Local Media HQ

Amy Vartenuk joins the podcast to share how she’s building Clevelandish, a modern local newsletter focused on connection, positivity, and personality. Funded by a local business owner but operated independently, Clevelandish offers a unique hybrid model for local media entrepreneurs.

Amy explains how polling readers, encouraging replies, and leaning into her own perspective helped differentiate Clevelandish from traditional media outlets. She also discusses how being creator-led makes the brand more resilient in an era of AI-generated content.

Listeners will hear real-world insights on paid subscriber growth, advertiser outreach through Instagram DMs, and why not every advertiser is the right fit. Amy emphasizes sustainability, creative freedom, and designing a media business that supports long-term growth rather than burnout.

Guest Info:

Clevelandish Website: https://clevelandish.com

Socials: @clevelandish_oh (Instagram, TikTok, Facebook)

Subscribe to the Weekly Newsletter:

https://www.localmediahq.com/subscribe 

Join the Community (Discord):

Connect with TJ, share ideas, ask questions, and be part of a growing creator & media community

👉 Join here: https://discord.localmediahq.com/

Follow My Journey

Twitter/X: https://x.com/TJLarkin23 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tj.larkin 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tjlarkin1 

Website: https://tjlarkin.com/ 

Work With Me

For brand partnerships, sponsorships, and business inquiries:

[email protected]  

#LocalNewsletter

#LocalMedia

#CreatorEconomy

#EmailMarketing

#NewsletterGrowth

#MediaBusiness

#CommunityBuilding

#Cleveland

#DigitalMedia

#Entrepreneurship

Why do legacy media companies earn more ad revenue even when local newsletters often have higher engagement? In this conversation, Justin Moore explains the disconnect and outlines how modern local media operators can position themselves as high-value partners to advertisers.

Topics include how to pitch sponsorships without racing to the bottom on price, why Instagram and video content carry outsized value for local businesses, and how custom, goal-based proposals outperform generic ad packages. Justin also shares tactical advice on outbound pitching, video proposals, and identifying the right advertisers to target.

This episode is designed for local publishers who want to move beyond low-dollar ads and build a real sponsorship business.

Guest: Justin Moore

Website & Book: https://sponsormagnet.com/

Podcast: Sponsor Magnet Podcast

Live Event: https://sponsorgames.com/

Use code “TJ500” for $500 off

Subscribe to the Weekly Newsletter:

https://www.localmediahq.com/subscribe 

Join the Community (Discord):

Connect with TJ, share ideas, ask questions, and be part of a growing creator & media community

👉 Join here: https://discord.localmediahq.com/

Follow My Journey

Twitter/X: https://x.com/TJLarkin23 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tj.larkin 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tjlarkin1 

Website: https://tjlarkin.com/ 

Work With Me

For brand partnerships, sponsorships, and business inquiries:

[email protected] 

#LocalMedia #NewsletterBusiness #Sponsorships #MediaMonetization #CreatorEconomy #LocalAdvertising #JustinMoore #SponsorMagnet #DigitalPublishing #MediaStrategy

Dan Oshinsky joins TJ Larkin to unpack what it really takes to build a sustainable newsletter business in 2025 and beyond. With over a decade of experience leading newsletter strategy at major media companies, Dan explains why newsletters are still early and where the biggest opportunities exist today.

The discussion covers niche selection, local newsletters, audience trust, and how creators can combine newsletters with social media, events, and community building. Dan shares real examples of newsletter operators who turned small audiences into six-figure businesses by focusing on value, consistency, and relationships.

If you’re struggling with ad sales or unsure how to monetize your newsletter, this episode offers practical advice on building partnerships, following up with advertisers, and creating long-term revenue instead of chasing quick wins.

Guest: Dan Oshinsky

Website & Newsletter: https://inboxcollective.com/

Newsletter Advertising Playbook: https://inboxcollective.com/buy-the-playbook

Subscribe to the Weekly Newsletter:

https://www.localmediahq.com/subscribe 

Join the Community (Discord):

Connect with TJ, share ideas, ask questions, and be part of a growing creator & media community

👉 Join here: https://discord.localmediahq.com/

Follow My Journey

Twitter/X: https://x.com/TJLarkin23 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tj.larkin 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tjlarkin1 

Website: https://tjlarkin.com/ 

Work With Me

For brand partnerships, sponsorships, and business inquiries:

[email protected] 

#Newsletters

#LocalMedia

#CreatorEconomy

#AudienceBuilding

#EmailMarketing

#NewsletterBusiness

#MediaEntrepreneur

#DigitalPublishing

#AdSales

#InboxCollective

Matt Moody breaks down how he built Salina 311 into a “community intelligence platform,” reaching over 30,000 members in a town of about 60,000, and generating north of $500,000 in annual revenue. 

Instead of treating it as “just a newsletter,” Matt explains how multiple distribution channels (email, web, Facebook, SMS) and heavy automation shaped the growth engine, plus why he focuses on objective community data to earn trust. 

They also dig into monetization: paid memberships, limited ad inventory with rising rates, sponsored coverage for teams/events, and a self-serve ad approach that increasingly drives inbound demand. 

Guest info: 

Matt Moody

Fractals Network: fractalsnetwork.com

Salina 311: salina311

Events platform: events.salina311.com

Wilmington community example: communitydashboard.org

Subscribe to the Weekly Newsletter:

https://www.localmediahq.com/subscribe 

Join the Community (Discord):

Connect with TJ, share ideas, ask questions, and be part of a growing creator & media community

👉 Join here: https://discord.localmediahq.com/

Follow My Journey

Twitter/X: https://x.com/TJLarkin23 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tj.larkin 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tjlarkin1 

Website: https://tjlarkin.com/ 

Work With Me

For brand partnerships, sponsorships, and business inquiries:

[email protected] 

#LocalNews #NewsletterGrowth #CommunityBuilding #MediaBusiness #MembershipModel #LocalAdvertising #CivicTech #Automation #SMSMarketing #EventsMarketing

discord.localmediahq.com

localnewsletteros.com

⁠https://signup.memelord.com/tj⁠

In this episode I wanted to open up my notebook and share a few things I am seeing across local newsletters, high ticket service businesses and software. No script. Just ideas that feel early but important. The first one is the “local MrBeast” concept. My First Million mentioned it this week. I had just written about it. So I figured it was a good time to spell out why I think this could be a huge edge for local operators who are willing to do something slightly harder than the average newsletter.

We start with a live example. Cole, a roofer in South Carolina, has been documenting his work and his community on video. One of those videos blew up. Around 700,000 views in about two weeks. It travelled through business Twitter and YouTube. That is not a small bump. That is the type of spike that can reset an entire business. I break down why his approach worked, why doing it as a media company instead of a single business could be even more powerful, and how this fits with the idea of being “creator led” at the local level instead of just being another newsletter that recaps headlines.

From there I talk through the second big theme. Local memes. Memes are how entire subcultures talk to each other. Crypto. Business. Tech. They are fast to consume and fun to share, which makes them perfect for local. I share a few specific plays. A Stranger Things themed Kansas City graphic that exploded with engagement. A comet joke that tapped into long running frustration with slow road construction and then got cloned into other markets. I also mention a tool called memelord.com that surfaces the raw templates for whatever is trending, so you can bolt your local twist on top instead of spending hours trying to be a graphic designer.

Midway through the episode I flip the screen on and walk through my software. Local Newsletter OS pulls in local news with RSS, rewrites it with your own AI prompts, collects articles from your readers through a simple form, and lets you manage ads and partners in the same place. The events module scrapes events, helps you clean them up, and sends them straight into your next issue. The Zillow integration lets you search for homes in your city, pick one, and drop a fully formatted real estate card into your newsletter in seconds. That feature alone used to eat up real time every single week.

I close with some thoughts on statewide and even countrywide newsletters. I talk about Nate Spangle’s Indiana project, why a state audience unlocks different types of advertisers, and how marketing budgets work inside larger organizations. A single town newsletter might never see a dollar from a statewide insurance marketing team. A strong state brand can. Bigger reach, bigger budgets, and a different kind of leverage. If you want to try any of this, I invite you to jump into the free Discord, get on the Local Newsletter OS waitlist, or reach out through localmediahq.com if you want help with Meta ads, backend ops or a deeper partnership.

Subscribe to the Weekly Newsletter:

https://www.localmediahq.com/subscribe 

Join the Community (Discord):

Connect with TJ, share ideas, ask questions, and be part of a growing creator & media community

👉 Join here: https://discord.localmediahq.com/

Follow My Journey

Twitter/X: https://x.com/TJLarkin23 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tj.larkin 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tjlarkin1 

Website: https://tjlarkin.com/ 

Work With Me

For brand partnerships, sponsorships, and business inquiries:

[email protected] 

What does it take to run a daily local newsletter in a big metro, completely solo? In this conversation, Nick Hageman of KC Daily walks through his journey from side project in between orthopedic surgery cases to full-time operator of a daily newsletter reaching tens of thousands of Kansas Citians. He talks openly about starting with someone else’s blueprint from NWA Daily, adapting it to Kansas City, and learning the hard way that different markets respond very differently to things like Reddit, Facebook groups, and local events coverage.

Nick and TJ dive into how KC Daily leverages Instagram as a discovery channel, including the “local viral” posts and simple video ideas that brought in thousands of followers, like a snow-shoveling “Super Bowl” reel and a Stranger Things–style skyline image. They discuss why those followers don’t always translate to engagement, how Nick measures success with Beehive segments and tracking links, and how tools like ManyChat help convert slow but cheap subscribers from social. You’ll also hear his thoughts on AI, why he deliberately uses very little of it, and how having a real local face still matters as trust in national media and automated content erodes.

If you’re trying to monetize local media, you’ll get a clear look at KC Daily’s business model: recurring newsletter advertisers with real marketing budgets, PR-firm relationships that turn into multi-client deals, a local dining discount card, and a small “fan club” for reader support. Nick shares how he gets on press release lists, how he follows up with performance metrics, and why simply showing up at media events has led to some of his biggest deals. 

To connect, find Nick Hageman on LinkedIn, subscribe to KC Daily at kcdaily.com, and follow @kcdaily on Instagram for daily Kansas City stories and experiments.

Subscribe to the Weekly Newsletter:

https://www.localmediahq.com/subscribe 

Join the Community (Discord):

Connect with TJ, share ideas, ask questions, and be part of a growing creator & media community

👉 Join here: https://discord.localmediahq.com/

Follow My Journey

Twitter/X: https://x.com/TJLarkin23 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tj.larkin 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tjlarkin1 

Website: https://tjlarkin.com/ 

Work With Me

For brand partnerships, sponsorships, and business inquiries:

[email protected]  

#LocalNewsletters

#KCDaily

#KansasCity

#LocalMedia

#NewsletterGrowth

#InstagramMarketing

#SmallBusinessMarketing

#PRStrategy

#CreatorEconomy

#DigitalPublishing

Local media operators love to talk about “diversified revenue,” but in this conversation, Nate Spangle shows exactly what that looks like in practice. TJ and Nate unpack how Get Indiana evolved from a struggling tech-company podcast into a growing Indiana-focused media company with a statewide podcast, multiple newsletters, and a strong social presence. Nate explains why he reoriented the show toward “Hoosiers doing inspiring things,” and how that identity became the anchor for everything else he built.

Nate shares specific campaigns that drove growth, from the all-Indiana Indy 500 tailgate to memorizing every high school mascot in the state and doing “plumber for a day” videos with sponsors. He talks about why his content leans heavily on energy, creativity, and simple iPhone production instead of high-end cinematic gear, and how bringing on local creators, a Purdue student editor, a Fishers-based mom and writer, and others, has turned Get Indiana into more than just “the Nate show.”

For anyone building local media, Nate dives into the details: how to land your first big sponsors by starting with small wins (like a local insurance agent), then stair-stepping up to statewide marketing teams; why you should target brands with big budgets and low engagement; and how bundling video, newsletters, and podcast inventory into year-long deals creates predictable, scalable revenue. He’s also candid about what hasn’t worked yet, including early experiments with paid newsletters and merch drops.

Follow Nate Spangle (@natespangle) on Instagram to watch these campaigns unfold in real time, and follow @getindiana for statewide stories, features, and updates. To get the newsletters Nate mentions in this episode, subscribe to Get Indiana, Get South Bend, and Get Fishers via the signup links on their social profiles.

Subscribe to the Weekly Newsletter:

https://www.localmediahq.com/subscribe 

Join the Community (Discord):

Connect with TJ, share ideas, ask questions, and be part of a growing creator & media community

👉 Join here: https://discord.gg/zWfExN6SSZ 

Follow My Journey

Twitter/X: https://x.com/TJLarkin23 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tj.larkin 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tjlarkin1 

Website: https://tjlarkin.com/ 

Work With Me

For brand partnerships, sponsorships, and business inquiries:

[email protected]  

#LocalMedia

#LocalNewsletters

#GetIndiana

#Hoosier

#NewsletterBusiness

#CreatorEconomy

#MediaMonetization

#SmallBusinessMarketing

#LocalPodcast

#IndianaBusiness

How do you turn a local newsletter into the default media brand in your city? In this conversation, Jas walks TJ through exactly how he did it, shrinking his team from several part-time VAs to one highly leveraged full-timer, tightening his processes, and freeing up his own time by cutting newsletter production from 12 hours a week down to about four.

They unpack Beehive’s big feature announcements and what actually matters for local operators. Jas explains where the product tools fall short for more complex offers like multi-city restaurant guides, why he thinks most link-in-bio setups are a mistake for local brands, and why dynamic content is the most exciting upgrade so far, especially for splitting ads by geography or audience segments.

From there, they go deep on advertiser strategy: growing big enough to become the obvious choice, using giveaways to create demand, and framing ad spend around lifetime value so local owners see the upside, not just the cost. Jas shares how he was willing to invest heavily up front, then used that growth to land annual deals and structure offers that feel like “put in $2,000, get back $10,000.”

Reach Jas on X/Twitter at creatingjas for questions, collaborations, or follow-ups. You can also connect with him inside the Newsletter Club, where he’s active in the community and continues to share what’s working in his local media business.

#LocalNewsletter

#NewsletterBusiness

#EmailMonetization

#LocalMedia

#AudienceGrowth

#Beehiiv

#SmallBusinessAdvertising

#CreatorBusiness

#DigitalPublishing

#NewsletterClub

This episode dives deep into building a durable local media business with Michael Kauffman of Catskill Crew and The Newsletter Club. We unpack why communities crave print again, how to monetize beyond banner ads, and what it takes to turn a newsletter into a multi-revenue platform. You’ll hear how Discord-powered peer learning accelerates growth and why “quality over quantity” in ads is non-negotiable.

Michael shares his upcoming premium, quarterly, wax-sealed mailer, a seasonal “mini almanac” with members-only extras, and the simple validation steps he used before committing. We also cover his “local holdco” approach: products (Catskillopoly games, puzzles, merch), events, and even commercial real estate partnerships that create a flywheel of awareness, distribution, and revenue.

You’ll learn practical ad-sales tactics (educate, de-risk, package, and measure), why one-offs underperform, and how to reverse-engineer campaigns to a sponsor’s success metric (like a 2% CTR). Plus, we talk events that actually work, low-lift dinners, walks, and concerts, priced with flat fees to keep incentives aligned, and the power of polling to validate before you build.

Guest links and contacts: 

The Newsletter Club: thenewsletter.club. 

Catskill Crew: search “Catskill Crew” to find the official site and socials.

#NewsletterClub

#LocalMedia

#CatskillCrew

#NewsletterGrowth

#Monetization

#DirectMail

#LocalEvents

#AdSales

#HoldCo

#SmallBusinessMarketing

This episode digs into how Jimmy Farrell grew CHS Happenings—a Charleston, SC local newsletter—from 0 to 10,000+ subscribers with a deliberate, community-first approach. We cover why he chose a personality-led brand, how he thinks about weekly cadence, and why Instagram—not LinkedIn—is his main growth channel for local audiences. We also talk through the real tradeoffs of pausing paid growth to focus on monetization.

Jimmy breaks down his progression from residential real estate content to a full newsletter, what he learned from Meta ads (and why costs/targeting matter), and how consistent “scoop” reporting (like pegging the location of Charleston’s second Trader Joe’s) builds trust. He shares how he’s now producing short local business interviews, using ManyChat for IG DMs, and summarizing paywalled articles to restore click-through behavior.

Key takeaways: lead with a real human, publish reliably (weekly can be enough), push discovery on Instagram, and build a focused prospect list of high-lifetime-value categories (banks, dentists, med spas, premium real estate). Automate first-touches, then go 1:1 once people engage. Use sponsorship revenue to fund sustainable paid growth rather than chasing vanity list numbers.

Guest contact information: 

Instagram: @chs.happenings; 

LinkedIn: Jimmy Farrell (DMs open). 

Newsletter: CHS Happenings (Charleston, SC).

#Charleston

#CHSHappenings

#LocalNewsletter

#NewsletterGrowth

#NewsletterMonetization

#InstagramMarketing

#MetaAds

#LocalBusiness

#CommunityNews

#RealEstateMarketing