Our 5-figure “Digital Product × Beehiiv Ads” playbook: $14.5K in 2 Months

April 14, 2025

Newsletter Growth Playbook: $14.5K in 2 Months

In this playbook we break down exactly how we launched a new newsletter and turned it into $14,500 USD excluding (1.2k usd in subscriptions) in revenue in just 60 days. 

We combined a special Beehiiv promotion (2× Boosts in February) with referral payouts and a digital product upsell to grow fast and make profit. 

The result: 20,000+ subscribers by the end of the Boost period,
and $100–$1,000+ in earnings every time we send an email. (1 email = 3 ads)

This guide gives you the step-by-step timeline, key metrics, and insider tips so you can replicate our system.




Throughout this guide we’ll cite benchmarks and expert advice so you know these numbers aren’t flukes. 

We’ll also explain the payback timeline: on a well-optimized list, ad and referral spend is recovered in about 1–2 months ( 3 Metrics Every Newsletter Operator Should Know) 

(even if it takes 2–6 months in a more cautious scenario). Now let’s dive into the detailed timeline and tactics.

Timeline & Milestones

  • Jan 29 (Launch): Bought a domain, set up our Beehiiv newsletter, and published the first post. This initial post started our content engine and seeded the referral network.

  • Jan 31: Our very first Beehiiv Ad Network payout landed – we earned money simply by running a sponsor ad via Beehiiv from day one. 

  • (Beehiiv’s native Ad Network makes it easy for small newsletters to monetize immediately (4 Best Ways to Monetize Your Newsletter).)

  • Feb 1–28 (Boost Period): Beehiiv’s “2× Boost” promo ran all month (Double Your Revenue). Every referral we sent earned twice the normal payout (up to $8 per verified signup instead of $4). We joined top newsletters and let our Boosts run on autopilot.

  • Feb 5–6 (Ads Launched): We ran paid social campaigns targeting Tier-1 countries at about $0.25–$0.29 per signup. This CPA is incredibly efficient – most newsletters pay several dollars per subscriber (The Newsletter Benchmarks You Should Be Aiming For) – so we were acquiring a flood of new readers at a bargain. (We paused/resumed daily to hit that range.)

  • Feb 18: SparkLoop’s referral payout came in. We had set up SparkLoop’s paid recommendations in early Feb, and by mid-month we saw a deposit. This confirmed that SparkLoop was literally paying us to grow our list (How the top beehiiv newsletters earn $millions) – we were earning more on referrals than we were spending on ads (for awhile)

  • Feb 28 (End of Boost): The Beehiiv 2× Boost promo ended. By then our list crossed 20,000 subscribers. By our two-month revenue hit $14,500 from beehiiv ads.

  • March–Onward (Ongoing): With a 20K+ list, every email send now generates $100–$1,000+ 

  • Sponsors and affiliates pay based on list size – industry examples cite $100–$10,000+ per single ad depending on audience (4 Best Ways to Monetize Your Newsletter) – so a mid-sized newsletter often earns hundreds per send. We continue sending 1–2 emails per week, plus occasional product promos, and the money keeps rolling in.

Key Strategies & Steps

1. Launch Quickly and Leverage Bonuses

Getting started fast was crucial. We moved from idea to live newsletter in hours on Jan 29: choose a niche, buy a domain, set up Beehiiv, and publish our first issue. 

Because Beehiiv offered a February Boosts promotion (doubling referral payouts (Double Your Revenue)), we immediately applied to Boost other popular newsletters. 

This meant every new signup we drove in Feb counted double. In practice, we set up Boosts with just a few clicks, then focused on content. 

2. Monetize From Day One (Ads & Referrals)

We didn’t wait to earn money. We enabled Beehiiv’s Ad Network and placed an ad in our first issue. Even with only a tiny list, this generated a first payout by Jan 31.

(As Beehiiv notes, businesses pay to reach engaged readers, and even small newsletters can start charging ~$100+ per ad spot (4 Best Ways to Monetize Your Newsletter)

Meanwhile, we put SparkLoop’s referral widget on our signup page and in emails. SparkLoop runs a paid recommendation program: we recommend other newsletters to our audience and earn a commission every time someone subscribes through us.

In short, ads and referrals funded each other (for awhile)

3. Aggressive Audience Acquisition (Ads and Referrals)

With Boosts doubling our referral payouts (Double Your Revenue) and SparkLoop running, we had the safety net to spend. 

On Feb 5–6, we launched Facebook/Instagram ads targeting Tier-1 English-speaking countries. Our cost-per-acquisition (CPA) was around $0.25–$0.29 per signup – shockingly low. 

(For context, industry benchmarks say $3–$5 per subscriber is normal for large budgets (The Newsletter Benchmarks You Should Be Aiming For).) 

This cheap CPA was possible thanks to tight targeting and an optimized landing page. Every subscriber we bought for $0.25 would be worth much more in future revenue. Even if one email earns $1–$5 per subscriber over time, we break even quickly. We continued testing ad sets daily, capitalizing on any sub-$0.30 wins.

4. Sell a High-Margin Digital Product

Early on we brainstormed a digital product (e.g. an ebook or course) that would naturally fit our newsletter theme. Rather than only reselling others’ stuff (which yields commission cuts), we focused on our own product, since that “earning potential is much higher when you sell your own product” (4 Best Ways to Monetize Your Newsletter). 

We created a simple subscription plan and offered it to new subscribers as a freebie if they signed up, then pitched a paid upgrade in our welcome sequence. 

This accomplishes two things: it raises the perceived value of signing up (bump in conversion rate), and every sale is pure profit (no affiliate fee). 

4) Spun up a paid subscription + lifetime-upgrade upsell

  • Rolled out a premium tier at prpackages.io/upgrade.

  • ~$1,000 USD landed in the very first month
    (Beehiiv dashboard shows SGD, but the figure is USD).



  • Some of those subscription resulted in MRR: even a “small” base gives predictable, stress-free income every month.

  • Lifetime buyers are gold—because they’ve paid once, they keep opening every email and almost never hit “unsubscribe,” boosting overall deliverability and sponsor rates.

This sales revenue helped reach $14.5K faster and now provides recurring income.

(Plus, selling to our audience means 100% profit margin – no middlemen.

5. Drive Consistent Monetization (Ads & Email Sends)

Once the list was large, we leaned into newsletter sends as a revenue source.
Every issue we sent carried sponsor ads.

7. Payback Period & ROI

From Day 1 we tracked Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) vs Lifetime Value (LTV). In our case, the math was simple: each new subscriber cost ~$0.25 (ads) and brought additional referral bonuses, while later each email sent would earn us roughly $100–$1k+ from ads.

Thus, payback came very quickly – we often recouped the ad cost within 1-2 first month of sending emails. As one strategy guide explains, a newsletter is scalable only when the money you make from a subscriber exceeds the money spent to get them ( 3 Metrics Every Newsletter Operator Should Know). We hit that sweet spot early.

Realistically, not everyone moves this fast.
For a well-optimized campaign (like ours), a 1–2 month payback on ad spend is achievable. 

If your niche or funnel isn’t quite dialed, expect more like 2–6 months to break even (since you might have higher CPAs or lower conversion initially). But by the 6-month mark, nearly any dedicated newsletter should see at least breakeven on those early costs. (Industry rules of thumb note that if average subscriber LTV is, say, $100, you could spend up to $10 to acquire them safely (The Newsletter Benchmarks You Should Be Aiming For). We skewed far lower than that.)

Key Takeaways & Tips

  • Leverage Platform Promotions: Take advantage of newsletters’ internal programs. The February “2× Boosts” promo was a game-changer for us – it literally doubled our referral revenue (Double Your Revenue). When these promos run, apply early and aggressively.

  • Use Referrals to Fund Ads: By running SparkLoop’s paid recommendations, we “made more money from paid recommendations than we spent on ads,” essentially growing for free (How the top beehiiv newsletters earn $millions). In practice, set your referral payouts and let them run in parallel with ads. Each subscriber acquired can generate referrals revenue that offsets your ad spend.

  • Optimize Ads Like Crazy: Our $0.25/sub rates came from narrow targeting and continual optimization. Most newsletters pay much more (even $3–$5 (The Newsletter Benchmarks You Should Be Aiming For)), so there’s huge upside to smart ad work. Always A/B test landing pages, headlines and audiences. (Note: U.S. audiences tend to be pricier; don’t neglect targeted outreach in Tier-1 & Tier-2 English markets if applicable.)

  • Own Your Product for Upsells: Selling your own digital product (course, ebook, etc.) to subscribers yields the highest margins (4 Best Ways to Monetize Your Newsletter). We ensured every signup had a clear path to a product purchase. Even if your main income is ads, try adding one product pitch per month – it can significantly boost LTV.

  • Monetize from Day One: Don’t wait for a giant list. We ran sponsor ads and referrals immediately. Remember, businesses pay top dollar to reach engaged readers (4 Best Ways to Monetize Your Newsletter). As soon as you have even a few hundred subscribers, start contacting sponsors or using an ad marketplace (like Beehiiv’s). The sooner you prove that ads can pay, the faster you’ll reach sustainable revenue.

  • Track Your Metrics: Keep an eye on CPA, LTV, and payback period. Aim for a subscriber LTV that’s comfortably higher than your CPA ( 3 Metrics Every Newsletter Operator Should Know). We budgeted so that break-even was within one email send; you may allow a longer payback (up to 6 months) if needed, but know your numbers.

  • Stay Consistent & Patient: Even after the boost period ended, we continued sending valuable content and occasional promo emails. Growth and earnings compound over time. Remember one expert’s advice: owning a newsletter list means you “have the power to influence thousands of people by simply clicking send,” and you earn every time you do (4 Best Ways to Monetize Your Newsletter).

By following these steps—fast launch, maximizing referral programs, smart ad buying, and early monetization—you can replicate our newsletter’s rapid growth and profitability. Each element (Boosts, SparkLoop, ads, product) played a role, but together they created a powerful flywheel. Use this playbook as your roadmap. With consistent execution, you too can build a newsletter that pays you back many times over in just a few months.