Can I make money off of a "newsletter"?

July 6, 2006 6:45 PM

moneyfilter! I have a website that I started a while back hoping to "monetize". Well, I got lazy, and gave up. I was going to start a newsletter in conjunction with the site and never got around to it. But someone found the site, and the newsletter sign up page, and wants to distribute it to their clients (it relates to their brick and mortar business). The company seems legit. Can I turn this into a business opportunity?

My website and the newsletter are concerning "home safety". Here's a copy of the email I recieved through my "contact me" page:

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Website: titleserv.com
Message: I am looking for a general newsletter to send to individuals who have used our title insurance company.

I would also make attorney's aware of the opportunity as well.

Please let me know if your material can be passed along for this purpose and if you have any reservations or requirements regarding it's use.

Thank you
Pete Smith
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Should I start writing the newsletter regularly and charge a few to distribute it to his clients? How would you procede? Is it worth it?

He may be just looking for a free ride.

I'm interested in home safety and wouldn't mind continuing the site and doing a newsletter regularly, but am not sure if I could make it work to my advantage.

posted by allthewhile to computers & internet (3 comments total)

titleserv.com

On second thought it may not be "brick and mortar". I should do more research on that point.
posted by allthewhile at 6:46 PM on July 6, 2006

Even if you're giving the newsletter away for nothing, you still will have exclusive publishing rights to that original content. Content is what will get you more eyeballs and a higher ranking in Google, so in the long [and painfully slow] run [to try and make a buck online], it's a win/win for you.

Besides, you're spreading the word about your website. Newsletters are advertisments. They are an expense, not a revenue.

Do it because you love it and maybe, just maybe, thew money will follow.
posted by rinkjustice at 8:31 PM on July 6, 2006

alternately, it seems to me that if you haven't gotten around to writing those newsletters, maybe you don't love it, and in that case, maybe you want to sell the content you've created thus far and/or a distribution list, if you have one.
posted by andifsohow at 8:43 PM on July 6, 2006