Asking Price: $2,150,000

Created in May of 2020, this a rare chance to own a subscription-based, online newsletter-facing media company. The newsletter and content site are dedicated to the cause of social good and transformation and tackle a wide range of topics, from inequality to soaring student debt. The business has been successful from day one, filling a glaring gap many young people have clearly been yearning for, which is evidenced by its 300,000 subscribers. The company satisfies this demand by publishing topical, factual, and well-researched newsletters six days per week that generate one-time and recurring revenue from its reader base, with the recurring revenue approaching $50,000 per month.

The single most effective traffic source to their newsletter is their owned social channels, particularly Instagram (600,000 followers), TikTok (20,000), Facebook (12,000), Twitter (4,900), and LinkedIn. Their content has resonated by posting short recaps across these social channels and encouraging their audience to subscribe and read more. To convert those readers from free to paid subscribers, they immediately enroll them in a nurture campaign that makes an ask based on their engagement, in addition to asks at least once a month delivered by email. Driving engagement from social media to the newsletter is a proven, powerful, and free growth strategy, and it eliminates any reliance on Google or other search engines.

The company is only in its infancy and the growth potential is immense. The most obvious opportunities include 1) creating an app for on-demand courses for schools and workplaces related to prevalent social issues, 2) investing in paid marketing tactics to grow the reader base, 3) encouraging like-minded brands to sponsor content in the newsletter, and 4) hiring an individual full time to translate the 400 newsletters’ worth of content into short-form video via YouTube and other video platforms.

The owner works part time, employs a full-time managing editor and assistant editor, and has 5–8 freelance writers per month who submit content for the newsletter. Now that work has picked up post-pandemic, the owner is eager to return to her previous endeavors and see a new steward take an already sustainable, thriving business opportunity to a whole new level.