#16 - From 100 Followers to 200,000 Yen Monthly: The "Monetization Ladder" to Start on note
If you get 100 people to subscribe at 1,000 yen per month, 85,000 yen will automatically come in every month. With 200 people, that's 170,000 yen. You don't need to pitch for projects. Your followers don't need to explode in number. As long as subscribers don't leave, the same amount will continue to come in next month and the month after.
This is the core of the content side hustle. You write one or two articles a week and continue to deliver value to your readers. What you are doing looks simple, but there is a clear "blueprint" behind it.
On Substack, over 50 individuals are already earning more than $1 million (approx. 150 million yen) annually (Substack CEO Chris Best, June 2025). This is not a distant story—in Japan, too, note membership sales have grown by over 80% year-on-year, and the number of creators generating revenue has roughly doubled compared to the previous year.
The Common Structure Shown by Three Creators
By researching primary sources from overseas directly, what became clear was the revenue structure that successful creators use in common.
Lenny Rachitsky — A former product manager at Airbnb. After leaving, he started "Lenny's Newsletter," which specializes in product development. His total subscriber count exceeds 1 million, with an estimated 19,000+ paid subscribers. With two plans—$15 (approx. 2,250 yen) per month / $150 (approx. 22,500 yen) per year—the annual revenue from the newsletter alone is estimated to reach $3.5 million (approx. 530 million yen). He is consistently ranked in the top tier on Substack's official leaderboard.
Furthermore, his advertising revenue from "Lenny's Podcast" is over $500,000 (approx. 75 million yen) annually. The total revenue combining the newsletter and the podcast is said to be on the scale of $10 million (approx. 1.5 billion yen) per year.
What Lenny Rachitsky writes are deep-dive articles exceeding 10,000 characters each. He competes on quality, not quantity.
Nick Loper — The operator of "Side Hustle Nation," which specializes in side hustle information. His own podcast, "The Side Hustle Show," has released over 700 episodes and has over 100,000 listeners. *Based on statements within the podcast and information on the official website. This revenue structure can also be confirmed on the official Side Hustle Nation website. His revenue pillars are three-fold: podcast advertising revenue, the newsletter, and digital products (side hustle diagnostic quizzes and online courses), bundling a total of 15 revenue sources. He has built a "media ecosystem" that combines multiple products, rather than just a podcast, over the course of more than 12 years.
Audrey Bell-Kearney — A 58-year-old entrepreneur who is also the president of a chamber of commerce. She has over 28 years of business experience and has authored 13 books. What makes her unique is that she specializes in a clear niche: "aspiring entrepreneurs over 50." She launched a platform called "GenX University" and built a flow of attracting customers through content, followed by selling unique tools and corporate consulting.
While what these three are doing is different, there is a common structure.
The Blueprint Called the "Monetization Ladder"
When you break down the business models of these three, you can see that everyone uses the same blueprint. I call this the "Monetization Ladder."
Step 1: Build Trust for Free
Lenny Rachitsky puts out articles of overwhelming quality even in the free version. Nick Loper has released over 700 free podcasts. Audrey Bell-Kearney publishes free content on YouTube and LinkedIn.
Making people think, "If it's this good for free, the paid version must be even more amazing"—that is the first step. What is important here is that the free content is not a "lead-in to paid content" but "has sufficient value in itself." Trust is the opposite of holding back.
Step 2: Create Stable Revenue with Monthly Billing
Create a relationship that is hard to cancel with recurring billing of 1,000 to 3,000 yen per month. You cannot sell high-priced products right away. First, have them realize through a small payment that "this person is worth paying for."
In the case of Lenny Rachitsky, the pricing of $15 (approx. 2,250 yen) per month is the key. Considering the annual income of a product manager, 2,250 yen per month is "the price of one lunch." The psychological hurdle for the reader is extremely low.
Step 3: Increase Profits with High-Ticket Products
Propose high-ticket products such as online courses, consulting, and events to fans with whom you have deepened trust. Nick Loper offers online courses, while Audrey Bell-Kearney provides corporate training and consulting. In addition to his $150 annual plan, Lenny Rachitsky increases the value of his premium plans with a 'Product Pass' that bundles free access to partner company paid tools (Notion, Linear, Granola, etc.).
This 'Free → Low-Ticket → High-Ticket' ladder structure is the core blueprint for a content business.
Why is the 'Monetization Ladder' so powerful?
There are three reasons.
1. Recurring revenue is stable
Ad revenue fluctuates wildly depending on algorithms. YouTube takes 45% of ad revenue. With monthly subscriptions, once you have subscribers, revenue comes in automatically every month.
Substack's fee is 10% plus payment processing fees (approx. 3.6%), so about 86% of the revenue remains in your pocket. Compared to an ad model, the quality of the revenue is completely different.
2. You don't need a large number of followers
If you have 100 subscribers paying 2,000 yen per month, that's a monthly income of 200,000 yen. With 1,000 subscribers, it's 2 million yen per month, or 24 million yen per year. You don't need to go viral with the masses. A narrow and deep expertise is more likely to lead to monetization.
Lenny Rachitsky has an estimated 19,000 paid subscribers. Out of a total of 1 million subscribers, that is less than 2%. The remaining 98% are free readers. Even so, he generates hundreds of millions of yen in annual revenue. You don't need to make everyone a paid subscriber.
3. Content becomes an asset
Articles you write once don't disappear. Past articles attract new readers and continue to increase your paid subscriber base. It is a compound interest structure where the more you create, the more your assets accumulate.
Morning Brew was acquired for $75 million (approx. 11.2 billion yen). The Hustle was acquired by HubSpot for approximately $20.3 million (approx. 3 billion yen). The newsletter subscriber list itself becomes a sellable asset.
Looking at the concrete numbers—Comparing net proceeds by platform
When implementing the 'Monetization Ladder' in Japan, the first hurdle you face is 'which platform to use.' The difference in fees directly affects your earnings.
Here, we compare the results of selling a paid magazine for 1,000 yen per month to 100 people (monthly sales of 100,000 yen).
Substack (Global Standard)
Platform fee: 10%
Payment processing fee: approx. 3.6%
Monthly sales of 100,000 yen → Net profit of approximately 86,400 yen
Features: De facto standard in English-speaking countries. Less familiar to Japanese readers
note (Subscription Magazine)
Platform fee: 20%
Payment processing fee: Credit card 5%, PayPay 7%, Carrier billing 15%
Monthly sales of 100,000 yen → Net profit of approximately 76,000 yen (for credit card payments)
Features: Japan's largest paid content platform. Strong ability to attract customers
note (Paid articles/Memberships)
Platform fee: 10%
Payment processing fee: Credit card 5%
Monthly sales of 100,000 yen → Net profit of approximately 85,500 yen (for credit card payments)
Features: Lower fee rate than subscription magazines. Memberships have been growing rapidly since 2025 (over +80% year-on-year)
Stripe (Self-managed payments)
Platform fee: None
Payment processing fee: 3.6% (+10% consumption tax, effectively 3.96%)
Subscription management (Stripe Billing): +0.7%
Monthly sales of 100,000 yen → Net profit of approximately 95,340 yen
Features: Maximum net profit. However, you must prepare your own customer acquisition and content distribution
theLetter (Japanese version of Substack)
Simultaneous distribution of web articles and newsletters
Three revenue streams: paid subscriptions, sponsor collaborations, and publication revenue from partner media
Multiple writers earning over 10 million yen in annual revenue
Characteristics: Strong in highly specialized niches (beauty, investment, automotive industry, etc.)
In terms of net profit alone, Stripe is the best, but you have to handle customer acquisition yourself. Until you gather your first 100 people, the internal traffic of platforms like note or theLetter is effective. Once you exceed 100 people, considering a migration to Stripe is a realistic decision.
Implementing the "Monetization Ladder" in Japan
You might think, "That's a story from overseas, right?" However, because there is less competition in Japan, the opportunities are greater.
On Substack, there are over 50 creators earning more than $1 million annually. Meanwhile, the average annual revenue of the top 1,000 creators on note is approximately 15.15 million yen (as of December 2025). The paid content market in Japan is still in the early stages of growth.
The paid article market on note is growing by 26.8% year-on-year, and membership revenue is up by over 80% compared to the same month last year. The number of creators generating revenue has roughly doubled compared to the previous year. Now is the time to enter, while the market is expanding.
Specifically, how do you design it?
Step 1: Build trust with free articles on note (0-3 months)
Decide on one specialized area and publish 1-2 free articles per week. Since note has existing traffic, it is easy to gain readers even if you start from zero. The key is the resolution of "who you are writing for." "For PMs at SaaS companies," "Side hustle support for those over 40," "Business improvement for restaurant owners"—the narrower the focus, the more it resonates.
Step 2: Start monthly billing with memberships or paid magazines (3-6 months)
Once you get a response to your free articles, transition to a monthly subscription model. If you use note memberships, the fee is 15% (10% for the platform + 5% for payment processing). Start in the range of 500 to 1,500 yen per month.
If you gather 50 subscribers at 1,000 yen per month, your monthly net profit will be approximately 42,500 yen. With 100 people, it's about 85,000 yen. It's not a huge amount, but what you gain here is proof that "there are people who will pay for my content."
Step 3: Add high-ticket products (6 months onwards)
Once you have over 100 monthly subscribers, add high-ticket digital products. Online courses (5,000-30,000 yen), individual consulting (30,000-50,000 yen per session), and corporate training (100,000-500,000 yen per project). There will always be people among your subscribers who want to learn more.
Revenue simulation:
Membership 1,000 yen/month × 200 people = 170,000 yen/month (2.04 million yen/year)
Paid articles 2 per month × average 500 yen × 100 copies = 100,000 yen/month (1.2 million yen/year)
Online courses 10,000 yen × 20 people/month = 200,000 yen/month (2.4 million yen/year)
Total: 5.64 million yen per year (before fees)
200 monthly subscribers, 100 single-article purchasers, and 20 online course students per month. Every one of these figures is quite realistic on Japan's note platform. While it hasn't yet reached the 15.15 million yen annual average revenue of the top 1,000 note creators, it is a level that can already exceed a primary income as an 'extension of a side hustle'.
Niches are still available
The Japanese content business market still has many open positions.
Categories with growing sales on note include 'AI utilization,' 'SNS management,' and 'child-rearing'—the average price for practical know-how is 1,842 yen, and for reading material, it's 983 yen. However, many of the specialized niches that are successful overseas are still underserved in Japanese.
For example, the paid newsletter for 'Product Management' dominated by Lenny Rachitsky barely exists in Japanese. Similarly, Nick Loper's 'systematic side hustle information' is mostly limited to free blogs in Japan, with few examples of successful monetization.
Borrow the 'blueprints' from overseas and apply them to Japanese niches. Understand platform fees and design a monetization ladder in stages. It's not a flashy story, but it is a reproducible strategy.
What you can do today
Try writing one sentence about 'who you are helping and how.' 'Overseas business information for 30-something salarymen looking for side hustles,' 'Practical know-how for product managers'—once you've narrowed it down that far, write one free article on note. The monetization ladder begins with that first free article. It doesn't matter if you have zero subscribers.
The blueprint for the 'monetization ladder'—including an implementation guide that dives into how to gather your first 100 people, how to lower churn rates, and the timing for transitioning to high-ticket products—is explained in a paid article.
Reference Information
[Overseas Creator Case Studies]
・Lenny's Newsletter — Lenny Rachitsky's product management-focused newsletter (Substack). Over 1 million total subscribers, estimated 19,000+ paid subscribers
https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/
・CNBC "Lenny Rachitsky brings in over $500,000 from his podcast" (January 2024) — Primary report on podcast revenue
・Growth In Reverse "Paid Newsletter Deep Dive: How Lenny Rachitsky Gets 18k People to Pay" — Analysis of paid subscriber numbers
・Side Hustle Nation — Nick Loper's side hustle information platform. Over 700 episodes of 'The Side Hustle Show' podcast
https://www.sidehustlenation.com/
・Audrey Bell-Kearney — Specializes in supporting entrepreneurs over 50. Operates GenX University
[Market Data & Statistics]
・Substack CEO Chris Best's statement (June 2025): 'Over 50 authors are earning more than $1M annually through paid subscriptions'
・Backlinko "Substack User and Revenue Statistics (2026)" — 8.4 million Substack paid subscribers (Q1 2026)
・note Inc. press release (2025) — Analysis of 300,000 paid articles, membership sales up over 80% year-over-year
・GENSEKI Magazine — Top note creators' average annual revenue grew from 8.97 million yen to 15.15 million yen
[Platform Fees]
・Substack Official — Platform fee 10% + payment processing fee approx. 3.6%
・note Help Center — Paid articles 10%, subscription magazines 20% + payment processing fee
・Stripe Official — Payment processing fee 3.6% (Japan)
・theLetter Official — Japanese newsletter platform
* Figures for overseas case studies are from their respective official websites, podcasts, and YouTube channels. Exchange rate estimated at 1 USD = 150 JPY.
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