So you want to launch a Substack newsletter that actually makes money?
I get it. The dream of building recurring revenue while sharing your expertise is intoxicating.
But here’s the brutal truth: 90% of newsletters die within their first 6 months because creators pick the wrong niche from day one.
Not that their writing is bad. Not that they’re not consistent. But simply because they’ve built their newsletter strategy on the completely wrong foundations.
I’ve been making a full-time living online since 2014, and I’ve watched countless smart people crash and burn with their newsletters.
Most people obsess over design templates, email sequences, and growth hacks while completely ignoring the most critical decision: what the hell to write about, and who the hell they’re writing for.
Let me show you 5 proven strategies to find a newsletter niche that could pull in $2-5K monthly recurring revenue within a the next 12-24 months:
Find a topic that keeps you up at night
Everyone preaches “follow your passion,” but that advice will kill your newsletter faster than a spam filter.
What you need isn’t passion—it’s obsession.
I see many writers struggle with consistency. But consistency is a byproduct of you being obsessed about what you’re doing.
So instead of being a lazy dumbass searching for AI prompts, templates, and God knows what else…
Start by finding something that lights fire under your butt.
If you’re not willing to think, talk, and breathe your niche for the next 500+ days straight, pick something else.
Your future self will thank you when you’re still excited to hit “publish” on issue #73.
The beautiful thing about obsession is that it naturally leads to expertise.
When you’re truly obsessed, you’ve probably already consumed more content on that topic than 95% of the population.
Stop writing to a broke audience
This might sting, but it’s a lesson that cost me years of my life.
When I first started creating online content, I made the mistake of targetting people who don’t had enough money to spend.
The harsh math of newsletter economics: selling to people without disposable income = staying broke yourself.
Substack’s subscription model makes this even more critical than traditional blogging. You’re not just asking for a one-time purchase or ad click. You’re asking people to commit $5-50 monthly for ongoing access to your content.
This changes everything about niche selection.
Your audience needs to already be spending money on solutions to their problems. They need to see value in ongoing education, insights, or entertainment.
Ask yourself: “Does my target audience regularly pay for subscriptions, courses, or premium content?”
If you’re targeting penny-pinching college students, cash-strapped SMEs, or people in financial crisis, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
Instead, look for audiences that already demonstrate subscription behavior:
- Professionals investing in career advancement
- Business owners seeking operational improvements
- Investors researching market opportunities
- Health-conscious individuals optimizing performance
These groups understand that quality information has value and are willing to pay for it monthly.
Target a broad enough audience (Substack isn’t specialized yet)
Here’s where newsletter strategy differs dramatically from blog SEO.
With blogs, you niche down as far as possible. “Keto recipes for busy moms with thyroid issues” can work because Google’s algorithm helps the right people find you.
Substack works differently.
The platform is still relatively new, and its discovery mechanisms aren’t as sophisticated as Google’s.
Most newsletter growth happens through word-of-mouth, social sharing, and cross-promotion with other creators.
This means you need a broader addressable market to achieve meaningful scale.
The sweet spot is being specific enough to establish clear expertise while staying broad enough for substantial growth potential.
Instead of “retirement planning for teachers in Texas,” try “building wealth on a teacher’s salary.”
Instead of “email marketing for SaaS companies under $1M ARR,” try “bootstrapped business growth strategies.”
You want to be the go-to expert in a space that hundreds of thousands of people care about, not hundreds.
Think of it as finding the intersection between specificity and scale. Specific enough that people see you as an authority, broad enough that your total addressable audience can support a profitable newsletter.
Find successful newsletters targeting your same audience
Competition isn’t your enemy—it’s your market validation.
If nobody on Substack writes about the topic you want to write about, it’s probably a bad idea.
First, find Subtack newsletter niches where there’s proven demand. Ideally, other Substack bestsellers (look for the right orange checkmark.)
Second, there’s always room for differentiation. What could you do differently?
Your research process should look like this:
Search Substack directly for your niche keywords. Look at subscriber counts, posting frequency, and engagement levels in the comments.
Check their pricing tiers. If multiple newsletters are charging $10-50 monthly in your space, that’s a green flag.
Read their most popular issues. What topics resonate? What problems are they solving?
Join their free newsletters. Study their writing style, content structure, and call-to-actions.
Look for gaps or angles they’re not covering. Maybe they focus on theory while you could focus on implementation. Maybe they target beginners while you could serve intermediate practitioners.
The goal isn’t to copy—it’s to find your unique positioning within a proven market.
Use the “recurring value test” to confirm your niche
Here’s the make-or-break question that separates profitable newsletters from expensive hobbies:
“Why would someone pay me monthly instead of just reading free content online?”
Blogs inform. Newsletters transform.
Your newsletter needs to provide ongoing value that justifies a recurring subscription. One-time insights aren’t enough. You need to deliver continuous transformation, ongoing updates, or progressive education.
There are three types of recurring value that work consistently on Substack:
Curation and synthesis. You filter through massive amounts of information to deliver the most important insights. Think Morning Brew distilling business news or The Hustle curating startup trends.
Progressive education. You’re teaching a skill or building knowledge over time. Each issue builds on the previous one, creating a learning journey subscribers don’t want to interrupt.
Ongoing analysis and prediction. You’re providing regular commentary on evolving situations. Market analysis, industry trends, or cultural observations that help subscribers navigate changing landscapes.
Your niche needs to naturally support one of these value types.
If you’re thinking about launching a “cooking tips” newsletter, ask yourself: what ongoing value are you providing that justifies monthly payment? Are you teaching progressive cooking skills? Curating the best recipes from across the internet? Providing ongoing analysis of food trends?
Without clear recurring value, you’re just another content creator hoping people will pay out of kindness. That’s not a business model.
Test your niche against this framework before you write your first issue. If you can’t articulate why someone would pay you monthly for 12+ months straight, keep refining your angle.
The harsh reality most creators ignore
I’ve laid out the roadmap, but here’s what will actually happen:
Most people will skip the research phase and jump straight into writing because validation feels like work and writing feels like progress.
They’ll pick a niche based on gut feeling rather than market reality.
They’ll launch with enthusiasm, hit a wall around issue #10, and quietly abandon their newsletter when the initial excitement wears off.
Don’t be most people.
Spend a full week researching before you write a single word. Study your competition. Validate your audience’s spending habits. Confirm your obsession level.
Building a profitable newsletter isn’t about finding the “perfect” niche—it’s about finding a profitable niche you can stick with when the novelty fades and the work gets hard.
The creators making $5K+ monthly from their newsletters aren’t necessarily the most talented writers. They’re the ones who did their homework upfront and picked niches with proven demand, paying audiences, and sustainable recurring value.
Your future self—the one collecting subscription payments 18 months from now—will thank you for putting in the research work today.
Start with validation, not inspiration. The market doesn’t care about your brilliant ideas until you prove people will pay for them.