athina-ai/newsletter-sponsorship-finder

Newsletter Sponsorship Finder

Find and rank newsletters for sponsorship opportunities targeting a specific ICP. Uses web search, newsletter directories, and competitor intelligence to build a prioritized list of sponsorship targets.

Quick Start

Find newsletter sponsorship opportunities for [client]. Target audience: [description]. Industry keywords: [keywords].

Or with optional filters:

Find newsletter sponsorship opportunities for [client].
Target audience: CTOs and DevOps engineers at startups.
Industry keywords: cloud, AWS, DevOps, infrastructure, FinOps.
Budget: $500-2000/placement.
Geographic focus: US.

Inputs

• Target audience description (required) — e.g., "CTOs and DevOps engineers at startups"
• Industry keywords (required) — e.g., "cloud, AWS, DevOps, infrastructure, FinOps"
• Budget range (optional) — for filtering newsletters by sponsorship cost
• Geographic focus (optional) — e.g., "US", "Europe", "Global"
• Output path (optional) — where to save results, defaults to clients/<client>/leads/newsletter-sponsorships-YYYY-MM-DD.md

Cost

Free — all discovery is WebSearch-based. No API keys required.

Dependencies

pip3 install requests

Optional helper script for Substack directory search:

python3 skills/newsletter-sponsorship-finder/scripts/search_newsletters.py --keywords "cloud,AWS,DevOps" --output json

Process

Phase 1: Define Target

Accept from user:

• Target audience description (e.g., "CTOs and DevOps engineers at startups")
• Industry keywords (e.g., "cloud, AWS, DevOps, infrastructure, FinOps")
• Budget range (optional, for filtering)
• Geographic focus (optional)

Phase 2: Discovery (run searches in parallel)

A) Direct newsletter search (WebSearch)

Run these searches:

• "[industry] newsletter"
• "[industry] weekly newsletter developer"
• "best newsletters for [target audience]"
• "[industry] newsletter sponsorship"
• "advertise in [industry] newsletter"

B) Newsletter directory search

Search Swapstack/Paved/SparkLoop for relevant newsletters:

• "site:swapstack.co [industry]"
• "site:paved.com [industry]"
• WebFetch on directory result pages to find listings in the target niche

C) Industry-specific discovery

• Search for "[industry] blog" and "[industry] content creator" to find people who likely also have newsletters
• Search for "[industry] newsletter" site:linkedin.com posts
• Search for Substack newsletters: "site:substack.com [industry keywords]"
• Optionally run the helper script: python3 skills/newsletter-sponsorship-finder/scripts/search_newsletters.py --keywords "[keywords]" --output json

D) Competitor sponsorship research

• Search "[competitor name] sponsor newsletter" or "[competitor name] advertise"
• Check competitor websites for "As seen in" or press pages
• This reveals which newsletters competitors already sponsor (proven audience match)

Phase 3: Enrich Each Newsletter

For each discovered newsletter, use WebFetch to visit the newsletter page and try to find:

1. Name — Newsletter name
2. Author/Organization — Who runs it
3. URL — Signup page or archive
4. Estimated audience — subscriber count (often mentioned on sponsorship pages or About pages)
5. Topic focus — What it covers
6. Frequency — Daily, weekly, monthly
7. Sponsorship info — Rates, format (dedicated send, banner, classified), contact
8. Audience quality — Is the audience primarily decision-makers or junior folks?
9. Social proof — Notable sponsors, testimonials

Phase 4: Score & Rank

Score each newsletter (0-10):

• Audience overlap with target ICP (+3 max)
• Audience size (+2 for 10K+, +1 for 5K+)
• Sponsorship availability confirmed (+2)
• Reasonable pricing for budget (+1)
• High engagement signals — open rates mentioned, active community (+1)
• Competitors sponsor it — proven audience match (+1)

Phase 5: Output

Save results to the specified output path as markdown:

# Newsletter Sponsorship Opportunities
**Target audience:** [description]
**Industry:** [keywords]
**Date:** YYYY-MM-DD

## Tier 1: Must-Sponsor (Score 8+)
| Newsletter | Author | Est. Audience | Frequency | Sponsorship Rate | Contact | Score |
|-----------|--------|--------------|-----------|-----------------|---------|-------|

## Tier 2: Strong Fit (Score 5-7)
| Newsletter | Author | Est. Audience | Frequency | Sponsorship Rate | Contact | Score |
|-----------|--------|--------------|-----------|-----------------|---------|-------|

## Tier 3: Worth Exploring (Score 3-4)
| Newsletter | Author | Est. Audience | Frequency | Sponsorship Rate | Contact | Score |
|-----------|--------|--------------|-----------|-----------------|---------|-------|

## Competitor Sponsorship Intel
| Competitor | Newsletters They Sponsor | Notes |
|-----------|------------------------|-------|

## Next Steps
1. Reach out to Tier 1 newsletters for rate cards
2. Request media kits from Tier 2 newsletters
3. Set calendar reminder to refresh this list quarterly
4. Monitor competitor sponsorships monthly

Tips

• Run once per client to establish a sponsorship pipeline
• Refresh quarterly as new newsletters launch frequently
• Check competitor sponsorships monthly — if a competitor starts sponsoring a newsletter, it validates the audience
• Combine with agentmail to automate initial outreach to newsletter operators
• Use company-contact-finder when a newsletter's sponsorship contact is not publicly listed
• Newsletters with 5K-50K subscribers often offer the best ROI for B2B sponsorships — large enough audience, small enough for personal touch