In this video, I break down why so many people hesitate to start a newsletter— and why that fear once held me back too. You’ll learn the biggest advantages of launching one, from owning your audience to building a scalable, high-profit media business with multiple revenue streams. I also share my full journey, including early failures, the lessons that changed everything, and how my newsletter eventually grew to 50,000+ subscribers and a multimillion-dollar business. By the end, you’ll understand not only why a newsletter can transform your income, but also how it accelerates your skills, opportunities, and long-term growth—no matter your starting point.

FREE Guide: How to get your first 1000 newsletter subscribers in 30 days >>

Timestamps:
00:00 Overcoming the Fear of Starting a Newsletter
00:55 The Value of Owning Your Audience
04:03 Low Startup Costs + Big Income Potential
07:31 Scalability and Major Business Potential
09:18 Multiple Revenue Streams You Can Build
12:02 Building Skills Through Publishing
15:07 The Right Motivation for Starting a Newsletter
18:45 Personal Journey, Failures & Lessons Learned
22:05 Taking Action: Launching Your Newsletter

In this Q&A, we discuss the future of media and why newsletters, YouTube, and podcasts will dominate. Matt shares his MAGIC Framework for converting social followers into email subscribers. We discuss Beehiiv’s newest features, including dynamic content, native analytics, and its ad network. The Q&A also covers paywalls, reader behavior shifts, and the biggest newsletter design mistakes. Finally, Matt explains how to know when you’ve hit content–market fit and when to use paid acquisition.

FREE Guide: How to get your first 1000 newsletter subscribers in 30 days >>

Timestamps & Questions:
00:00 Introduction
00:48 What do you think the future of media will look like?
04:39 How do you drive traffic from a discovery platform to your newsletter?
11:01 How do you recommend utilizing paywalls and gated content?
13:29 What’s the best new Beehiiv feature for smaller creators?
16:05 How do you know a discovery platform is working?
16:53 How should you utilize dynamic content?
19:08 Should Beehiiv integrate better with Shopify?
20:00 Does this put pressure on Kit and Substack to evolve?
22:03 What’s the most underrated moat a newsletter can have?
23:12 How will reader behavior change overtime?
25:01 How will B2B newsletter evolve?
26:38 Advice for someone sitting on an idea for 6 months?
28:32 How do you know when you have audience market fit?
30:04 When should you run paid ads?
31:53 What are the biggest design mistakes you see?

In this episode, I unveil the vision behind the new New Media Summit—our upcoming 2026 conference focused on the future of media—and how we’re leveling it up with bigger speakers, more actionable sessions, and better networking. I also share why I’m shifting to a YouTube-first content strategy in 2025, how weekly Q&A episodes fit into that plan, and why newsletters remain the backbone of our business and monetization.

New Media Summit

FREE Guide: How to get your first 1000 newsletter subscribers in 30 days >>

Timestamps:

00:00 Podcast Direction & Content Strategy
02:21 Introducing New Media Summit
04:38 What You Can Expect This Year
06:46 Networking, Community, and Venue Experience
08:35 Our Commitment to Quality