First things first: why sponsorship?
I decided to go the sponsorship route instead of paid subs for 3 reasons:
It’s so early & I want to keep growing. Paywall slows that.
My content is general - fits sponsor better than paid.
I want to tell great companies’ stories. (View Tweet)
not boring is company deep dives, fantasy m&a, guest posts, the Not Boring Syndicate, and more coming soon. https://t.co/oF8La0ymzy (View Tweet)
We should cross 14k subscribers today (🤯) and have been growing >50% per month for the past few months.
Because essays have been getting shared a bunch, subscribers * open rate undershoots impressions. It’s been more like 30-45k views for Stripe, Tencent, & Softbank essays. https://t.co/Xb2du2TBkQ (View Tweet)
Note: What was my takeaway from this? You can grow faster than you think? Admiring Packy’s growth?
I surveyed not boring readers recently to learn more about them. Turns out, they’re mostly 25-34, well educated, high earners. And male. Too male.
Please share not boring with your smart female and non-binary friends! https://t.co/Q1euAWVJ5v (View Tweet)
Over 60% of not boring readers are decision makers, and they work in companies small and large, across tech, finance, ecommerce and dozens of other industries.
This was fun. I searched a bunch of companies’ names in my list, and found that at least one person from every one I searched reads not boring.
People from @stripe @Snapchat @SlackHQ @Spotify @Shopify @sequoia @SoftBank… if your company starts with S, you subscribe. https://t.co/wiQMDpa6aS (View Tweet)
On to the $$$…
Mondays are the most popular posts — they’re getting opened at a ~53% rate and shared across the world wide web — so Monday placement at the top of the email is $2k (keeps increasing as subs grow).
@teachable stepped up for SWYKS: https://t.co/yNkxLGfLkxhttps://t.co/annbZc2w4P (View Tweet)
Thursdays have about the same open rate but get shared less, so sitting at the top of a Thursday email is a little less expensive.
@TheHustle Trends sponsored yesterday’s (🙏) https://t.co/ZaXpCRzxVxhttps://t.co/51tJMacMKh (View Tweet)
Since what I do is write about companies, I’m testing out a new format in the coming weeks: Full Company Deep Dive.
Not for the faint of heart: you pay me $5k, and I analyze the company in public, good and bad.
Only doing companies I really like to start, but will be honest 👿 https://t.co/ZMidNQ3cVw (View Tweet)
Just want to dip your toe in the not boring water?
I’m doing mid-or-post-essay placements for $500/spot.
Big ups to @tdozzi at Gen Z Voice for being the first person to ever pay not boring for a spot: https://t.co/wF4upCifqWhttps://t.co/UyH3Oz7el1 (View Tweet)
The most important thing to keep in mind here is that I’m making all of this up as I go along, and I would like for the sponsorships to live up to the not boring name.
If you have crazy ideas you want to try, hit me up! https://t.co/mTAJCxUMZl (View Tweet)