Tell HN: My tiny side-project now makes $3k-$5k/mo in 4 months (solo-founder)

I started my newsletter (https://www.startups.fyi) as a side-project back around June 2022 but only started monetizing it via sponsors after a complete pivot in October.

I had just sold another project for mid five-figures and needed a new project to focus on.

The newsletter/website are quite "passive" for me and I spend only a couple of hours per week curating content, handling submissions and marketing.

Breakdown:

#October - Still testing options for sponsors and promotions, charging $29 for a premium submission, it made roughly $2,600.

#November - This was my best month, and I made just under $6,000 from the newsletter, mostly from sponsors buying future ad spots and premium submissions.

#December - This was the worst month of the 4 in terms of revenue, and I made less than $1,500 from the newsletter, but on the flip side it was an incredible month for subscriber growth. Increased the premium submission price to $49 to reflect subscriber growth.

#January - The newsletter has made $3,100 so far with a few days to spare. Glad to see the number creep back up.

During these 4 months it's gone from less than 3,000 subscribers to over 8,000 subs (crossed 8k today!).

I'm happy with the way the newsletter is growing and it's revenue potential. The only downside is that this rev. isn't recurring and could dry up should a recession hit.

But I'm still upbeat and excited for what the future holds!

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Copied format from: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34520664