Your Once-a-Week Newsletter Is Leaving Money on the Table

Billy Howell made a huge mistake with his Arlington Bagel newsletter for the first few months. If you're still sending just once a week, you might be making the same one.

When he launched his local newsletter, Billy was obsessed with creating the perfect weekly edition. He'd spend hours crafting content, formatting it just right, and making sure everything was polished. The thought of doing this multiple times per week seemed impossible. But after looking at the numbers and talking with publishers who've scaled up, he's completely changing his approach.

Let's cut straight to it: more sending days equals more ad inventory. If you're in this to build a sustainable business (and who isn't?), the math is brutally simple.

With one weekly newsletter, you've got 4-12 ad slots per month to sell. Bump that to three newsletters a week, and suddenly you're looking at 12-36 slots. Literally 3x-ing the ad revenue opportunity.

Here's what Billy realized: adding more sending days doesn't mean repeating the same formula. It means creating distinct "personalities" for each day:

Each edition serves a different purpose and attracts different advertiser categories. His restaurant-focused edition appeals to food and beverage sponsors, while community spotlights could attract local service businesses.

When I asked Billy about the workload, he was quick to point out that it's not about working harder – it's establishing formats and templates that make additional editions manageable. Create consistent sections that readers expect, which makes gathering content more systematic.

For example, his Thursday newsletter always follows the same format:

With that structure locked in, he can fill it in much more efficiently than starting from scratch each time.

Another breakthrough Billy shared was realizing he doesn't have to personally write every word. He's already working with writers who help gather content based on his sources and templates:

These partnerships reduce his workload while maintaining the newsletter's distinctive voice and quality.

If you're still sending once a week, here's how Billy would recommend experimenting with additional sends:

This isn't just about monetization. Billy points out that readers actually appreciate more frequent, focused content over one massive weekly dump of information. It helps them plan better and creates more touchpoints with your brand.

He was initially hesitant about "bothering" subscribers with more emails, but the data shows they want more – especially when each send has a clear purpose and value proposition.

Billy challenges you to launch your second newsletter edition within the next two weeks. Start by brainstorming three distinct content themes that would appeal to your audience. Then, create a simple template and schedule your first test send. Share your progress and results in the comments below! Let's build a community of newsletter creators who are maximizing their potential.

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

Subscribe to our newsletter.

Discover all these resources and more at localnewsletterinsider.com