Ted Williams

Personal news: I’m leaving my full-time role at Axios next week and I'll become an advisor to the company through the end of this year. The last 10 years in local media have been an amazing ride and I’m excited to watch Axios Local’s growth over the next decade 🚀

@m_a_h_o_n_e_y Excited for this! Smart.

🀄️ The Queen's Mahjery, a new mahjong studio, will open in Oakhurst Commons off Monroe Road this summer. 🫡 @ted_williams first axios.com/local/charlott…

@BillDA Helluva year!! Let’s gooo!

2025 was a heck of a year: Lost 35 lbs Hit my income goals Moved to forever house Son started kindergarten Rededicated myself to Jesus 30+ date nights with my wife Took my oldest two kids camping Sold Natural Dog to Morgan Stanley 3 two-week family trips with the kids Recorded ~100 episodes of @acquanon Helped over a dozen entrepreneurs with coaching Things I missed this year but will get in 2026: Only read 2 books Didn't join a men's group Didn't develop a good lifting routine Didn't tailgate for any Panthers games Didn't package up a course on ecom finances Overall, I'm very blessed to have had one of my the best years in recent memory - here's to keeping things rolling in 2026!

@MikeyPesto Congrats!!

2025 was good year for my local media company: - Catskill Crew grew from 10,000 to 42,000 subscribers. - Revenue increased to multi-6-figures. - Launched a product line with D2C and wholesale distribution. - Hosted record breaking events, some bringing out over 500 folks . - Introduced a snail mail premium membership. - Major progress happening in the background for the local hold co. If you’re building a local media co. or looking to launch one, join us in The Newsletter Club.

@MikeyPesto Key is to find great operators and take minority stake.

List of revenue streams for my multi-six figure local holdco & newsletter: Featured Events Featured Articles Premium: Snail Mail Sponsored Events Merch Games (D2C + wholesale) Dinner club Crew Cards 2026: Franchises (due diligence) Property (more to come) Always testing more.

@jryedinak How much do you think Charlotte Business Journal is doing?

If you look at headcount per title for a few, here is what I've found: Denver Business Journal – est. $23.1M revenue, 95 employees. Baltimore Business Journal – est. $8.4M revenue, 43 employees. San Francisco Business Times – est. $9.5M revenue, 49 employees

Been doing more digging on ACBJ and other local biz professional media companies Looks like ACBJ has three tiers of publications Tier 1 — 15-30M rev, cities like Atlanta, Dallas, Boston Tier 2 — 8-15M rev, cities like Baltimore, SF, Nashville Tier 3 — 3-6M rev, Wichita, etc

How do you know your local newsletter has product market fit? Random reader drops off a branded pumpkin on your doorstep 😆 Join 11,498 money nerds, go subscribe to Tiny Money💰- tinymoney.com Clearing the plate to get after it in 2026🚀

@themichaelkonen Wow

@ted_williams morningbrew.com/stories/2025/1…

Listen, I’m a Charlotte Optimist, but 0% chance @michaelngraff hits this fairway!! Just fyi.

@m_a_h_o_n_e_y You going to Messi game?! BTW, I'm coaching my son's U12 soccer team. Squad is starting to look solid. 9v9. Field is BIG.

@ted_williams I need a Tiny Money guide for this and flight price breakdown!

✈️ American will add a nonstop flight to Vero Beach, Florida from Charlotte Douglas in February. axios.com/local/charlott…

Asset: I also have a sneaky large LinkedIn audience (20K), which I know is dorky and hilarious, but whatever. It's fun/positive there. Content fits. How do I take LinkedIn next level for converting to subs? I'd grade my current approach B+. LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/tedwilliams…

Goal: Hit 20K subs with 70% open rate, quicker the better obvi. That seems like the TAM for this product in Charlotte, unless I buy other stuff or do more. Lots of options from there. Going to do more cool site stuff too. All working, just would rather grow faster than slower.

Newsletter Nerds: Should I now do paid growth for Tiny Money? Best approach? 10K subs tinymoney.com. I struggle with this. Seems like Meta is choice, but I don't know smart people that are on Facebook (let alone sign up for newsletters there). Am I being too precious?!

@_May_Ham absolutely loved you on the recent Creator Spotlight podcast. Just needed to tell you! Smart. Insightful listen.

@JAMINDEVON @lifeof_scoop Don't compete with FB. Silly. They're larger, cost less, better targeting, better conversion. Go for brand advertisers. Differentiate by creative and brand adjacency. It's a nuanced/hard sale, so many avoid it. But the right clients can be clients forever.

For my local newsletter black belts like @ted_williams and @lifeof_scoop , I see a lot of confusion on selling ad space promising leads vs just brand advertising. I’m weary of competing with the FB or Google on the lead front. Share thoughts if any.

@OSheaSEO Yes, that’s plenty. In certain niches, 2,000 is good! Did a study with local/regional ad buyers and asked this exact question.

Newsletter folks: How many unique opens per send do you need to sell *meaningful* direct sponsorships? Is 10,000 unique opens enough?

@MikeyPesto Let’s goooo!!!

In less than 2 years Catskill Crew has grown into multi-six-figure local media company with 35,000 subscribers, events, products, and wholesale distribution. My advice: Be patient, authentic, and creative. Don’t chase the quick buck. 7-figures is the next target.

Tiny Money is working. Won't be tiny forever. Join the action, go subscribe — tinymoney.com

@themichaelkonen Oh wow! How would you personally rate their chicken sandy vs others?!

@ted_williams wsj.com/business/hospi… America’s Hottest Chicken Chain Started With $900—and Just Sold for $1 Billion - WSJ

@MikeyPesto @JMatthewMcGarry @beehiiv @denk_tweets Let's gooo!!!

@ted_williams @JMatthewMcGarry @beehiiv @denk_tweets Honored to be mentioned Sir Williams. Let’s chat! Haven’t even had coffee yet and got some ideas (need the coffee to figure out if they are good or absurdly poor).

Tiny Money nearing 10,000 subs. Open rate steady/climbing at 78%. Organic. About 30 total sends. Fun to create again. After 10K, going to review @MikeyPesto and NC-based @JMatthewMcGarry content for next level of growth. Subscribe: tinymoney.com