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Why Joël Collin-Demers Switched From Substack to beehiiv
Learn the Secrets Behind Building a Niche Audience in 2025
Kanishka & Brandon Storey
March 5th, 2025
“The riches are in the niches.”
Have you ever heard that quote?
While some people flippantly throw it around (not really knowing what it means), it couldn’t be more true in 2025. You see, in today’s day and age, the digital landscape has become more competitive.
New businesses and creators are popping up in every space, crowding the marketplace.
So what do you do to compete nowadays? You create your own path, your own niche, and become the market leader. That’s exactly what Joël Collin-Demers is doing with his beehiiv newsletter, Pure Procurement.
Table of Contents
Meet Joël Collin-Demers, the founder of Pure Procurement:
Every week, Collin-Demers publishes his niche newsletter to a 10,000+ highly engaged subscribers to help them get the most out of technology in order to optimize their business.
In the newsletter, subscribers get best practices, trends, and the latest happenings in the procurement technology space.
Now, let’s dive into how Collin-Demers crafted a newsletter to turn himself into the authority in the procurement technology space.
The Collin-Demers Backstory
Joël Collin-Demers is the head editor and author of The Pure Procurement Newsletter. He also runs a solo consulting practice.
His focus is on helping digitally minded procurement professionals and organizations learn how to correctly leverage procurement technology to get business results (because there’s a lot of ways to mess up!)
As Collin-Demers puts it:
From Business School to Corporate Success to Newsletter
Now, let’s go back in time to 2012 when Collin-Demers graduated from business school to venture off into his career.
He shared, “I've been implementing procurement technology in large organizations for 13 years, so it's my entire career. That’s what I studied in business school —Information System Management.”
Right after university, Collin-Demers got hired by a large consulting firm implementing SAP (an enterprise software used by the largest and most complex businesses in the world), but he felt that the typical procurement team needed more digital skills to get the most value possible out of the system. Furthermore, SAP did not support everything procurement teams needed to achieve their business objectives.
Six years ago, in 2019, he decided to launch his solo consulting firm to help organizations develop and execute on digital procurement roadmaps. Concretely, this means helping them select and implement procurement software to manage sourcing, contracts, orders, payments and manage supplier performance.
Collin-Demers shared, “I went out on my own because I wanted to be the “right-hand technology man” to the chief procurement officer (CPO) and procurement organizations in large enterprises.”
Collin-Demers soon realized that most of these procurement organizations had the software, but not the knowledge or skills to be successful with it, so he decided to pivot a large portion of his business to educating his clients alongside his consulting.
“I found that there were a ton of “informational gatekeepers” in our industry. Knowledge was hidden behind huge consulting fees or expensive paywalls… I wanted to share the knowledge you need to be successful with anyone who wants it… For Free.” explained Collin-Demers – and, so, The Pure Procurement Newsletter was born.
The Reverse Funnel & Tapping Into Early Growth
Collin-Demers didn’t start as a content creator who later monetized via products and services. He started as a consultant who later turned into a content creator.
He shared, “A lot of people start with ‘I'm going to build a funnel, and I'm going to start at the top of the funnel and then eventually get to bottom of the funnel offerings.’ Whereas, for me, it was the opposite. I had a bottom-of-the-funnel offering with my consulting practice, and I built out the top of the funnel as a goal in and of itself, which was to get people access to this information.”
Because Collin-Demers had deep expertise in his field, he had a head start. Next, all he had to do was to start writing and get the word out.
Collin-Demers expressed how a lot of creators are shy when it comes to promoting their newsletter, but this is a big mistake.
He shared, “I think everyone who is trying to build a newsletter or build an audience in general should not be shy to talk about what they're doing… With literally everybody. I always sarcastically say I'm super fun at parties because I talk to you about procurement technology... But seriously, I'm always talking about the topic.”
Collin-Demers explained that if you’re unsure of what kind of topic you want your newsletter to be about, just look at what you already love talking about.
He explained, “Whatever topic you're obsessed with is a good topic for a newsletter because you're going to be talking about it all the time in the newsletter…But… You should all also be talking about your newsletter all the time as the way you're sharing that knowledge.”
The Progression: From WordPress to LinkedIn to Substack
Long before he started his newsletter, Collin-Demers started his own website to publish blog posts and articles.
He shared, “Five years ago, I started posting articles on my WordPress site and tried optimize for SEO. But since it's very niche content, you're never going to get these huge volumes of search traffic. And so, I started experimenting with posting the articles on LinkedIn directly and getting engagement that way, so posting on LinkedIn was always kind of in my habits.”
After Collin-Demers posted on LinkedIn for some time, he launched on Substack.
He recalled, “I experimented with Substack for a little while because it was free to get on the platform, and they had a very good presence at the time — but that was about 2-3 years ago.”
Collin-Demers continued, “I went to Substack because it was easy, and other people in my network who were using it. So for me, it was, ‘Let’s just get this ball rolling, and we can question ourselves later.’ And as it started rolling, I was fine tuning what would help me reach my objectives… If I have the habit of creating content consistently, which is the hardest part, what’s going to help me best reach my objectives?”
Why Collin-Demers Switched From Substack to beehiiv
Collin-Demers eventually left Substack for beehiiv after some time as he grew in his email marketing knowledge.
“I was in the habit of creating content and sharing ideas. I changed from WordPress to Substack, and then I switched from Substack to beehiiv based on studying email marketing, studying copywriting, studying how other people in other domains run newsletters, and seeing what could work for me. Focused experimentation was, and remains, the key” shared Collin-Demers
He explained that beehiiv gave him almost all of tools he needed to support his content creation journey.
But that’s not the only reason he switched to beehiiv. Collin-Demers shared how the culture at beehiiv resonated with him personally.
He explained, “It was just the vibe as well. The culture matched with my kind of scrappy, one-man band operation where it's really all about shipping the content every week and being consistent. I found my home at beehiiv because of the culture and the alignment with values and work ethic.”
Collin-Demers continued, “I was looking at ConvertKit, beehiiv, MailerLite, and all of these other platforms, and I was getting a sense for which one aligned most with me based on culture, objectives, functionalities, and price point. And, very quickly, I was drawn to beehiiv because of those things.”
Collin-Demers didn’t start with a newsletter. He started with blog posts, then LinkedIn posts, and later added the newsletter. He’s always looked at his newsletter, not as a siloed operation, but as one part of his entire brand ecosystem.
So he’s always looked for ways to connect his different channels to create a cohesive experience.
Collin-Demers shared, “As part of trying to drive traffic to the subscriber base from social media, one of the things I came up with on a whim was ‘March Madness’ but for procurement technology. So essentially, I ran an event on LinkedIn that's a bracket tournament. I put different technology providers in, and people on LinkedIn vote for their favorite solution.”
Not only does this annual event create general awareness for his brand on social media, but Collin-Demers also leverages it to help his industry grow.
He shared, “I got this ridiculous trophy manufactured for the tournament. It goes to the winners by mail. I send it to their head office and they have to forward it on to the following year’s winners. We have a lot of fun with it. So I’ve grown these other things that are associated with the newsletter but aren't directly the newsletter. My objectives have shifted to growing the overall “ProcureTech ecosystem” as well as my audience.”
We asked Collin-Demers to share what kind of personal success he’s experienced from having a newsletter, and he was quick to give an answer.
He shared, “I always try to measure success with three questions — and this is based on a Daniel Pink book: ‘Am I growing my autonomy? Am I growing my mastery? And am I growing my sense of purpose?’ If I'm doing those three things, then I'm heading in the right direction.”
Collin-Demers broke it down, “So autonomy is being able to decide what you want to work on at any given point in time. Mastery: Do I feel like every year the lessons I'm sharing or the information I'm able to share is of a higher quality, a higher depth, higher granularity (in terms of the topic of procurement technology and how to use it to generate impact in your organization).”
And finally, he shared, “Purpose: Am I having a positive impact on the procurement technology space, and is that increasing over time? And thankfully, the answer to all three of those gets a ‘yes’ from me, so that's the real win.”
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Favorite beehiiv Features: Frequent Updates, Website Builder
Collin-Demers shared how his experience with beehiiv has been great so far, so we asked him what his favorite features of the platform are.
He shared, “One of the things that resonates a lot with me is how beehiiv ships new product updates every week. As newsletter producers, that's what we're doing ourselves with content.”
He explained, “One week I mentioned, ‘It would be great to have x functionality,’ and then on Thursday there’s a product release and bam! That was released. Having a couple of those moments was pretty cool.”
Collin-Demers continued, “Understanding clearly where beehiiv is heading, having it aligned with where I want to go, and knowing that if I have to wait for certain functionalities I won't have to wait that long is great.”
Another favorite feature of his is the website builder.
He shared, “I still have that WordPress website from the early days. I'd like to be able to have one place where I can host my website, do the newsletter, and have it all integrated. The fact that it's no code is really interesting from a website-building standpoint.”
In the future, Collin-Demers wants to continue fortifying his ecosystem by leveraging beehiiv as a “one-stop-shop” as a creator. He shared, “Any functionality that brings me closer to that dream is really cool.”
Collin-Demers continued to list off several other features including analytics, and recommendations and design.
He shared, “They're all little pieces, but when combined together they give you a pretty decent return on investment in terms of being able to do everything your need in one spot.”
“Because of how niche my topic is, I don't use many Boosts or I don't use the Ad Network that much, but I know that those things are there, contributing a little bit. So whether I have empty ad inventory or whether I'm getting a bit of recommendations through Boosts, those are all things that are working for me in the background,” Collin-Demers continued.
Monetizing With beehiiv
We asked Collin-Demers how monetization has been on beehiiv so far.
He shared, “I've been able to monetize the newsletter stream of my business on top of consulting fairly well, and that would not have happened otherwise. It’s allowed me to experiment with a number of different monetization strategies, whether it was paid subscriptions, whether it was the Ad Network, or whether it's Boosts.”
Collin-Demers explained, “So I've monetized a little bit through beehiiv and a lot outside beehiiv, but experimenting with the beehiiv tools is what allowed me to unlock the thought processes to monetize the audience in other ways.”
As his newsletter grew, brands started reaching out to him asking to advertise in his publication.
Collin-Demers shared, “The biggest piece where I've been able to monetize the newsletter is partnerships with a few procurement technology partners where values and objectives are aligned. They want to see procurement professionals have a higher digital literacy as well, but they don't want to have their hands in what I'm doing on a day-to-day basis.”
He explained, “They just want to be associated with the mission and the knowledge without needing to have editorial overview over the content. They've allowed me to put my best quality writing in front of the user base, while using their platforms as examples. And often, they're products that I've used myself or that I've implemented with clients. So it’s been a symbiotic relationship in that sense.”
Collin-Demers shared how creating custom offers and bundled packages is the key to securing great brand partnership deals.
He explained, “I didn't want to sell single ads because that was a lot of work for not a lot of benefits for anyone involved. So, I started building packages for partners where I said you're going to get ads as part of that, but you're also getting webinars, newsletter features, events, deep dive articles, etc.”
Collin-Demers mentioned how you should always ask yourself, “How do you build a package and sell it once, instead of having to sell all of the pieces of that package one by one?”
Collin-Demers went on to share how there are endless revenue opportunities available with a newsletter.
He shared, “The consulting business is still a large part of my revenue. So I always say I have ‘media revenue,’ and I have ‘consulting revenue’ as well.”
Ask Your Audience What They Want to Pay For
Collin-Demers explained how a lot of his monetization strategy includes asking his audience what they want.
He shared, “So you’ve gotta ask yourself, ‘What are the downstream things that you could get your audience involved with, that are value-add for them and that they'd be willing to pay for?’”
Collin-Demers leverages surveys and beehiiv polls to help him find what he should offer.
He explained, “You can survey your audience and say ’Hey, would you be interested in x?’ and they'll tell you yes or no. And then you say, ‘How much would you be willing to pay for x?’ And then you give them ranges, and they'll tell you. Just poll your audience… It seems intuitive but nobody ever does it.”
He summarized, “Just flip the model around. You have ideas, yes, but ask your audience what they want. Ask them what they're willing to pay for it and then execute on the ideas where it's worth it.”
Goals for 2025
Collin-Demers explained how while many newsletters are focused primarily on audience growth, he’s more focused on the results from his current audience, since it’s so niche.
He explained, “I'm not necessarily after these huge 100,000+ subscriber audiences (although I wouldn’t mind 😂). I'm more after a very niche, focused, targeted, high-quality audience that sees a lot of value in the information I give. I’m growing the quality of the audience with conversion metrics such as clicking on an email link or being able to download a specific asset that I've publicized in the newsletter.”
He shared how he also has brand partnership goals.
Collin-Demers shared, “I want to partner with brands that have aligned values and missions with what I'm trying to do. Ultimately, it's all about helping our procurement organizations be more impactful by using technology, so that's the mission that guides everything.”
Advice for Someone Looking To Start a Newsletter
We asked Collin-Demers for his advice to anyone thinking about starting their own newsletter.
He shared, “I definitely recommend beehiiv – use the free plan to experiment.”
Collin-Demers explained, “If you're just starting out, it’s all about consistency. Pick your topic. You'll figure out all the marketing and all the other stuff later on. That's not as important as consistency and quality.”
He continued, “Consistency is the hardest part for anything, so it's waking up, being professional about it, doing it even though sometimes you don't feel like pushing it out and respecting your commitments to your audience. I’ve published with a crying baby in my arms. I’ve published on vacation. I’ve driven out to another city when I had a power outage to publish on time. Consistency IS the game. Your audience’s trust is sacred.
Collin-Demers shared how another key to success as a newsletter operator is to have an abundance mindset and focus on strategic partnerships.
He explained, “Everybody in the newsletter business, even if they're writing about the exact same thing as you, is your friend. If you partner with folks, you will all grow your audiences at the same time. You shouldn't be thinking about it in a competitive way because people will read more than one newsletter for a topic they're passionate about. As long as there’s a cultural fit, testing out most partnerships is worthwhile.”
Collin-Demers closed by sharing a key concept from Jim Collins about the symbiotic relationship between consulting and content as it relates to newsletters.
He shared, “You work on great consulting mandates. It gives you ideas for great content to share. You produce and distribute that content in the best way possible. It gives you access to conversations with organizations who are aligned with the way you think based on that content. You partner on more mandates and/or content, and then the wheel spins all over again.”
After years developing his expertise in the procurement technology space, Joël Collin-Demers decided to branch out and create his own lane with a niche audience.
Realizing that there was a gap when it came to access to knowledge about how to best leverage these technologies, he decided to disrupt the gatekeepers and launch his newsletter.
By switching to beehiiv, Collin-Demers now has a cohesive content ecosystem driven by beehiiv’s web builder, intuitive email editor, and an innovative development team to continue to help him drive results.
Want to become a niche authority like Joël Collin-Demers? Get a 30-day, free trial of beehiiv now.
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