Indie Newsletter Tool Generates $15,000 a Month

About

Buttondown is a lightweight email newsletter app. The key difference between Buttondown and other email marketing services is simplicity. It cuts out all the noise and focuses on writing posts and sending newsletters.

The Team

Buttondown was created by Justin Duke as a side project in 2017. Justin Duke did not go full-time on this project until he quit his job at Stripe in 2023.

Business Model & Revenue

Buttondown monetizes its service via a subscription model. Despite being in a highly competitive market - email marketing tools - Buttondown strives to make $15,000 a month.

Traffic

According to the interview, Buttondown's user base growth relies on the following channels:

• community engagement with a focus on community engagement through platforms like Twitter.

• Interviews and media appearances, though not an explicit strategy, have been beneficial in reaching a broader audience.

• Technical SEO is approached pragmatically, ensuring no issues with meta tags or links.

The distribution channels above explain the reason Buttondown is able to achieve such a high AS (Authority Score), which is a result of a large number of relevant backlinks.

Tech Stack

• Backend: Django
• Frontend: VueJS