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How Jennifer Chou Made $16,000+ on beehiiv in Less Than 4 Months
Boosts, Ad Network, and Premium Subscription - Here’s a Look Into Her Business Model
Kanishka
May 22nd, 2024
Can you imagine how much more productive your life would be if everything was organized just the way you like it?
From your daily habits to monthly revenue goals for your business, it would feel like a well-oiled machine, or as some productivity bros like to say, "Having a second brain."
That's exactly what Jennifer Chou's newsletter, Vegan Tech Nomad, is all about.
Chou shares her experiences, from taking on new productivity challenges to openly discussing her monthly income reports. It's fascinating to see the journey she's embarking on and building in public.
Table of Contents
That is why I wanted to share how she is building in public, how her newsletter helps her, and how she leverages beehiiv for it!
Interviewing Chou felt like interviewing a productivity guru who has documented everything so well—I was flabbergasted, to say the least.
- Kanishka
Meet Jennifer Chou, the brains behind Vegan Tech Nomad, a newsletter that blends productivity tips with savvy business insights.
Life is all about being at the right place at the right time.
In late December 2023, Chou posted a video on Instagram about her productivity template; and since people were making New Year's resolutions, that video just blew up.
Chou’s journey began with that viral Instagram video, catapulting her into the newsletter world. Let's dive into how beehiiv played a pivotal role in her success.
Starting with productivity tips, Chou’s newsletter quickly evolved into a premium version focusing on business growth and monetization.
How Her Instagram Virality Boosted Her Newsletter Signups
Within two weeks, Jennifer gained over 10,000 subscribers, fueled by her viral Instagram content.
Harnessing this momentum, she seamlessly transitioned into crafting engaging newsletters.
To test how many people would actually love to subscribe to her newsletter, Chou designed a waiting list and added a link to her Instagram account, saying, “Coming soon!”
"It's really easy to get started because you don't even need a website or anything. There are templates to help, and it's very easy to just sit down and write."
How Is Jennifer Chou Building Her Business Out of a Newsletter?
Chou follows an omnichannel marketing strategy. She regularly posts content on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and the newsletter, which makes everything related to one another and builds a stronger community.
"I started my regular newsletters in January, and now it's a business. I have the analytics from everything... It's mostly been the newsletter that's making more revenue."
Take a look at the ways Chou makes money from her newsletter:
Templates
We all have a lot on our plates: work, relationships, tasks, challenges. Imagine how amazing it would be if we could keep it all organized (with Jennifer’s notion templates, you actually can!).
Chou’s Notion templates are for people looking to organize their lives.
You can check out her Notion templates here.
Premium Newsletter
Chou spends 30-45 minutes a week writing her free newsletter and 1-1.5 hours working on her premium newsletter, where she shares more about her business including hacks and strategies that have worked for her! This generates an MRR of $627 for her.
Ads
The ad network has been one of Chou’s favorite features, and newsletter sponsorships are a big driver of her monthly revenue. In April, she made $1732 solely from sponsorships.
beehiiv Boosts
Through Boosts, Jennifer has earned $632 to date. Learn more about Boosts here.
Jennifer Chou’s Favorite beehiiv Feature
"I think the main selling point would be how easy it is to monetize with beehiiv...Some of my friends did try Substack because they were focused on growth over monetization, but beehiiv's recommendations network is built for growth as well as monetization… which I love."
The beehiiv Ad Network!
Publishers on beehiiv earned a total of $1,230,881 in April this year, and this is the feature Chou also loves for her newsletter. In fact, she even shared how much she earned from her newsletter vs. Instagram last month:
"The ad network... it works on autopilot. One time a lot of people clicked on a B2B ad that paid two dollars per click. So I made $600 from that one email, and that was from the beehiiv ad network."
Check out this YouTube video to learn how Chou made $400 from just one email.
Key Takeaways
Jennifer Chou went viral early this year but has been creating content since 2022. Since January 2024, she has made a total of $16,000 this year.
Here are some key takeaways from this journey:
Consistency Pays Off: Chou underscores the importance of consistent content creation to drive newsletter growth.
Quality Matters: Crafting easily digestible content with clear formatting is crucial for reader engagement.
Monetization Strategies: beehiiv's ad network and sponsorships offer lucrative avenues for revenue generation.
Continuous Improvement: Jennifer advocates for refining content and monetization strategies to optimize performance.
Advice to Somebody Looking To Build Their Newsletter
"It's crucial to study the newsletters they enjoy. Avoid the trap of overloading content. Keep it scannable with headings, bullet points, and concise paragraphs. For example, my newsletters focus on readability, with no paragraphs longer than two sentences."
In a nutshell, Jennifer Chou's beehiiv success story exemplifies how creators can leverage the platform's tools to monetize their content effectively.
Through strategic content creation, innovative monetization strategies, and unwavering dedication, Jennifer has carved out a niche for herself, inspiring others to follow suit.
You can do it, too!
Sign up for beehiiv’s 30-day, free trial and try it for yourself.
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