Audience ownership as the foundation of modern creator businesses isn’t going away. When you control the relationship with your audience, you’re not just running a campaign. You’re building online real estate. Newsletters have form as assets with some significant transactions highlighting the potential for Asset Builders

The question is: Do communities have the same potential?

Communities haven’t yet commanded the same headlines, but the gears are starting to turn. One large publicly disclosed sale is Traffic Think Tank, an SEO education community with about 750 paying members and roughly $1 million in annual recurring revenue. Search‑marketing platform Semrush bought it for $1.8 million, about 1.8 times revenue. The founders said the real value wasn’t just the course content - it was the personal connections and trust members created. That sale required unusual due diligence: because members contributed content, the transaction involved intellectual‑property assignments and user agreements.

Other community deals - like Body‑positivity group BodCon, media brand Women of Influence, writing hub Study Hall and no‑code platform Makerpad - have traded hands quietly. None approached the eight‑figure numbers we see in newsletters but all highlight the potential of an emerging online asset class with parallels to Newsletters in terms of Audience Ownership and the potential for monetization in the form of product sales, events, subscriptions, etc being build around belonging and identity.

It’s too early to know what the pricing multiples and liquidity will be for community transactions, but if you squint you can see the outline of a market forming. When newsletters began selling, observers weren’t sure if the prices were anomalies. A few years later, they weren’t. Communities may be on the same path.

Communities and newsletters share a core strength: they let you own the relationship with your audience. Instead of renting attention from algorithms, you control distribution. That’s why newsletter companies command high valuations.

Communities go further. They create multidirectional connections - members interact not just with the host but with each other. In Traffic Think Tank, the founders said the biggest value was the friendships and collaborations members formed. That “User Generated Value” (UGV) makes communities sticky. Once people form relationships, they’re less likely to churn. If they are invited by a member, they are also more likely to participate, understand the dynamic, create connection and ultimately stay. If UGC is the “relatable stranger”, UGV is more like your BFF. Evergreen

Content is an asset; UGV is a bigger castle and a wider moat.

Members contribute answers, share resources and support each other. Retention doesn’t depend solely on you - it’s built into the fabric of the group.

Newsletters, by contrast, offer a one‑to‑many relationship. They’re easier to value because revenue and engagement metrics are straightforward. If you know how many subscribers you have and how much they spend, you can estimate a sale price. Communities can monetize similarly - via subscriptions, sponsorships or courses - but they also generate intangible value that’s harder to put on a spreadsheet. That’s why valuations have been lower so far. But intangible value doesn’t mean zero value; it just means the market hasn’t decided how to price it yet. Remember when email lists were “just email lists”? Now they’re Prime Real Estate with waiting buyers.

Both newsletters and communities begin as simple digital projects that can turn into sellable properties. A newsletter may start as a weekly update and become a brand with sponsors, premium tiers and products. A community might start as a free Discord server and evolve into a membership site with courses and events. In both cases, the owner controls distribution and can sell the asset. That’s why companies like HubSpot and abrdn wrote big checks. That’s also why Semrush, Zapier, Stripe and Pendo bought communities- to gain instant access to niche audiences and trust. Communities, though, have some distinctive traits:

Despite the promise, communities come with challenges that newsletters don’t. Newsletters can be maintained by a single writer; larger communities require moderators, customer support and a consistent tone. If a buyer mismanages the handover, trust evaporates.

Then there’s scaling. Starting a community is easy - spin up a Skool group and invite your friends. Scaling to thousands of members is hard. Each new person requires onboarding, engagement and quality control to ensure the maximum experience. That’s why many communities remain small, profitable side businesses run by solopreneurs. Enterprise companies have been slow to dive in. Big brands like Pendo and Stripe have acquired communities, but most Fortune 500 firms are still watching from the sidelines. When they do move, it will be a game changer. They’ll bring resources, marketing muscle and maybe start a “land grab” for niche communities, much like the early days of newsletter roll‑ups. Imagine Procter & Gamble buying a skincare community or Spotify acquiring a guitar‑makers forum. It sounds far‑fetched now; so did a business newsletter selling for eight figures in 2019.

Here’s the key takeaway: it’s not if, but when. Whether you build a newsletter, a community or both, the trend toward audience ownership is undeniable. Those who start now will be in pole position when valuations for communities catch up. They’ll have learned the nuances of engagement, pricing and culture; they’ll have an asset ready when buyers come knocking. Early movers often look crazy until they look like geniuses. Sam Parr launched Morning Brew from his dorm room; his email list later sold for tens of millions. Courtland Allen started Indie Hackers as a side project; Stripe bought it because they wanted access to its engaged founder community. Codie Sanchez built an audience around “boring businesses” and now runs Contrarian Thinking, a 2.5 million‑subscriber ecosystem that fuels acquisitions and deals. These creators were years ahead of their time. When the market caught up, they were ready.

Even if there’s no gold rush tomorrow, there are plenty of earnings opportunities now. Paid memberships, live events, mastermind groups, affiliate partnerships and product sales all generate income before a sale is ever on the horizon. As community platforms add freemium tiers and native payments, monetization will get easier. And because communities produce UGV, much of the value is generated by the members themselves, reducing the creator’s workload over time.

As AI gets better at spitting out blog posts and emails, the real differentiator will be human connection. Seth Godin writes that the strategy isn’t to chase everyone, but to serve the smallest viable audience and create so much delight and connection that they spread the word. In other words, smart marketers focus on making meaning, not just noise. On a recent episode of The 505 Podcast, Godin emphasised that attention without trust is worthless; what matters is building stories people want to share. Communities excel at this. They allow members to form bonds, share experiences and become part of something bigger than themselves. That camaraderie isn’t something an AI can replicate. So while content creation is becoming a commodity, connection is becoming a moat. This will be the focus of our next article: why human‑centric communities may be the best insurance policy a business has in an AI‑driven world.

Building a community today might feel like buying a plot of land in the middle of nowhere. It’s cheap, it’s quiet and your friends think you’re nuts. But what if in five years it becomes the hottest neighborhood? That’s the bet community builders are making. If they already think you are crazy, why not at least stick around long enough to see if you get the last laugh.

Don’t be surprised if enterprises wake up one day and realise they need communities to survive and maybe even do the math and figure that UGV is a better allocation of Marketing Money than multi-million dollar add budgets with Zuck or Google. When that happens, those who planted their flag early will be sitting on beachfront property. Until then, keep nurturing your members, experimenting with freemium models and leaning into UGV. And if you’re feeling impatient, remember: Rome wasn’t built in a day, but your Skool group can be just don’t expect Julius Caesar to show up until you’ve built an empire worth conquering.

IMPLEMENTATION

Kick the dirt, check out the existing real estate in Skool. Check out my community here if you are curious.
Start a community for yourself and your friends or launch an Empire worth Conquering. There is a community for you and there is a community inside you waiting to be built.

How to get started yourself quick and easy:

THEN, as you get going….

One small, active group beats a million silent followers - get started, have fun and take it slow. This is the first brick but remember you are building a castle and a moat - its going to take time but it will be a real asset built to last.

If you have an audience and no time to do it, hit me up and I’ll find you someone who can. Its too important not to start.

ICYMI

Dopamine is a Drug & You are a Dealer

Hormozi’s Tsunami & How Selling books is cool but investing in community platforms is way sexier. $9 Hobby Plans (90% off the Pro plan but still packed with perks) seemed generous 4 weeks ago but now it looks like 4-D Chess. Well played Mr Ovens, well played.

CONTENT I LOVED THIS WEEK

You’ve Consumed Enough - START CREATING

Banger Quote from this Video:
“If you don't know what to produce, produce what you are already consuming. Start small and start today.

- Connor Woodman