How I’m Making 8 Figures Sending Emails│Matt McGarry

In this episode, we sit down with Matt McGarry, founder of Growletter and one of the top minds in newsletter growth and monetization. Matt has helped brands like The Hustle, Milk Road, and Morning Brew scale to millions of subscribers and today he reveals exactly how to build, grow, and monetize a newsletter in 2025.

If you’ve ever wanted to turn your content into a real business, this is your playbook.

Subscribe to Matt's Newsletter -- https://www.newsletteroperator.com/subscribe

You’ll learn:

📩 The evolution of newsletters — from media empires to creator businesses

🚀 How to grow your first 1K, 10K, and 100K subscribers

💰 The best monetization models (ads, digital products, and subscriptions)

🧠 How to choose a profitable niche that actually converts

📊 Paid ads, lead magnets, and conversion benchmarks that work right now

⚙️ Matt’s full welcome flow and onboarding sequence for new subscribers

🔥 The biggest newsletter mistakes to avoid when scaling

🚀 Want to grow your newsletter faster? Here’s what we cover in this episode 👇

00:00 — How Matt started in the newsletter space

06:00 — How big newsletter businesses really get

13:40 — What makes a great newsletter stand out

29:20 — How to go from 100 → 100K subscribers

43:27 — The best lead magnets for fast growth

Full Chapter Breakdown:

00:00 — Intro: Who is Matt McGarry?

00:05 — How did you first get involved in the newsletter space?

01:34 — How has the newsletter industry changed since those early days?

03:25 — Which newsletters do you personally follow and study today?

05:04 — Where do you usually discover new newsletters to subscribe to?

06:00 — How big can newsletter businesses actually get?

07:47 — Would you classify Agora and similar publishers as newsletter companies?

09:24 — Should every modern media company have a newsletter component?

10:21 — Is that based on content type or audience demographics?

11:31 — What makes a great newsletter stand out from a poor one?

13:40 — How should beginners pick a niche when starting a newsletter?

17:28 — What are the most profitable newsletter niches right now?

18:41 — Do obscure or hyper-niche topics still make money?

20:41 — Is there space for non-profits or charities in newsletters?

21:42 — Do political campaigns use newsletters effectively?

22:27 — Are legacy media companies succeeding with newsletters?

25:06 — What should someone do first when starting a newsletter?

26:13 — How do you get your first subscribers and grow organically?

29:20 — What are the key growth stages: 100 → 10K → 100K subscribers?

33:15 — What are the most effective newsletter growth channels today?

37:34 — How do you track and compare subscriber quality across channels?

38:40 — Can you filter or vet subscribers on the front end?

39:15 — When should you start selling to new subscribers?

39:55 — What should the subscriber journey look like after signup?

42:15 — How many emails should be in your welcome flow?

43:27 — What are the best types of lead magnets for newsletters?

45:20 — Should you ever charge for lead magnets or access to your list?

46:33 — What conversion rates should you expect on signup pages?

47:46 — How should you run ads for your newsletter or lead magnets?

49:14 — What makes a newsletter ad campaign successful?