This politics newsletter was almost destroyed by Facebook's algorithm changes

Ben Cohen saved The Daily Banter by pivoting from advertising to a subscription-based business model.

In 2017, Ben Cohen was living the dream. His politics news site The Daily Banter was generating over 6 million visits a month and enough advertising revenue to support him and a small stable of writers. But then the floor fell out from under him virtually overnight; Facebook pivoted away from news and sent his traffic plummeting. Without traffic, his advertising revenue crumbled.

So in an act of desperation, Ben pivoted his entire business model into paid subscriptions. Doing so forced him to slow down his publishing schedule and focus on serving his core audience. Slowly but surely, he built up a new revenue base, and this year he passed the threshold of 1,000 paid subscribers.

In a recent interview, Ben explained how he executed on his pivot and why he’s determined to never rely on a single large tech platform ever again.

You can watch the interview in the video embedded below:

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This interview was actually part of my live Office Hours series. Every month, I invite my audience to join a Zoom call and participate in the interview. As you’ll see, my guests regularly piped in with their own questions and insights.

There’s only one way to join these calls, and it’s by becoming a paid subscriber to my newsletter. Subscribers get to book a half hour introductory phone call with me. They also get access to exclusive interviews with some of the world’s most successful media entrepreneurs in the world. Subscribe at the link below and get 20% off for your first year: