How do I renew newsletter sponsors and raise my prices?
Short answer
Sell renewals on exclusivity. Give partners first right of refusal, and remind them that next year, with a bigger audience, renewing is how they keep a competitor out, maybe at up to a 20% increase. Raise prices as you grow. If buyers keep asking for annual contracts or never push back, you're underpriced.
Renewals are where newsletter sponsorships get easy, if you set them up right on the first sale.
How do I set up a sponsor to renew?
- Sell a term, not a one-off. One ad has very low odds of working for a brand-awareness buyer. A longer commitment is better for them too.
- Make it exclusive. One partner per category per year.
- Add first right of refusal. They get the first chance to renew before anyone else gets an offer.
What's the renewal pitch?
Year two is about locking out the competition. My pitch to a roofer:
"Right now you don't care if your roofing competitor gets it, but when I have 15,000 and the whole town is talking about it next year, your competitor cannot get it because you're just gonna pay me again, maybe up to a 20% increase, and you're locking your competitor out."
The audience grew, so the price grows. The alternative for them is watching their rival take the spot.
Can I keep raising prices?
Yes. My comparison is always Disneyland. People complain the price is so high, but attendance isn't really going down. If what you deliver keeps getting better, the price can keep going up.
How do I know I'm underpriced?
Watch for these signals:
- Buyers ask for annual contracts. An Instagram-first guest on my podcast charges $650 for an event post and $1,500 for a bigger package, and thinks he's underpriced because buyers keep asking for annual deals.
- Nobody pushes back. A client of my newsletter-building tool didn't push back on paying more than expected, and an industry consultant told me to charge at least a $10,000 setup fee for a local-media ad platform. I read both as proof I was underpriced.
- Big prospects hesitate. For large organizations, a price that's too low kills deals. Check that before you assume it's too high.
- Competitors charge far more. A B2B newsletter agency charges $3,000 to $11,000 a month with no growth services, and some of its clients have under 500 subscribers.
What should I avoid when renewing?
Taking a sponsor who hurts the reader experience just to fill a slot. Short term, it would make more money. Long term, it hurts the business and your ability to make legit money. A guest on my podcast said he'd turn down a $10,000 deal that disrupts his subscribers. Long-term thinking pays off better.
Answered by TJ Larkin. From Local Media HQ podcast conversations and operations calls in 2025 and 2026. Last updated .