2026 will reward the odds

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I have a quick announcement to make. After almost 9 months, I think I have found what Insideletter should do.

Very few newsletters discuss the monetisation aspect. It is so easy to talk about growth or distribution because everyone does it. Still, very few people actually talk about or care to share the monetisation part. As I mentioned in the last edition, you don’t just build a newsletter for the sake of building; you do it because you want to make money from it.

So from Tuesday, you will see the changes, new content pillars and a new structure.

In today’s edition, I’ll talk about something really interesting and important in the newsletter space.

If you look at the big names in the newsletter market, The Hustle, Morning Brew, or The Daily Skimm, guess what they have in common? They are run by a large team and are built on a general niche.

But in 2026, the situation has completely changed. People are now more interested in building lean, one-person newsletters, and the big niches are not working anymore.

The game is now about micro niches and unorthodox newsletters.

When I say micro, I mean areas like sustainable living, biohacking, local newsletters, personal finance, or edtech. When I say unorthodox, I mean hobby-based newsletters, recipe newsletters, or sports analysis newsletters.

I have recently started two hobby-based newsletters: Oops, History, a history newsletter, and Only Dark, a dark chocolate newsletter. I also run Inverted90, a football analysis newsletter, although I am not focusing on it too much because Insideletter is my primary focus. One thing at a time.

The reason unorthodox niches work so well is that when you target a specific group, their interests are very clear, their problems are specific, and their willingness to pay is higher.

You do not need millions of subscribers to monetise. A few hundred highly engaged readers can buy a product, join a paid community, or click on a sponsored offer because it actually aligns with what they need the most. The brands which will sponsor you will also prefer it. If you can guarantee your audience is exactly the type of person they want to reach, they are willing to pay more.

Big newsletters require massive effort, constant output, and intense competition. As a solo creator, that pressure is exhausting and unsustainable. (I, as a solo creator, can tell you)

Most people focus on growth first and monetisation second. Growth without a plan for revenue is vanity. You can have thousands of readers who read every email, but they do not help you make money. The hard part is not attracting attention but turning that attention into a sustainable business. That is what most newsletters ignore and why so few solo newsletters are profitable.

At the end of the day, the game is not about building the biggest newsletter. It is about building the most aligned one. When your audience, your content, and your offers all line up, everything else becomes easier.

Alignment creates trust, trust creates engagement, and engagement creates revenue.

That’s the cheatcode you need, hope I could help you change your mind. Will you be focusing on unorthodox newsletter from now?

Anirban ‘helping you learn about the odd game’ Das