$300K/Year From a Local Newsletter (City of 40,000)

We featured Ryan Sneddon and his Naptown Scoop newsletter last year when he was earning ~$200K/year.

Quick refresher: Ryan writes a free local newsletter for Annapolis, Maryland. No politics, no crime – just events, restaurant openings, things to do. He has no journalism background.

📈 Updated numbers from a recent thread on X…

• 23,000 subscribers (in a city of 40,000 – that’s 57% penetration 🤯)
• ~$300,000 in revenue last year
• Open rates of 50–70% (industry average is under 20%)

The economics 👇

• Costs $0.50–$1.00 to acquire a subscriber
• Each subscriber generates $10–$12 per year in ad revenue
• That’s a 10–20x return on acquisition

Revenue comes entirely from local business ads – restaurants, events, shops. If you run a business in Annapolis, the Scoop is probably the best way to reach locals 🔥

From $200K to $300K in roughly a year. And this is in a small city.

Could you start a local newsletter for your area? Ryan’s advice from our original feature still holds – just commit, don’t miss editions, and don’t quit after three issues 😎

Related: $2400/Month From an AI Local Newsletter (30 Mins a Day)

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