Before we dive into the nuts and bolts, let me be brutally honest: if you think you’re going to jump into local newsletters and make quick money because you’ve figured out Facebook ads, think again. This business is significantly more complex than most people realize, and selling ads for local newsletters is extremely difficult.
That said, if you’re willing to put in the work and understand what you’re getting into, the potential is enormous. Our newsletters consistently achieve engagement rates that blow away almost any other email newsletter out there—but that high engagement comes at the cost of significantly more work.
Table of Contents
Components
Let me walk you through what a typical newsletter looks like, because understanding the content is crucial to understanding the workload.
- The Editorial Section: We start with a personal touch—either my wife or one of our partners writes about what’s happening in their week. Maybe they went to a new restaurant and share photos, or they talk about a community event they attended. This shows readers that we’re active members of the community, not just outside observers.
- Featured Event: We highlight one standout event each week. If readers only have time for one thing, this is what we recommend. Eventually, we plan to charge businesses for this prime placement.
- News: We cover local news that actually affects daily life, but we avoid politics and crime. We focus on things like infrastructure projects, new business openings, or community developments that people genuinely care about.
- Business and Restaurant Features: We spotlight local establishments, giving readers a reason to explore places they might not know about.
- Real Estate: This is bigger than you might expect. We feature both regular homes and one luxury property each week. People love looking at those $15 million mansions, even if they’re not buying.
- Events: This is the heart of what people really want. We scour dozens of websites and platforms to find every relevant event, then curate the best 20 or so and categorize them into family events and adult events.
- Community Sections: We’re expanding into volunteer opportunities and planning a “pet of the week” adoption feature.
Research
Here’s what most people don’t realize: finding all this information is incredibly time-consuming. Event listings are scattered across countless websites, Facebook pages, Instagram accounts, local news sites, and event platforms. There’s no central repository.
We have team members who spend their days constantly searching all these sources. It’s detective work, really. And as we scale to multiple newsletters updating multiple times per week, this becomes exponentially more complex.
Currently, we can’t rely much on AI for this work. Maybe that’ll change in the future, but right now, it requires human research and curation.
Quality Assurance
Every newsletter contains 50 to 75 links. Every single one needs to work correctly. Every piece of information needs to be accurate. Every business name, address, and detail needs to be perfect.
My wife currently spends over 30 hours a week, with about 75% of that time dedicated to quality assurance. She’s essentially the final checkpoint before anything goes out to thousands of subscribers.
We learned this lesson the hard way when we said a building was “remodeled” instead of “built from scratch.” Within hours, we had emails from upset readers correcting us. When you’re dealing with local community members, they notice everything and they’re not shy about pointing out mistakes.
As we scale with InboxScoop, we’re planning to hire dedicated QA staff so that by the time content reaches the final review, it’s already 99% perfect instead of the current 80%.
Team Structure and Scaling
Right now, for our existing newsletters (which publish weekly), we’re planning to have one person handle two newsletters. That gives them two and a half days per newsletter, which should be manageable since it includes not just the newsletter creation but also social media content.
When we launch InboxScoop’s multiple locations, the structure will be:
- One person per two newsletters
- One QA manager overseeing all content
- Final review by an experienced editor
- Eventually, dedicated video content creators for social media
The goal is to move beyond basic Canva graphics to custom video content filmed around town. That’s what will really set us apart and drive organic growth through social sharing.
Platform and Technical Side
We use Beehive for our newsletter platform, which offers incredible customization options for how newsletters look and function. But with great power comes great complexity—there are so many variables to manage for links, formatting, and design.
Every newsletter requires extensive testing before it goes out. With multiple newsletters across different locations, this becomes a significant operational challenge.
Growth Strategy and Monetization
We grow primarily through paid Facebook advertising rather than relying solely on word of mouth. The goal is to hit 10,000 subscribers as quickly as possible—ideally within the first three to six months. That’s when you start getting more local impressions than almost any other source.
Three of our four current newsletters are at or near 10,000 subscribers. Getting from zero to 10,000 is actually easier than going from 10,000 to 20,000, so that first milestone is crucial.
For monetization, advertising is the primary revenue stream, but we’re developing a premium tier that will offer local discounts and deals. If we can save subscribers $500 annually through exclusive deals, a $50 yearly membership becomes a no-brainer.
Frequency
We start with weekly newsletters, but the goal is to eventually publish daily. More frequency means more ad slots and staying more top-of-mind with readers. However, scaling to daily publication across multiple locations with our quality standards is going to require significant infrastructure investment.
Conclusion
Despite all these challenges, local newsletters work because they solve a real problem. People want to know what’s happening in their immediate community, but the information is scattered and hard to find. We’re essentially doing the research work that every resident would otherwise have to do themselves.
The engagement rates prove it—people genuinely value this service. And in suburban markets, we’re often the only source providing this level of curation and community focus.
The business is complex, labor-intensive, and requires significant attention to detail. But when you get it right, you become an indispensable part of people’s weekly routine and the go-to source for community information. That’s a powerful position to be in.