There are only 3 ways to build a successful local newsletter. Two of them probably aren't available to you: Model 1: AI curation at scale 6AM City is the best example. They don't do original reporting or hire local staff. Instead, they use AI to curate what's already being written about a city and package it into a daily digest. The model works because the marginal cost of adding a new city is almost zero. They cover 400+ cities simultaneously and make money across the portfolio even when individual cities don't generate much on their own. The trade-off is that you're an aggregator, not a community builder. Readers know the difference, and the relationship stays shallow. Model 2: Boots on the ground Axios Local puts two editors and a salesperson in each city and does real local journalism. The quality is genuinely high. But the problem is the economics. Local advertising markets are thin, and building a full editorial team in each city is expensive. Axios National almost certainly subsidizes Axios Local, and as a standalone business most individual city editions probably don't break even. This model works if you have outside funding or a national brand absorbing the costs. For an independent operator, it's the hardest path. Model 3: The community builder This is the only model I've seen work sustainably at the independent level, and it requires a very specific type of operator. @MikeyPesto runs Catskill Crew, a local newsletter with 40,000 subscribers. I spent a weekend with him in the Catskills, and every single person we passed knew Michael personally. He's essentially the mayor of that community. Michael makes $300,000+/year across multiple revenue streams. He : • Runs a monthly dinner club • Hosts events like an annual July 4th party, now in its third year, and Mushroom Madness, a weekend of foraging, art, and dancing in the woods • Publishes Field Guides on everything from the best burgers to antique shops • Sells physical products: a custom Trout Cap, a 500-piece Catskill puzzle, and Catskill-opoly, a Monopoly-style board game set in the Catskills that sold $50,000 +worth and is now sold out Nobody can replicate what he's built because you'd need someone who loves the Catskills as much as he does. The reason this matters is that local newsletters have a monetization ceiling that national brands don't. A sponsorship-only local newsletter might generate $5-10 per subscriber per year. A national brand can ascend that same reader into premium subscriptions, events, and high-ticket products worth $50+ in lifetime value. Without an ascension path, local newsletter operators are permanently capped on revenue per subscriber. The Kauffman model gets around this by building multiple revenue streams rooted in community trust rather than relying solely on ad inventory.