because you're not going to go anywhere."

What do I ask people before they start?

When people reach out asking if they should do this, I'm cautious. I ask two things. Are you ready to put money in and not get any back for a while? Are you ready to focus on it, not half-ass it, for a long time? It's going to feel like a grind before it pays off.

If the answer is no, don't do it. It's not for everyone. For the people it's right for, it can be amazing, especially if they go all in on the creator angle.

What did it cost me when I started?

I started my first local newsletter as a side hustle. Five months in, I'd put in at least $8,000 to $10,000 in Facebook ads alone, plus the Beehiiv fee, plus an assistant. Between the two of us working on it, it was probably 60 hours a week, with zero to show for it financially.

We overdid it. We're perfectionists, so you can go a lot quicker than we did. The point stands: if you just dabble, you're likely to burn out, because the work is big compared to how little you get for quite a while.

What does "active" actually mean?

• Running Meta ads to grow subscribers and to find advertisers.
• DMing local business owners on Instagram.
• Creating Instagram content as the local face.
• Making sales calls.

Don't expect the audience to sell itself. You build a brand with 5,000 or 10,000 subscribers and 10,000 on Instagram, and every local business is going to come beat down your door? That's not what happens. You get a few here and there.

If you're all in, there's a lot of opportunity. It will work. The only question is how much.

Can a side hustle still make six figures?

Yes, with real effort. Andrew, a guest on my podcast from Huntsville, has a full-time job and makes six figures from his newsletter side hustle. He makes sales calls on his lunch break at the school.

Many of the people I work with make about $3,000 to $10,000 a month. A college student running a college-town newsletter reportedly makes about $17,000 a month with around 22,000 Instagram followers, in under a year. Another operator quit his job to do this full time.

A full-time local creator with relationships, who is really invested, could plausibly get to $70,000 or $100,000 a year by year two if they work their butt off. Even 10 focused hours a week makes crazy progress compared with zero or one.

Why do side hustlers struggle?

Most people doing this are entrepreneurial side hustlers, which was me when I started. They aren't salespeople, they have a full-time job, and they're too busy. I struggle with sales myself because I'm doing too much and can't pay a salesperson yet.

A lot of people copying the model are half-assing it. They'll get half the results and quit. Monetizing is hard, and anyone smart enough to figure it all out could probably be doing better things with their time.

When I had a guest with a full-time job on my show, I told him I wouldn't do my version (a full website, an article per post) with a day job. It's a lot of work. If you're short on time, copy the quicker approach: link out to Instagram posts and event pages instead of writing everything yourself.

Is a small, part-time newsletter worth it at all?

It can be, if money isn't the only goal. Doing a local newsletter only to earn ad money is really difficult unless your location is unusually good. The paths I see are going full time and pushing hard on advertising, or adding physical things like events, which is basically a full-time job too.

Say you have 6,000 subscribers, you're not paying for ads, and you send weekly. You have status in the community. People come to you, you meet people, and opportunities show up because you have an audience. That alone could be worth it.

The downside is small too. Worst case, if it doesn't work, you still built an audience and connections. You have proof you're good at marketing, and you learned Meta ads and media. Building an audience is the most valuable thing you can do to make money in business.

How can a busy person still make it work?

• Don't sell alone. Pay a friend, or a friend's teenager, about 25% commission to talk to local businesses and close deals.
• Have a back end. Realtors, insurance and business brokers and agencies win because the newsletter feeds a business they already run. Advertising alone might reach low six figures at scale if you're good at sales. The better play is owning a business you can advertise in your own newsletter.
• Subtract before you add. One brand done well beats two half-fed ones.

What happens to people who start just for ad revenue?

They build a small but decent following, realize it's too much work, can't make a profit, and sell to a consolidator. Save yourself the headache unless you know what you're getting into. If you do, read how long it takes to be taken seriously before you start.