How #1 NYT Bestselling author Mark Manson uses the Kit Sponsor Network to make $15k a month directly from his newsletter

Mark Manson is a three-time #1 New York Times bestselling author of books like The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, and his books have sold around 20 million copies.

Those book sales made up a good portion of his income. The rest came from monetizing his website… until recently.

The challenge: When a revenue source suddenly drops due to outside forces

The internet gives creators the opportunity to make money in a variety of ways, but those ways aren’t always consistent over time. As the internet evolves, so must monetization strategy.

Times have changed. Audience engagement exists far less on websites and is now primarily through email and social media.

I realized I needed to start pivoting my business to monetizing through email and social directly.

Mark has had a weekly newsletter, Your Next Breakthrough, since 2019, but he didn’t think of it as a way to monetize or introduce sponsorships. As with most newsletters, it was a way to connect and build a deeper relationship with his audience, and he did that well.

But when he decided to pivot, he wondered if sponsors could be an addition to his newsletter the same way they are on podcasts or YouTube channels. Many other creators are using this strategy, but he was hesitant. Was it worth the risk of alienating his loyal readers?

I was anti-ad for many years, but that changed.

The solution: Adding newsletter sponsors with the Kit Sponsor Network

Mark already used Kit to connect with the 656K+ people on his email list.

So when he heard about how the Kit Sponsor Network could be a way to turn your email newsletter into an income stream the same way creators do on YouTube and podcasts, he thought he should at least give it a try.

Especially when he learned that Kit would do a lot of the work for him: all of the sales, reporting, payments, negotiations, and logistics that go into managing brand partnerships.

It wouldn’t take a huge amount of extra time from him, so he thought he should try it. He was still nervous, but it turned out none of his fears came true.

I had an irrational fear that my readers would get pissed off at me if I put an ad in an email. But they didn’t.

No one got angry. Many of them clicked on his ads. And his 60% open rate stayed the same.

The strategy: Curating sponsors that align with your brand

While the Kit sponsor team does the work of sourcing brand sponsorships, Mark is the one who makes the final decision on which ones to accept and when and where to include them.

He accepts about two sponsors a month, carefully selecting only brands he aligns with and, when possible, ones he uses himself.

It has to be a product that I genuinely believe will add value to my audiences’ lives. I think if you’re selective about which brands you work with and really care about the product, your readers appreciate it.

He also keeps his email design streamlined and minimalist, folding his brand sponsorships easily into his existing structure.

Mark’s top-performing sponsorships also tend to be the ones most aligned with his interests.

LMNT did well and that was probably because I’ve used the product for a long time and am a big fan of it.

The result: $15k passive income per month from his newsletter alone

Mark generates an average of $15k per month from brand sponsorships, and after the initial onboarding process, he only spends a few minutes each week to keep this new income stream going.

It’s easy. Brand deals come to you. There’s little to no back and forth. No headaches or long email chains.

The Kit team has been great. Onboarding was pretty seamless. I probably spend only a few minutes each week on it.

And when it comes to his initial fears about adding sponsorships to his emails, he says a little cheekily to himself:

Silly Markus. It hasn’t really affected anything. People have enjoyed the recommendations, and I’m making $10k-15k per month.