AI Newsletter Research Desk
Run the research behind someone else's newsletter: sources checked, findings summarized, ready to write from.
$150–$7,000+
$0–$300
4–12 hrs/week
2–6 weeks
6 / 10
Very High
AI tools you'd use
Overview
This isn't the writing — it's the research behind someone else's newsletter, done to a standard the writer can actually build from: sources checked, findings summarized, ready to write. AI (Perplexity, ChatGPT, Claude) handles the repetitive, time-consuming search work, but the newsletter still needs current, useful synthesis rather than raw AI output, which is why the client keeps the actual writing. Sold on retainer to newsletter writers, founders and analysts.
Why it works
Research is repetitive and time-consuming, while newsletters need current, useful synthesis rather than raw AI text.
How it makes money
Monthly retainer
How to start
- Pick a niche narrow enough that you can name the 10 sources worth checking every week.
- Define trusted source categories — which outlets, feeds and communities actually count as signal.
- Create a research checklist so nothing important gets missed between issues.
- Produce one sample issue brief to show exactly what a delivered brief looks like.
- Contact newsletter operators who are clearly writing but visibly skipping research some weeks.
- Sell a weekly research pilot — a handful of briefs — before a standing retainer.
- Gather current sources using Perplexity or ChatGPT, then verify against the primary source.
- Verify the important facts and numbers personally; a wrong stat in someone's newsletter damages their credibility.
- Summarize developments and their implications, not just a list of links.
- Deliver a source-linked brief so the writer can verify anything before publishing.
- Retain the client monthly once the research desk becomes part of their regular workflow.
Tags
- newsletter
- research
- media
- curation
- ai-research
Last verified 2026-08-22
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