🍦How I sold my first local newsletter ads (web version)

I started my local newsletter on August 17, 2020. And believe me or not, I sold the first ad just 11 days later.

Now you may think, “Who the heck buys ads in an infant newsletter with 150 subscribers?”

Jerry Sutton. A name I’ll never forget.

For some reason, Jerry Sutton from Infinity Web Design responded to my second newsletter and asked about advertising. Oh shit. . .

I knew I’d monetize with ads, but that was as far as I’d got. I didn’t have prices. Didn’t have ad types. Didn’t know anything about ads. But Jerry Sutton had money to spend and I needed it.

Jerry ended up buying 6 ads he could use any time in the next 6 months. And for this privilege, he paid me $500.

Yes! This is a real business! I didn’t even have a Stripe account. Obviously I set it up ASAP and got paid. That money went straight into Facebook ads to get more subscribers.

If Jerry reached out today, I’d politely tell him Naptown Scoop isn’t a good fit for his advertising needs. The guy’s website looked like it was from the 90s, had a .net domain, and was missing the second “I” in his own company’s name.

And remember, this guy is supposed to be a web developer.

Infinity Web Design is no longer in business. But Naptown Scoop is. And it’s all thanks to Jerry’s first $500 that got me going.

The single most common question I get is, “When should I start selling ads?”

And I always say the same thing.

Yesterday.

Velocity to $1 is a Noah Kagan concept. He’s super hot right now because he just wrote an awesome book. I’m reading it and you should too. Here’s an affiliate link if you want to support Life of Scoop.

With any new project, you gotta make the first dollar as fast as possible. Noah’s a pro at this.

Practical takeaway: Include a link to advertise in your local newsletter from day 1. Just make it a mailto: link that emails you with a preset subject line “Advertising in my newsletter”

Here are some examples, starting with a screenshot of the actual Naptown Scoop newsletter Jerry responded to.

Alright now get out there and do something. Ships can’t turn without water moving across the rudder.

– Ryan “Velocity to Dollar” Sneddon

P.S. If you want to advertise in this newsletter, click here and I’ll make it happen. Just kidding. Kinda. . .