How to Structure Your Newsletter Ads (Without Losing Your Mind)

If you're running a local newsletter, chances are you’ve asked yourself the million-dollar question: How the heck do I sell more ads without annoying my readers or cluttering up the whole thing?

Landon from Wichita Life has a refreshingly smart (and simple) answer: tiered ad slots.

He doesn't just wing it—he’s got a repeatable format that lets him manage multiple sponsors per issue, keep content clean, and create natural upsells. It's a system anyone can copy.

The Three Ad Tiers That Work

Landon breaks his newsletter ads into three types: Primary, Secondary, and Baseline. Each one serves a slightly different purpose and price point.

• Primary Ad: This is the star of the show. Right at the top, below the title. It comes with a clickable logo and a short paragraph-style ad with an image or GIF. As Landon put it, "There’s no way [readers] are not seeing that logo."

• Secondary Ad: Same general format as the primary—text, image, links—but it shows up further down. It’s priced lower but still has solid visibility.

• Baseline Ad: The minimalist option. A couple of sentences with a link, no image. These live at the bottom and don’t take up much real estate. Landon calls them "gravy"—easy to drop in and still bring in a few hundred bucks.

This structure helps him create sponsorship options at different price points without changing the layout of the newsletter every time.

More Editions = More Ad Slots

Here's the clever part. Landon started out publishing twice a week. But over time, as interest in ad slots increased, he added more editions—not just for content purposes, but to unlock more ad inventory.

He now publishes four times a week. That gives him 16 primary ad spots per month. When one of them doesn’t sell? No problem—he just bumps up a secondary sponsor or plugs in his own offer (like his job board). It’s a win-win.

Built-in Flexibility for Last-Minute Shuffles

Not every advertiser moves fast. Landon works with companies that have multi-step approval processes, and sometimes the final copy doesn’t come in until a day before publishing.

That’s where his tiered ad system really shines. Because he’s got extra slots and wiggle room, he can bump sponsors around without having to panic. He even uses empty slots to plug his own promotions or service offers.

It’s a model that’s scalable but doesn’t rely on every day being sold out.

What Should You Charge?

Landon didn’t share exact rates, but he did note that Primary slots are priced around 25% higher than Secondary ones. Baseline ads are just cheap add-ons—perfect for small local businesses that want visibility without a big budget.

He often sells Primary slots in two-packs per month, creating recurring relationships with advertisers like the City of Wichita and medical clinics. And he’s always nudging long-term partners to renew or step up.

Pro Tips for Managing the Ad Load

Even with multiple slots and a fast-moving ad calendar, Landon keeps things streamlined:

• Copy/paste-friendly formats: Most of his ads are simple blocks of text and images that are easy to plug in.

• Recurring deals: Many of his sponsors run on monthly or quarterly plans, so he doesn’t have to resell every slot every week.

• No bloat: He limits each issue to ~1,500 words max so emails don’t get clipped or trigger deliverability issues.

What You Can Steal from This

If you’re trying to monetize your newsletter but getting stuck with pricing or placement, take a page from Landon’s playbook:

• Start with one or two ad tiers.

• Create scarcity (limited slots per week).

• Add inventory by publishing more frequently.

• Use unfilled slots for your own stuff (or free community promos).

• Keep ad formats consistent to save time and reduce errors.

Newsletter ads don’t have to be complicated. With a smart structure and a little flexibility, you can grow revenue without growing stress.

How I Can Help You Succeed

Before we dive into this week's insights, I want to make sure you know about all the resources available to support your local newsletter journey:

🎙️ The Podcast - Deep-dive conversations with successful newsletter operators sharing their playbooks and lessons learned | Link

📧 This Weekly Newsletter - Quick, actionable tips delivered straight to your inbox every week | Link

🧠 1:1 Consulting - Personalized guidance tailored to your specific newsletter challenges Link

🚀 Launch Accelerator - A structured program to help you go from idea to profitable newsletter in record time | Link

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