Marketing

Question 1

Blogging, Blogging + Influencers, Business, blogging & Money, Marketing

Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing Review: Is Michelle’s Course Worth It?

This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.

TL;DR: Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing is the course I took when I was starting out with affiliate marketing, and it is still the one I recommend to beginner and early-stage bloggers: structured, honest, and focused on strategy instead of hacks. At $197 with a 30-day refund window, it is fairly priced — but skip it if you already earn steady affiliate income or if what you really need is traffic. Check out Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing here.

There are a lot of affiliate marketing courses, and most of them are sold harder than they teach. So when I review one, I hold it to a simple standard: did it change what I actually do? This one did — it is where I learned to treat affiliate marketing as recommending things honestly to people who trust you, rather than scattering links and hoping.

Here is my full review: what is inside, what it costs, where it shines, and who genuinely should not buy it.

What is Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing?

It is a self-paced online course by Michelle Schroeder-Gardner, the blogger behind Making Sense of Cents. Michelle grew her affiliate income to over $50,000 per month, and the course teaches the exact strategy behind that — with the obvious caveat that her results are hers, not a template for yours.

The course itself is 6 modules with 30+ lessons, covering the fundamentals: how affiliate marketing works, finding and getting accepted into programs, staying on the right side of disclosure rules, building trust with your audience, and turning existing content into content that converts. You get lifetime access, including future updates.

If you are brand new to the concept, my primer on affiliate marketing for beginners explains the model itself — this review assumes you know roughly what affiliate marketing is and are deciding whether to invest in learning it properly.

Pricing

Option	Price
One-time payment	$197
Payment plan	2 payments of $105

Both options include lifetime access, all future updates, and the bonuses. There is a 30-day full refund policy if the course is not what you hoped — which takes most of the risk out of trying it. Note that the payment plan costs $13 more in total, so pay once if you can. Current pricing and bonuses are listed on the course page.

What the course does well

It teaches strategy that does not expire. Algorithms and platforms have changed a lot since this course launched; the core of it — pick products your audience genuinely needs, build trust first, promote deliberately — has not. That is why I still recommend it in 2026 while plenty of trendier courses have come and gone.

It takes the legal side seriously. Disclosure rules and FTC compliance get proper attention, including a bonus from an attorney on protecting your blog legally. Most courses skip this entirely; it matters more every year.

The community is quietly the best bonus. Buying the course gets you into the private Facebook mastermind, plus bi-weekly “Ask Michelle Saturday” group coaching. Getting your specific questions answered is worth a lot when you are stuck at the messy beginning.

Practical bonuses over filler. The Pinterest traffic training by Lauren McManus, the affiliate-approval guidance from an affiliate manager, and the worksheets are the kind of extras you actually open twice.

One-time price. $197 once, with updates included, compares well against the subscription-model course platforms that quietly cost more every year you stay subscribed.

Where it falls short (and who should not buy it)

It will not solve your traffic problem. This is the big one. Affiliate income is a percentage of the attention you already have. The Pinterest bonus helps, but this is a conversion and strategy course, not a traffic course — if your blog has close to zero visitors, buy this later and spend the next six months publishing instead.

Experienced affiliates will know a chunk of it. If you already earn consistent affiliate income, understand disclosure rules, and have a promotion system, you are past the target audience. This course is for beginners and early-intermediate bloggers.

It leans blog-and-email. The strategies translate to other platforms, but the worked examples live mostly in blogging and Pinterest land. If you are a video-first creator with no blog, expect to do some translating yourself.

The community lives on Facebook. If you have deleted Facebook on principle, you lose a real slice of the value.

And the obvious one: Michelle’s $50,000-per-month results made this course famous, and they are also the least repeatable thing about it. Buy it for the system, not as a lottery ticket.

Who it is for — my verdict

Buy Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing if you have a blog (or are seriously building one), some early traffic, and affiliate links that earn little to nothing. That is exactly the gap this course closes: it turns “I put some links in my posts” into an actual strategy. It is the course I credit with making affiliate marketing for bloggers click for me, and the approach it teaches works well beyond your own blog too — the same thinking applies on newer platforms, like I describe in my post on sharing recommendations with Benable.

Skip it if you have no content and no traffic yet, or if you are already past the beginner stage. Courses are only worth it when they meet you where you are. If you want to test the waters first, my free affiliate marketing tips ebook for bloggers costs you an email address and nothing else.

FAQ

How much does Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing cost?

$197 as a one-time payment, or two payments of $105. Both include lifetime access, future updates, the bonuses, and the private mastermind community. There are no upsells hiding behind the checkout, which I appreciate.

Is Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing worth it for beginners?

Yes — beginners are exactly who it is built for. It assumes no prior affiliate knowledge and walks through the full system step by step. The honest condition: you need content and at least some traffic for the strategies to have raw material to work with.

Can I get a refund if I do not like it?

Yes, there is a 30-day full refund policy. That makes the practical risk of trying it low: go through the first modules seriously, and if it is not for you, ask for your money back within the window.

Do I need a blog to take the course?

The strategies are taught primarily through a blogging-and-email lens, so you will get the most out of it with a blog. It can work for other platforms, but if you have nothing yet, start the blog first and take the course once you are publishing.

How fast will I make money with it?

Slower than the sales page testimonials suggest, for most people. Realistically you are looking at months of applying the system while your traffic grows. The course shortens the learning curve; it does not remove the work.

The bottom line

Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing remains my standard recommendation for bloggers who want to earn from recommendations without turning into a walking advertisement. It is honest, thorough, fairly priced at $197, and protected by a 30-day refund policy. Head over to the course page to see everything that is included — and if you are not ready yet, bookmark it and go build the traffic it will eventually multiply.

Question 2

Email Marketing, Marketing

Kit MCP Tutorial: Connect Claude & ChatGPT to Your Email List

This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.

On May 19, 2026, Kit quietly shipped one of the more interesting email features I have seen in a while: Kit MCP. In plain language, it connects AI assistants like Claude and ChatGPT directly to your Kit account, so you can analyze your audience, draft broadcasts, and trigger automations from a chat window instead of clicking through dashboards.

I run my own newsletter on Kit, and this is the first AI integration from an email platform that feels genuinely useful rather than bolted on. It is also brand new, only available on paid plans, and easy to misuse if you let an assistant loose on a real subscriber list without guardrails.

This tutorial walks you through the setup, the first prompts worth trying, and the mistakes to skip.

What you need

A Kit account on a paid plan. Kit MCP is available on paid Kit plans — the free Newsletter plan (up to 10,000 subscribers) does not include it. Creator is $33 per month for up to 1,000 subscribers at the time of writing, with a discount on annual billing.
A Claude or ChatGPT account. Connector-style integrations generally sit on the paid tiers of those tools as well.
About 15 minutes, plus a healthy respect for the fact that the AI will be touching your real email list.

New to email marketing entirely? Skim my ultimate guide to email marketing first. MCP makes an existing workflow faster; it does not replace knowing the basics.

How to set up Kit MCP, step by step

Step 1: Set up your Kit account (or upgrade it)

If you do not have a list yet, start with Kit’s free Newsletter plan — it covers up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts, forms, and landing pages, which is unusually generous. To use MCP you will need a paid plan like Creator, so factor that in. If you are just starting out, my honest advice is to build the list first and add the AI layer once there is actually data worth analyzing.

Step 2: Enable MCP in your Kit account

Log into Kit and look for the MCP or AI assistants option in your account settings. Kit is actively building here, so the exact menu placement can shift — searching “MCP” in Kit’s help center gets you the current path fastest. Enabling it gives you the connection details that AI assistants use to talk to your account.

Step 3: Connect Claude

In Claude, add Kit as a connector: open the settings area, choose to add a connector or integration, and use the Kit option or the connection URL from step 2. You will be sent through an authorization screen on Kit’s side where you explicitly approve access to your account. That approval step matters — you are granting a tool permission to read and act on your list, and you can revoke it from Kit whenever you want.

Step 4: Connect ChatGPT (same idea)

ChatGPT handles this under its connectors and apps settings as well: add a new connection, point it at Kit, and approve access. You only need one assistant connected to get the value here — I would pick whichever one you already pay for rather than subscribing to both for this feature.

Step 5: Start with read-only questions

Before you let the AI change anything, ask questions that only read data:

“Which of my last ten broadcasts had the highest click-through rate, and what do they have in common?”
“Which tags or segments grew fastest in the past month?”
“Which subscribers have not opened anything in 90 days?”

This is where Kit MCP shines first. The audience analysis that used to mean exporting CSVs and squinting at spreadsheets now takes one question in plain English.

Step 6: Draft a broadcast — but send it from Kit

Next, ask the assistant to draft your newsletter: “Based on the tone of my recent broadcasts, draft a 400-word email for my list about [topic], with one clear call to action.” Then review it inside Kit and send it from there. AI drafts are a strong starting point and a mediocre finished product — your subscribers signed up for you, not for default chatbot prose.

Step 7: Automate the boring, not the important

You can also trigger Kit workflows from chat. My rule: automate housekeeping — tagging, moving subscribers between sequences, cleaning up segments — and keep anything subscriber-facing, like actual sends, as a manual and reviewed step. One careless instruction against a live list is very hard to undo.

Pro tips (and the mistakes to skip)

Teach it your voice. Paste two or three of your best past emails into the chat and ask for drafts that match that tone.
Prompt specifically. “Draft a broadcast” produces generic filler; a topic, a length, a segment, and one CTA produce something usable.
Never auto-send. Every draft gets human eyes in Kit before it reaches an inbox.
Mind the data. You are connecting subscriber data to a third-party AI tool. If you serve EU readers, think GDPR: read how both sides handle data before connecting.
Skip it if you only want drafting help. You can copy-paste stats and drafts into any AI tool without granting account access at all — MCP earns its place when you use the analysis and workflow side too.

FAQ

What is Kit MCP?

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that lets AI assistants connect securely to other software. Kit MCP, launched on May 19, 2026, applies that to your email list: Claude or ChatGPT can analyze your Kit audience, draft broadcasts, and trigger workflows on your behalf.

Does Kit MCP work on the free plan?

No. Kit MCP is available on paid Kit plans. The free Newsletter plan still covers up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts, so starting free and upgrading once the AI features would genuinely save you time is a sensible path.

Is it safe to connect an AI assistant to my email list?

Reasonably, if you treat it like any integration: you approve access explicitly, you can revoke it in Kit at any time, and you keep sends manual. In practice the bigger risk is a careless instruction, not the connection itself — which is why I recommend starting with read-only questions.

What should I try first with Kit MCP?

Audience analysis. Ask which broadcasts performed best and why, and which segments are growing or going quiet. Those answers immediately improve what you write next, and they carry zero risk to your list.

Do I still need to log into Kit?

Yes. Final reviews, sends, forms, landing pages, and deliverability settings still live in the Kit dashboard. MCP removes busywork; it does not replace the platform. And if the newsletter is part of a bigger content plan, my ultimate guide to blogging covers where email fits into the whole picture.

Give your list an assistant

Kit MCP will not write a beloved newsletter for you, but it genuinely shrinks the gap between “I should look at my stats” and actually doing it. Head over to Kit to set up your account for free, build the list, and let the AI handle the busywork once there is something worth analyzing.

Question 3

Blogging, Business, blogging & Money, Marketing

Best AI Tools for Creators in 2026 (Tested, With Pricing)

TL;DR: You don’t need twenty AI subscriptions — you need one writer, one video-repurposing tool, and one system to turn it all into email. In 2026 my go-to stack is Jasper or Notion AI for drafting, Opus Clip for turning long video into short clips, and Kit (formerly ConvertKit) to turn that content into a newsletter that actually sells. Below is what each costs and who it’s for.

This post contains affiliate links. If you sign up through them I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I’d genuinely use myself.

The AI tools worth paying for in 2026

There are hundreds of AI tools now, and most creators waste money subscribing to five that do the same thing. The trick is to think in jobs, not tools: drafting, repurposing to video, and turning it into email and sales. Here’s the short list I actually recommend, with real 2026 pricing.

Tool	What it’s for	Free plan?	Paid from
Jasper	Long-form & brand-voice writing	Trial only	$39/seat/mo (Creator)
Opus Clip	Turning long video into short clips	Yes (60 min/mo, watermark)	$15/mo (Starter)
Pictory	Blog / script / URL to video	Trial	$25/mo (Starter)
Kapwing	Browser video editing & subtitles	Yes (limited)	$16/user/mo (Pro)
Kit	Turning content into emails & sales	Yes (to 10k subs)	Paid tiers add automation

Pricing verified July 2026. Free tiers and prices change often — check each tool before buying.

Best AI writing tools

Jasper is the most mature option for long-form and on-brand writing — its Creator plan starts at $39/seat/month and it’s genuinely good at keeping a consistent brand voice across blog posts, emails, and ad copy. If you already live in Notion, Notion AI is the cheaper entry point: it brainstorms, summarizes, and drafts right inside your workspace with a usable free allowance. Start with Notion AI if you’re testing the water; upgrade to Jasper once writing is a daily job.

Best AI video repurposing tools

Short video is still where the reach is, and repurposing beats filming from scratch. Opus Clip is the one most creators use — it turns a long video or livestream into ready-to-post clips and scores each for “virality.” The free plan gives you 60 minutes a month (watermarked); Starter is $15/month for watermark-free 720p, and Pro at $29/month adds every aspect ratio, a scheduler, and AI B-roll. If you’d rather go from a blog post or script straight to video, Pictory does that from $25/month, and Kapwing is a solid browser editor for subtitles and quick edits from $16/user/month.

The tool that ties it together

AI content only pays off if it feeds an audience you own. That’s where Kit (formerly ConvertKit) comes in: it turns your posts and clips into a newsletter, automates your welcome and sales sequences, and tags subscribers so you can actually sell courses or products to them. Kit’s free plan runs up to 10,000 subscribers, so you can build the system before you pay for it. If you’re not sure a newsletter is worth it yet, read how to monetize a newsletter first, then come back and automate it.

My honest recommendation

Don’t buy the whole list. Pick one writer (Notion AI to start, Jasper when you scale), one video tool (Opus Clip for most people), and one home for your audience (Kit). That’s three subscriptions doing the work of ten, and it’s the exact stack I’d rebuild if I started over today. Want the email side specifically? I compare the platforms in Substack vs Kit.

What are the best AI tools for content creators in 2026?

For most creators the core stack is a writing tool (Jasper or Notion AI), a video-repurposing tool (Opus Clip), and an email platform to turn content into sales (Kit). That covers drafting, short-form video, and monetization without over-subscribing.

What is the best free AI tool for creators?

Notion AI has a usable free allowance for drafting and summarizing, Opus Clip offers 60 free video minutes a month, and Kit is free up to 10,000 subscribers. You can build a full workflow on free tiers before paying.

How much do AI creator tools cost?

Expect roughly $15 to $40 per tool per month. Opus Clip Starter is $15/month, Kapwing Pro is $16/user/month, Pictory is $25/month, and Jasper’s Creator plan is $39/seat/month. Picking one tool per job keeps the total reasonable.

Do I need to pay for Jasper if I have ChatGPT?

Not necessarily. General chat tools are great for ideas, but Jasper adds brand-voice controls and templates built for marketing output. Pay for Jasper when consistent on-brand writing becomes a daily task; otherwise a general tool plus good prompts is fine.

Which AI tool is best for turning long videos into short clips?

Opus Clip is the most widely used in 2026. It automatically finds the best moments, adds captions, and scores each clip for viral potential, with a free tier to test before upgrading.

Question 4

Beehiiv Review Pricing, Features & Is It Worth It

Blogging, Business, blogging & Money, Email Marketing, Marketing

Beehiiv Review 2026: Pricing, Features & Is It Worth It?

TL;DR: beehiiv is one of the best newsletter platforms in 2026 if growth and monetization are your priority — built-in referral programs, an ad network, and a genuinely useful free plan for up to 2,500 subscribers. It’s less of an all-in-one “email + funnels” tool than Kit (formerly ConvertKit), so your pick comes down to whether you’re building a media brand (beehiiv) or a creator business with products to sell (Kit).

This post contains affiliate links. If you sign up through them I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I’d genuinely use myself.

What is beehiiv?

beehiiv was built by former Morning Brew operators, and it shows: everything is designed around growing and monetizing a newsletter rather than running a whole business off it. You get a clean editor, a website for your posts (great for SEO and AI search visibility), a built-in referral program, audience polls, and access to beehiiv’s own ad network so brands can sponsor your sends. If your goal is “grow the list and get paid for the audience,” this is the tool the big newsletters actually use.

beehiiv pricing in 2026

Here’s what each plan actually costs right now. The important thing to understand: beehiiv’s paid plans scale with your subscriber count, so the headline price is the starting price for a small list, not what you’ll pay at 50,000 subscribers.

Plan	Price (monthly)	Subscribers	Best for
Launch (free)	$0	Up to 2,500	Testing the platform, small lists
Scale	From $49 (from $43 annual)	Scales with list size (to ~$329 at 100k)	Monetization, referrals, AI, up to 3 publications
Max	From $109	Scales with list size (to ~$419)	No beehiiv branding, priority support, up to 10 publications

beehiiv pricing verified July 2026. Paid tiers scale with your subscriber count.

Two details worth knowing. First, beehiiv takes 0% of your paid subscription revenue — you keep everything minus Stripe’s standard 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. Second, the free Launch plan is genuinely usable (unlimited sends up to 2,500 subscribers), which is rare. Most “free” newsletter plans cap your sends hard; beehiiv doesn’t.

What beehiiv does really well

The referral program is the headline feature — it’s the same mechanic that grew Morning Brew, and on beehiiv it’s a few clicks to set up instead of a custom build. The ad network is the other big one: once you hit a certain size, beehiiv matches you with sponsors and handles the logistics, which turns your newsletter into income without you cold-emailing brands. Add the SEO-friendly web version of every post and the built-in analytics, and it’s a strong package for anyone treating their newsletter as a media property.

Where beehiiv falls short (and when to pick Kit instead)

beehiiv is a newsletter platform, not a full creator-business platform. If you sell digital products, run automated welcome-and-sales sequences, tag subscribers by behavior, and want your email tool to double as a lightweight CRM, Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is the better fit — it’s built around selling to your list, not just publishing to it. My honest rule of thumb: pick beehiiv if the newsletter is the product and you want ad + referral growth; pick Kit if the newsletter is how you sell courses, coaching, or products. I break the whole comparison down in Substack vs Kit and in how to monetize a newsletter.

Is beehiiv worth it in 2026?

Yes — if your priority is growing an audience and earning from it directly. The free plan makes it a no-risk test, and the referral + ad tools genuinely move the needle at scale. If you’re earlier in the journey and still figuring out the newsletter itself, start with my guide on how to start a newsletter first, then choose your platform once you know what you’re building.

👉 Reader offer: sign up through my beehiiv link and you get a 14-day free trial + 20% off for 3 months. Same platform either way — this just gets you a better deal while you test it.

Is beehiiv really free?

Yes. The Launch plan is free for up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited email sends. You only pay once you outgrow it or want monetization and AI features.

How much does beehiiv cost after the free plan?

The Scale plan starts at $49/month (or about $43/month billed annually) for a small list and rises with your subscriber count up to roughly $329/month at 100,000 subscribers. The Max plan starts at $109/month and removes beehiiv branding.

Does beehiiv take a cut of my subscription revenue?

No. beehiiv takes 0% of your paid newsletter subscriptions. You only pay Stripe’s standard processing fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.

beehiiv vs Kit — which should I choose?

Choose beehiiv if the newsletter itself is your product and you want built-in referral and ad-network growth. Choose Kit if you sell courses, coaching, or digital products and need automations and tagging to sell to your list.

Can I move my existing newsletter to beehiiv?

Yes. beehiiv supports importing your subscriber list and offers migration help from most major platforms, so switching doesn’t mean starting your audience from zero.

Question 5

Blogging, Business, blogging & Money, Email Marketing

How Do You Start (and Actually Grow) a Newsletter in 2026?

TL;DR: Starting a newsletter in 2026 takes an afternoon: pick a platform (Substack for network growth, Kit or Beehiiv for a business), define one clear promise for one clear reader, and publish weekly. Growing it is the real work — a lead magnet, recommendations/cross-promotion, and repurposing every issue into social content are the three channels that reliably compound. Monetization comes from four stacks: paid subscriptions, affiliate links, sponsorships and your own products.

Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links. If you sign up through them I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Why start a newsletter in 2026 (still)?

Email is the only audience channel you own. Algorithms throttle reach on every social platform, and AI search is reshaping blog traffic — but a subscriber list lands in inboxes regardless. A blog is your SEO house; your newsletter is the front door key readers take home. The two feed each other: search brings strangers, email turns them into regulars.

Step 1 — Choose your platform

The decision comes down to what your bottleneck will be: growth, monetization or automation.

You want…	Best pick	Why
Free start + built-in discovery	Substack	Notes & Recommendations drive real growth; 10% fee only on paid subs
Newsletter as a business asset	Kit	Automations, tagging, funnels; free up to 10,000 subscribers
Sponsorship-driven newsletter	Beehiiv	Ad network, referral program, boosts
Cheapest serious tooling	MailerLite	Full automation on a small budget

I break all of these down (with 2026 pricing) in my best newsletter platforms of 2026 roundup, and go deeper in Substack vs Kit and Kit vs Mailchimp. If you want my one-line answer: growth-first, pick Substack; business-first, start free on Kit.

Step 2 — Nail the promise before the name

A newsletter grows when a stranger can predict what they’ll get. “My thoughts on marketing” doesn’t grow; “one pricing teardown of a real creator business, every Thursday” does. Write your promise as: [specific reader] gets [specific outcome] every [frequency]. Your name, design and welcome email all follow from that sentence.

Step 3 — Set up the boring essentials (30 minutes)

A double opt-in form, a welcome email that delivers your lead magnet and asks one question (“what are you struggling with?”), a custom sending domain if your platform supports it, and an archive page so search engines and AI assistants can find your issues. That last one matters more in 2026 than ever: public, crawlable archives are how newsletters surface in AI search results.

Step 4 — Your first 1,000 subscribers

The channels that work, in order of effort-to-result:

A lead magnet that solves one urgent problem — a checklist, template or mini-course beats an ebook. (I cover opt-ins and lead magnets in my ultimate guide to email marketing.)
Recommendations & cross-promotion. On Substack this is built in; on Kit use the Creator Network; elsewhere, swap mentions with newsletters your size.
Repurpose every issue into 3–5 social posts (threads, carousels, Notes). One issue = a week of content.
Your existing surfaces: email signature, blog posts (every post gets an opt-in — see my blogging guide), podcast outro, social bios.

Paid ads and viral giveaways can work, but they fill lists with cold subscribers — deliverability pays the bill later.

Step 5 — Growing past the plateau

Every newsletter stalls somewhere between 1,000 and 5,000. The fixes are unglamorous: prune subscribers who haven’t opened in 90+ days (deliverability beats vanity metrics), double down on the single acquisition channel that brought your best readers, and survey your list twice a year. On Substack, consistency on Notes compounds; on Kit, an evergreen welcome sequence keeps converting while you sleep.

Step 6 — Turning readers into revenue

Four monetization stacks, roughly in order of list size required:

Affiliate links (works from ~500 engaged subscribers): recommend tools you use, disclose clearly.
Paid subscriptions (from ~1,000): Substack makes this one click; Kit charges just 3.5% + $0.30 per transaction. I compare the fee math in Substack vs Kit.
Sponsorships (from ~2,500 engaged): price per open, not per subscriber.
Your own products (any size): the highest margin — courses, templates, services.

FAQ

How much does it cost to start a newsletter in 2026?

$0. Substack is free until you monetize (then 10% of paid revenue); Kit and Beehiiv have free plans up to 10,000 and 2,500 subscribers respectively. Your only early cost is optionally a custom domain (~$10/year).

How often should I send?

Weekly is the sweet spot for growth and sanity. Consistency beats frequency: a reliable biweekly beats an erratic daily.

How long until a newsletter makes money?

With affiliate links, some creators earn from a few hundred subscribers. Meaningful income (€500+/month) typically takes 1,000–5,000 engaged subscribers and 6–18 months of consistent publishing.

Do I need a blog AND a newsletter?

They compound each other: the blog captures search (and AI-search) traffic, the newsletter owns the relationship. If you must pick one in 2026, pick the newsletter — then add the blog for discovery.

What’s the biggest beginner mistake?

Optimizing tools before promise. Platform-switching costs you weeks; an unclear promise costs you every subscriber you almost got.

Question 6

Email Marketing, Marketing

Substack vs Kit (ConvertKit): Which Should You Choose in 2026?

TL;DR: Substack is free to start and has the best built-in growth network (Notes, Recommendations), but takes 10% of your paid-subscription revenue — closer to 13–16% after Stripe fees. Kit (formerly ConvertKit) costs $0–$79+/month but charges only 3.5% + $0.30 on paid newsletters and gives you real automation, tagging and a list you fully own. Rule of thumb: start on Substack if audience growth is your bottleneck; switch to (or start on) Kit once you monetize seriously — the 10% fee overtakes Kit’s subscription cost fast.

Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links. If you sign up through them I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I use or have tested myself.

What’s the real difference between Substack and Kit?

Substack is a publishing platform: newsletter, website, podcast hosting, community and a discovery network in one, with zero monthly cost. Kit is a creator-focused email marketing platform: automations, visual funnel builder, tagging, segmenting, landing pages and 100+ integrations.

The mental model that matters: Substack rents you an audience engine; Kit gives you infrastructure you own. On Substack, growth features like Notes and Recommendations can genuinely compound. On Kit, nothing grows on its own — but every subscriber, tag and automation is portable and yours.

Pricing compared (2026)

	Substack	Kit
Monthly cost	$0	Free up to 10,000 subs; Creator from $39/mo (1k), $59 (3k), $89 (5k); Creator Pro from $79/mo
Fee on paid subscriptions	10% + Stripe (~2.9% + $0.30 + 0.7% billing) ≈ 13–16% all-in	3.5% + $0.30 all-in (includes Stripe), every plan
Free tier limits	Unlimited, full features	10k subscribers, Kit branding, 1 user, no A/B testing
Automation & sequences	Basic (welcome email)	Full visual automations, sequences, tagging, segments
Growth network	Notes, Recommendations, leaderboards	Creator Network, paid recommendations
Website & archive	Included	Landing pages included, no full site
Podcast/video	Built-in	Via integrations
Ownership/export	List exportable; paid subs on your own Stripe	Everything exportable, own Stripe

Note: Kit raised prices roughly 35% in September 2025, so ignore older posts quoting $25–29 entry pricing.

The math: when does Substack’s 10% become expensive?

Say you charge $10/month:

100 paid subscribers ($1,000/mo): Substack keeps ~$130–160 in fees. Kit: $39–59 subscription + ~$65 in transaction fees ≈ $104–124. Roughly break-even.
300 paid subscribers ($3,000/mo): Substack ~$390–480/mo. Kit ≈ $59–89 + ~$195 ≈ $254–284. Kit is now clearly cheaper — and the gap keeps widening.
1,000 paid subscribers ($10,000/mo): Substack ~$1,300–1,600/mo. Kit ≈ $89–119 + ~$650 ≈ $740–770. You’re paying Substack $6,000–10,000+ per year for the network.

That’s the whole trade: Substack’s network has to earn its 10%. Early on it usually does. At scale it usually doesn’t.

Where Substack wins

Zero risk to start, real discovery (a meaningful share of new subscribers on growing Substacks comes from Recommendations and Notes), built-in payments, podcast and community features, and a clean writing experience. If you have no audience yet, Substack’s network effect is the single strongest free growth channel in newsletters right now.

Where Kit wins

Automation (welcome sequences, evergreen funnels, tagging by interest or purchase), deliverability controls, lead magnets with double opt-in per form, integrations with WooCommerce, Teachable and Shopify, and far lower fees on paid subscriptions. If your newsletter supports a business — courses, services, affiliate income — Kit is the more serious toolkit. Try Kit free up to 10,000 subscribers →

Can you use both?

Yes, and it’s a popular setup: publish publicly on Substack for discovery, and run your “money list” (lead magnets, product funnels, affiliate promotions) on Kit. Substack allows exporting your subscriber list, so you can sync new Substack subscribers into Kit periodically.

Verdict: which one in 2026?

Choose Substack if you’re starting from zero, want to write (or podcast) without tech setup, and growth is your main problem.
Choose Kit if you sell anything, want automations, or already have 100+ paying subscribers — the fee math tips in Kit’s favor around the $1,000/month mark.
Use both if you want Substack’s discovery and Kit’s monetization.

For the full landscape (including Beehiiv, MailerLite and Ghost), read my best newsletter platforms of 2026 roundup. Comparing email tools specifically? See Kit vs Mailchimp 2026 and my ultimate guide to email marketing.

FAQ

Is Substack really free?

Yes — you pay nothing until you turn on paid subscriptions. From that moment Substack takes 10% of revenue, plus ~3–6% in Stripe processing and billing fees.

What does Kit cost in 2026?

Kit’s free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers. Paid plans start at $39/month (Creator, 1,000 subscribers) and $79/month (Creator Pro), with subscriber-based tiers above that and ~16% off annually.

Which platform is better for making money?

Below roughly $1,000/month in subscription revenue the difference is small. Above it, Kit’s flat 3.5% + $0.30 beats Substack’s 10% + Stripe by a growing margin — and Kit adds funnels for selling products beyond subscriptions.

Can I move from Substack to Kit later?

Yes. Both use your own Stripe account for paid subscriptions and both let you export your list. Migration is a CSV export/import plus asking paid subscribers to re-confirm billing.

Does Kit have anything like Substack’s Recommendations?

Kit’s Creator Network lets creators recommend each other’s newsletters, including paid recommendations. It works, but Substack’s network is bigger and more active in 2026.

Question 7

Email Marketing, Marketing

How Do You Actually Make Money With a Newsletter in 2026?

TL;DR: Newsletters monetize through four stacks: affiliate links (works from ~500 engaged subscribers), paid subscriptions (from ~1,000; Substack takes 10%, Kit just 3.5% + $0.30), sponsorships (from ~2,500; consumer newsletters earn $25–70 CPM, B2B $50–100+, B2B SaaS a median of $112 in early 2026) and your own products (any size, highest margin). Most six-figure newsletters combine at least two. Start with affiliate links, add the next layer once your open rate holds above 40%.

Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links. If you sign up through them I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

The four ways newsletters make money (and when each works)

Model	Works from	Realistic at 5,000 engaged subs	Watch out for
Affiliate links	~500 subs	€200–1,000/mo	Disclose clearly; only tools you use
Paid subscriptions	~1,000 subs	€500–2,500/mo (2–5% convert at €5–10)	Platform fees eat margin
Sponsorships	~2,500 subs	€300–2,000/mo (2–4 sends)	Price per open, not per subscriber
Own products	any size	€500–5,000+/mo	Takes the most work up front

Stack 1: Affiliate income — the fastest start

Recommend the tools you already use, with honest context (“here’s what it costs, here’s who shouldn’t buy it”). Recurring-commission programs beat one-off bounties: an email platform referral can pay 30–50% monthly for the customer’s lifetime. That’s why tool-comparison content is the money engine of this blog — see Kit vs Mailchimp and Substack vs Kit for the format in action.

Stack 2: Paid subscriptions — mind the fees

The platform decides your margin. Substack charges 10% of revenue plus Stripe fees (13–16% all-in); Kit charges a flat 3.5% + $0.30 including Stripe, on every plan. At €1,000/month that difference is roughly €100/month — at €5,000 it’s €500. Full math in Substack vs Kit. Convert 2–5% of your free list at €5–10/month and paid subscriptions become your most predictable income line. Kit handles paid newsletters on the free plan →

Stack 3: Sponsorships — price per open, not per subscriber

2026 benchmarks: consumer/lifestyle newsletters earn $25–70 CPM, B2B niches $50–100+, and B2B SaaS a median of $112 (top decile $180). An open rate above 40% justifies a 20–50% premium, and a top-of-email placement costs 30–50% more than a footer slot. Half the market now runs on CPA/CPL or revenue-share instead of flat CPM — if your audience buys, performance deals can out-earn flat rates. Minimum viable pitch: a one-page media kit with list size, open rate, CTR and three audience facts.

Stack 4: Your own products — the margin king

Templates, mini-courses, workshops, services. No platform fee beyond payment processing, full price control, and your newsletter is the perfect launch channel. Start with one small product (€19–49) that solves the problem your lead magnet introduces.

The order that works

Affiliate first (no minimum audience, no product needed), sponsorships or paid subs once engagement is proven, own products when you know what your readers keep asking for. And keep growing the list underneath it all — my pillar guide to starting and growing a newsletter covers that side, and the best newsletter platforms of 2026 compares the monetization features per platform.

FAQ

How many subscribers do I need to make money with a newsletter?

Fewer than you think: affiliate income starts working around 500 engaged subscribers. Meaningful income (€500+/month) typically arrives between 1,000 and 5,000 subscribers with 6–18 months of consistency.

What’s a realistic sponsorship rate for a small newsletter?

In 2026, consumer newsletters charge $25–70 per 1,000 opens, B2B $50–100+. Below ~2,500 subscribers, charge a flat rate (think $50–150 per send) rather than CPM.

Are paid subscriptions better on Substack or Kit?

Substack is easier to switch on; Kit is cheaper at scale (3.5% + $0.30 vs 10% + Stripe). The break-even sits around $1,000/month in subscription revenue.

Do I have to disclose affiliate links in my newsletter?

Yes — legally (FTC/EU rules) and strategically. A short line like “some links are affiliate links, at no cost to you” protects you and builds trust.

What’s the biggest monetization mistake?

Selling to a cold list. Monetization multiplies engagement, it doesn’t create it — fix your open rate before you add a paywall, sponsor or product.

Question 8

Website Holiday Calendar - Plan ahead for success

Black Friday, Marketing

Plan Your Website’s Holiday Calendar: A Guide to Boost Your Business Strategy

The holiday season is just around the corner, and it’s time to gear up your website and business strategy to make the most of it. This blog post will guide you through a journey of optimizing your website for key holidays such as Halloween, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas. By planning ahead, you can capture the attention of early bird shoppers and maximize your sales during this festive time. If you’re looking for a done-for-you solution, check out the Black Friday Roadmap.

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Question 9

Content Marketing, Marketing, Strategic Marketing

The Marketing Dates for the New Year: Your Roadmap to Success with Key Marketing Dates

Are you ready to make this new year your most epic one yet? Buckle up, because we’re diving deep into the marketing dates for the new year that you absolutely can’t afford to miss. Whatever type of content you create, it is always your golden opportunity to market and promote your business, create social media posts that resonate, and drive those sales through the roof. And don’t forget to grab your copy of the Ultimate Marketing Calendar for the new year!

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Question 10

Black Friday, Marketing, Strategic Marketing

Upselling: Maximizing Revenue Before Black Friday

As a small business owner, content creator, or blogger, you constantly strive to increase your revenue while keeping your customers happy. With the Black Friday shopping season fast approaching, it’s the perfect time to explore the art of upselling. By mastering this sales technique, you can not only boost revenue but also improve customer retention. In this article, we’ll dive into the strategies and tactics that will help you maximize your earnings leading up to Black Friday.

(more…)

Question 11

Black Friday, Marketing, SEO

Ten Proven SEO Tips for Ranking Your Black Friday Content

Black Friday is one of the biggest shopping events of the year, and as a small business owner or content creator, it’s crucial to make sure your promotions and deals are reaching the right audience. With the power of search engine optimization (SEO), you can increase your online visibility, improve your Google ranking, and attract more organic traffic to your Black Friday content. In this blog post, we will share ten proven SEO tips to help you maximize your exposure and drive sales during this lucrative shopping season.

(more…)

Question 12

Black Friday, Content Marketing, Marketing

How to Plan Your Content Calendar for the Pre-Black Friday Rush

I know, marketing is on steroids these days. With all these different tools, platforms and people’s short attention span, it’s hard to compete, especially during the pre-Black Friday rush. As a small business owner or content creator, efficiently planning your content calendar can have a significant impact on your success. This guide will provide you with essential tips and strategies to optimize your content planning, allowing you to maximize your efforts during this busy shopping season. And don’t forget to download next year’s special marketing dates to stay ahead!

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