Community Newsletter

Startup Costs: $2,000 - $10,000
Home Based: Can be operated from home.
Part Time: Can be operated part-time.
Franchises Available? No
Online Operation? Yes

Writing, publishing, and distributing your own community newsletter is a great way to earn extra money and have some fun at the same time. To keep your start-up, equipment and printing costs to a minimum use 11-by-17-inch paper folded in half, as is your newspaper. This will give you four pages on which to feature content and advertisements. Featured content can be whatever you think will be beneficial to the community'-entertainment, sports, real estate, the arts, senior issues, business news or just games and trivia. The paper is supported financially by local business advertisers and, based on the 11-by-17-inch format, you can fit up to 24 business-card-sized ads in each issue, while still leaving lots of room for content. Charging $150 per month for each ad space will generate revenues of $3,600, of which approximately 20 percent will be needed to cover paper, printing and distribution. The weekly newspapers can be delivered free of charge to community gathering places such as restaurants, community centers, coffee shops, fitness clubs and pubs, for clients to read on location and/or take home. To get up and running you will need a computer, software such as Adobe PageMaker, a printer capable of using 11-by-17-inch paper, and reliable transportation to deliver the papers. Once you have typeset in the content and ads, you can print one copy of the paper and use a local copy shop to complete the run for pennies apiece.

Community Newsletter Ideas

Graphic Design

Take your flair for design and start a business.

Transcript Service

A transcript service is unique, homebased and can generate a good income. How else should we spell it out for you?

Self-Publisher

Don't want to deal with agents? Become a self-publisher.

More from Business Ideas

Side Hustle

Her 'Crude Prototype' and $50 Craigslist Purchase Launched a Side Hustle That Hit $1 Million in Sales — Now the Business Generates Up to $20 Million a Year

Elle Rowley experienced a "surge of creative inspiration" after she had her first baby in 2009 — and it wasn't long before she landed on a great idea.

Starting a Business

Ask Co-Founder of Netflix Marc Randolph Anything: How to Watch

How to watch the new live streaming episode of 'Ask Marc.'

Business Process

If You Don't Learn How to Pivot Your Business, You'll Watch It Perish — Here's What a Successful Pivot Looks Like.

Changing your business strategy to meet shifting market demands isn't bad. When done carefully, it can transform your company into something extraordinary.