Is a B2B newsletter for local business owners worth starting?
Short answer
Yes, especially if you already have a coaching or services business to sell into that audience. A Meta ad targeting local business owners doing $1M+ landed three qualified leads quickly in a test market, and a podcast guest running a B2B newsletter plus cohorts told me he makes roughly $150,000 to $200,000 a year.
A Meta ad aimed at local business owners doing over $1 million a year, replicated in another market by a 21-year-old operator, landed three qualified leads quickly. One was a Shark Tank alum. That's the kind of reader a B2B local newsletter is built to reach.
Why go B2B instead of a regular local newsletter?
Each reader is worth more. A regular local reader is worth far less per impression than a B2B reader, which is why national B2B newsletters can live off the newsletter alone.
A guest on my podcast co-founded a B2B newsletter in Austin. He told me he makes roughly $150,000 to $200,000 a year from the newsletter plus cohorts, and he's not maximizing it.
Who should start one?
It's strongest if you already have a back end to sell: coaching, consulting, an agency, financial services. The newsletter builds the relationship and your other business closes the deal. See the service-business model.
Who sponsors a local business newsletter?
- Independent insurance agents selling commercial lines. Their whole book runs on business-owner networks, which makes them ideal sponsors or partners.
- High-spend local businesses where $2,000 a month is a rounding error and the real purchase is community influence.
- Nonprofits with more money than clear places to spend it.
- Chambers of commerce, though they're slow: their budgets lock a year in advance.
How do I structure the brand?
Build the business brand at the regional level. I told an operator in Southern California not to start a business brand for his small town. The business brand should cover the whole region, as a sub-publication under the regional umbrella.
What should I test first?
- Run a Meta ad aimed at local business owners above a revenue line, like the $1M+ ad above.
- Test a variant that says it's for local business owners only.
- Line up a back end before you scale, so qualified leads have somewhere to go.
The only brand I want to be the face of is my business-facing one, not the local consumer newsletters.
Answered by TJ Larkin. From strategy calls and Local Media HQ podcast conversations in 2025 and 2026. Last updated .