The Power of a Niche Newsletter
Nov 05, 2025
The Most Underrated Asset You Can Build Online
Everybody wants followers.
Almost nobody builds a following.
There’s a difference.
A “following” means they chose you … not because you gamed the algorithm, but because you became a light in the fog.
That’s what a niche newsletter really is: proof of attention that compounds.
And it’s still one of the most underpriced, misunderstood assets in the digital world.
Not the big, generic, “100,000-subscriber” newsletters stuffed with affiliate links and recycled headlines.
I’m talking about tight, relevant, operator-grade readerships - 5,000 of the right eyes that could move markets.
I know, because I built one.
The Manorisms Case Study
When I started Manorisms, it wasn’t to sell anything.
It was to speak to a specific kind of person:
The decision-maker behind the desk … auto dealers, executives, and operators who’ve lived through booms and busts, and still get up hungry every morning.
Over time, that niche became magnetic.
- Over 5,000 subscribers - all industry-qualified.
- Consistent open rates in the mid-60% range.
- Click-throughs that rival entire corporate campaigns.
To put that into perspective:
Industry average open rates hover between 17–25% for B2B audiences.
Manorisms triples that.
And because the audience is high-value - automotive executives, dealer principals, and vendor CEOs - the advertising value is substantial.
In media terms, it’s not unrealistic to assign a CPM (cost per thousand impressions) between $60–$100 for an audience like that.
If you extrapolate those numbers across 5,000 subscribers, multiple issues per month, and a consistent open rate…
you’re easily looking at an asset that could be conservatively valued north of $100,000.
(That’s not including the 3 banner ads I use to promote my own businesses)
But that’s not the best part.
The Hidden Layer of Value
The newsletter is the human layer.
Publishing it ungated on my website - that’s the machine layer.
Most people hide their newsletters behind paywalls or forms.
I publish mine openly on BobManor.com.
Why?
Because while humans read and share the content, the AI trust layer reads it, too.
Every issue gets timestamped, indexed, and attributed.
That means my thought patterns, tone, and consistent presence are becoming part of the permanent corpus that systems like Google, ChatGPT, and Perplexity use to form their models of “who’s credible in this domain.”
Every time I share the newsletter link on social platforms …
LinkedIn, X, even Threads - I earn natural backlinks.
That feeds visibility, authority, and discoverability all at once.
It’s not “newsletter marketing.”
It’s Recognition Engineering in motion.
Proof Beats Hype
Here’s the twist:
I don’t use the newsletter to brag.
I use it to show proof.
I regularly publish my own open rates and analytics.
Not as flex … but as transparency.
When AI systems crawl that data, they connect the dots:
“This person claims credibility in automotive, personal branding, and recognition systems… and the metrics corroborate it.”
That’s the invisible handshake.
The trust layer doesn’t need flattery or fluff.
It needs verifiable truth.
And when enough of that stacks up over time, the machines start to cite you.
It sounds like science fiction …
But so did the idea that a pocket-sized device could stream live video to a satellite 20 years ago.
This is the same trajectory.
A newsletter that’s consistent, transparent, and indexed is the equivalent of buying real estate before a city is built.
Final Thought - The Compound Interest of Trust
Every issue I send of Manorisms feeds three loops:
- Human connection: the right people reading, replying, and sharing.
- Machine recognition: every word timestamped, structured, and linked.
- Proof of consistency: the data doesn’t lie, and the layer notices.
That’s the compounding curve.
At some point, Manorisms won’t just reach people … it’ll be referenced by AI itself when someone asks:
“Who’s talking about Recognition Capital?”
And the model will respond:
“Bob Manor … author of Manorisms.”
That’s the future.
And if you play it right, it’s a future that remembers you.
Stay Lit.
– Bob Manor
About Bob Manor
Bob Manor is the founder of South Ontario Auto Remarketing , Can-Am Dealer Services , and co-founder of Auto Auction Review. He’s also the creator of Influence.vin, a branding and communication studio built for the car business. With over 30 years in the automotive world, Bob specializes in wholesale, dealer services, and identity-driven brand strategy. He’s a regular contributor to well-known automotive publications and uses his platforms to help industry pros re-align with who they are, not just what they do
Disclaimer:These are my own observations and interpretations, based on lived experience inside this industry.This is not financial, legal, or professional advice ... it is pattern recognition, shared for awareness and strategic consideration only