From Zero to $10,000 a Month with a Niche Newsletter and Directory

The Side Hustle Show is a great podcast with a huge back catalogue of episodes. A lot of the hustles started out small and grew into full time revenue streams. Like this one I listened to last weekend.

I'm a big fan of email newsletters and how they can form the core of a business model. So this episode was very interesting...

Andrew Allemann talks to host Nick Loper about building his podcast guest business using email and an online directory.

It's a low overhead, low touch business that's tapped into the growing podcast trend.

Lessons learned

• Andrew's idea came from needing an affordable solution to his own problem - finding more guests for his podcast. Your own problems are a good place to get an idea.
• The model he came up with is similar to Help a Reporter Out (HARO). You don't need to reinvent the business model. Take what works and apply to a different market. Then iterate.
• The MVP was built with simple no-code tools: Google forms, Mailchimp, Leadpages. And a cheap logo from Fiverr. Although he went big spending $300 on the domain name.
• To get the first podcast hosts signed up to his service, he cold emailed. But not mass sending  a template - he personalized each one. Cold email works when it's done the right way.
• To get the email addresses he outsourced to a freelancer. If you have the funds, leverage other people's time and talents.
• Once he got some revenue traction, Andrew built systems to automate and outsource the business so he can be almost completely hands off.
• Aside from paid channels, Andrew attracts attention from a guide he wrote. Even his competition recommends it to people. If you're going to use a lead magnet, make it epic.

Reports of email's death are greatly exaggerated.

Andrew Allemann has gone from zero to up to $10,000 a month in just 3 years with a low overhead side hustle:

An email newsletter and an online directory that helps connect podcasters with guests.

Finding it difficult to find guests for his own podcast, he wanted to create a solution that would not only help himself, but the greater podcasting community as well.

It’s a business model I’m excited about right now, and Andrew is proof that if you provide value through email, people are willing to pay for it.

Tune in to hear why Andrew decided to start a newsletter and an online directory, how he’s grown his audience to more than 19,000 subscribers and 500 paying directory members in 3 years, and how he’s turned this into a profitable business.