When it comes to building an online business that makes money while you’re in your pajamas, the two heavyweights that often come up are WordPress blogs and email newsletters. Both are powerful tools but they work differently, serve different purposes and come with their own sets of pros and cons.
So which one should you focus on?
WordPress
A well-optimized blog post can rank on Google and bring in free traffic for months or even years. Your content lives forever (as long as you pay your hosting bill). With themes, plugins, and full design control, you can make your site fully match your brand. Great for affiliate marketing, digital products, ads and more. These are all the pros.
Now for the cons... Yes it's slower to build traffic. SEO takes time and competing against keywords can be steep. Did someone say tech overload...hosting, plugins, backups and updates can be overwhelming for beginners. Oh and consistent updates and security checks.
Newsletters
You’re not fighting algorithms. You own your list and land directly in people’s inboxes. Email subscribers are often more loyal and ready to buy. You can test content, offers and ideas and get instant responses.
Platforms like ConvertKit, Beehiiv or Substack make it easy to start. These are the pros.
Now for the cons... You need a strategy to attract subscribers...usually requiring a blog, social presence or a lead magnet. Unless archived or repurposed, emails vanish once they’re sent. You'll always have spam filters, bounces and unsubscribes are always working against you.
Why Not Both?
Combine WordPress and Newsletters for Maximum Impact... Here’s where the magic happens.
Using WordPress and a newsletter together creates a powerful, sustainable content ecosystem. It's a symbiotic strategy. Blog posts attract organic traffic from Google. You offer a lead magnet or freebie on your site to build your email list. Your newsletter sends traffic back to your blog which increase page views and SEO signals. You repurpose newsletter content into blog posts (and vice versa) for content efficiency.
We're not done yet... It's a monetization dream team. Promote affiliate links in both newsletters and blog posts. Launch digital products via blog tutorials, then close sales via email sequences. Use newsletters to build relationships and blogs to showcase authority.
What do you think?
If you’re building an online business from scratch, don’t think of it as WordPress or newsletters. Think of it as WordPress plus newsletters. The real pajama money is made when you create a content loop that brings people in, keeps them engaged and gives them reasons to stick around (and buy).
Want help setting this system up? I got a system that works and you don't even need a Wordpress site.
