The Challenge: Reversing Decline in a Crowded Market

When Travis and Tamana Bembenek purchased Mexico News Daily in 2021, they inherited a publication in serious decline. Paid subscriptions were “falling off a cliff,” the site was cluttered with intrusive ads for everything from Viagra to cryptocurrency, and an outdated paywall system was actively hindering growth rather than supporting it.

The previous owner had become over-reliant on advertising revenue, creating an experience where readers were treated more like traffic to monetize than customers to serve. The first thing visitors saw when clicking an article wasn’t the content, it was an ad. Ads would drag along with readers as they scrolled. On mobile devices, the experience was particularly frustrating.

For a couple with no journalism experience but 50 combined years of global business expertise, the path forward was counterintuitive: eliminate the very revenue stream that was keeping the lights on.

The Strategy: Trust Over Traffic

The Bembeneks approached their acquisition with a mission-driven philosophy: help shape a more balanced narrative about Mexico while proving quality journalism could thrive without advertising corruption. Their three-year transformation followed a deliberate progression:

Year One: Clean House

The immediate priority was fixing what readers experienced, even if they couldn’t see all the work behind the scenes:

• Eliminated 50% of ads immediately (including the most profitable ones)
• Fixed messy back-office systems
• Removed all sponsored content opportunities
• Established strict political neutrality in coverage

“Day one we eliminated at least half the ads,” Travis recalls. “The owner had gotten into this trap where you click on an article and the first thing that appeared was an ad. We literally day one eliminated those. And those were the most profitable ads.”

Year Two: Perfect the Experience

With the foundation stable, focus shifted to creating an experience worth paying for:

• Removed remaining ads completely from both website and newsletters
• Reorganized site architecture and categories
• Tightened paywall from generous to strategic
• Implemented registration wall at article two, paywall at article three

The team wondered if readers would appreciate the ad-free experience as much as they hoped. “I don’t know if they appreciate it as much as we want them to,” Travis admits. “But what we do know is when you read Mexico News Daily, if you’re free or paid, it’s a nice experience.”

Year Three: Scale What Works

With the core product refined, Mexico News Daily began expanding strategically:

• Launched dual daily newsletters (topical morning, news evening)
• Created MND Kids bilingual educational platform
• Started “Confidently Wrong” podcast
• Began planning newsletter customization by reader interest

The registration wall proved particularly effective. While the team worried about losing readers, they saw the opposite result: “We’ve only seen an increasing amount of new subscribers as we’ve tightened it up.”

The Philosophy Behind 100% Reader Revenue

What drove the decision to eliminate advertising entirely? The Bembeneks drew on decades of customer experience from the corporate world.

“I have a hard time in my head believing you can lure someone to pay by having an annoying experience and telling them, if you pay us, we won’t annoy you,” Travis explains. “I think that’s maybe a benefit I have of not being from the industry. I’m not cynical enough yet, but I think telling someone, pay me to not annoy you, isn’t a good value proposition. You want it to be pay us because we give you a lot of value.”

This customer-first mentality permeates every decision. “A lot of times talking to some other publishers it’s really more about what they want to write and what they want to put out there,” Travis observes. “I think not being from the industry has given us a little bit of a benefit of just being way more customer focused.”

The publication maintains complete editorial independence:

• No political lean in either Mexico or the US
• No sponsored content (despite constant requests)
• No questionable sourcing
• Transparent about AI use when relevant

“We didn’t buy this business to sell more Viagra and more toenail fungus cream,” Travis jokes. “You really have to pick a path. You either are going to try to make money because of the quality and trustworthiness of your content, or you’re going to try to make money through ads. And the problem with ads is you start chasing traffic, and to grow your revenue on the ad side, you have to annoy your reader more and more.”

The Results: Growing Against the Grain

Three and a half years after acquisition, Mexico News Daily has achieved what many publishers consider impossible:

• Over 1 million readers monthly with 80% coming from outside Mexico
• Traffic growth despite implementing stricter paywalls
• Email list expansion through strategic registration walls
• Paid subscription increases every single month since tightening access
• 100% reader revenue with zero advertising or sponsored content
• Platform expansion into education and audio without diluting brand

The publication now serves a diverse audience: American expats (60% of traffic), Canadian snowbirds (10%), business travelers, families considering relocation, and international readers interested in Mexico. Surprisingly, only 10% of readers are actually in Mexico. The other 90% are planning visits, considering moves, or simply seeking balanced information about the country.

The Turning Point: Registration Walls That Convert

The most significant conversion breakthrough came from implementing a firm but fair content gate:

The Mexico News Daily Meter:

• Article 1: Free to all visitors
• Article 2: Registration required (newsletter signup)
• Article 3+: Paid subscription required
• Reset: Every 30 days

This “one-and-one” metered approach (one free, register for second, pay for third) significantly outperformed both generous access models and aggressive hard paywalls.

Combined with zero ads and zero interruptions before that first article, readers felt respected rather than exploited. The registration wall converts at 15-20%, dramatically higher than the typical 3% conversion rate for newsletter popups.

“We agonized over whether we’d lose people or get less traffic,” Travis recalls. “But we’ve only seen an increasing amount of new subscribers as we’ve tightened it up. So we went from being generous to where we’re at today, which is still somewhat generous compared to large newspapers like the Chicago Tribune where the wall is right there. You can’t even read one article.”

The Newsletter Moat

Mexico News Daily runs two daily newsletters that serve different reader needs and keep the publication top-of-mind:

Morning Newsletter: Thematic focus that rotates daily

• One day: business articles about Mexico
• Another day: Mexico City tourism content
• Another day: food and culture pieces

Evening Newsletter: Day’s top news roundup for those who want to stay current

“Once we’ve gotten them getting this free newsletter, we try to encourage them and inspire them to want to pay us to see all our content,” Travis explains.

This dual approach serves both deep-dive readers and news scanners. The morning newsletter provides value without overwhelming, while the evening newsletter ensures daily touchpoints with engaged readers.

Future plans include geographic customization. “Let’s say all you care about is Puerto Vallarta,” Travis offers as an example. “You don’t really care about Mexican politics or business. You’re retired and just care about Puerto Vallarta because maybe you want to retire there. We want to offer that customization in the newsletter of saying, okay, we’ll just give you the articles we write on Puerto Vallarta.”

This approach acknowledges reader fatigue while maximizing relevance delivering exactly what people want, and no more.

Beyond the Core: Strategic Content Expansion

MND Kids: Repurposing Assets for Education

One of the most innovative moves was launching MND Kids, a bilingual educational platform that takes existing content and transforms it into learning material.

The platform allows students to:

• Choose any article (culture, pyramids, food, sports)
• Select Spanish or English
• Pick reading level (elementary, middle, or high school)
• Work through discussion questions

“We started getting more and more feedback from friends and family and even some people in the educational space saying, why don’t you guys do something for kids?” Travis explains. Schools were looking for short-form nonfiction content, bilingual resources, and lessons on media literacy; all areas where Mexico News Daily’s existing content could be adapted.

The platform now operates in schools in both Mexico and the United States, extending the mission of balanced Mexico coverage to the next generation without requiring massive new content creation.

Confidently Wrong Podcast: Addressing Misconceptions

The “Confidently Wrong” podcast tackles common misconceptions about Mexico in 30-minute weekly episodes. Topics include water safety, driving concerns, and whether Mexico City is dangerous or wonderful.

“Over the years, I have had countless family members and friends confidently tell me that I was crazy for spending so much time in Mexico,” Travis shares. “Can I drink the water? Is it safe? Can I drive there? I feel like for the better part of my adult life I’ve been trying to explain that much of what people have heard about Mexico isn’t necessarily all true or might not be totally accurate.”

The podcast format allows for deeper context and conversation, moving beyond headlines to provide the complete picture. Like the website, it prioritizes education over promotion and maintains the publication’s commitment to balanced coverage.

We just work so hard to improve the product and differentiate our content to the point where we felt comfortable that people would recognize that. It’s not easy. It takes craziness or patience. And just believe in your product.

Travis Bembenek, CEO, Mexico News Daily

What Made It Work: Five Counter-Intuitive Principles

1. Never Charge to Stop Annoying People

“I have a hard time believing you can lure someone to pay by having an annoying experience and telling them if you pay us, we won’t annoy you,” Travis insists. “Pay us because we give you a lot of value.”

This principle drove the decision to eliminate ads for free readers too, not just paid subscribers. The entire experience, regardless of subscription status, had to be genuinely good.

2. Customer Focus Over Writer Preference

“A lot of publishers focus on what they want to write. We’re focused on what customers want to read and how they want to read it,” Travis explains. “Not being from the industry gave us the benefit of being way more customer-focused.”

The team stays attuned to world events and reader fatigue. If US-Mexico trade arguments dominate the news cycle, they balance that with lighter content that makes people laugh, smile, or feel inspired. They’re “razor focused on what do our customers want to read and how do they want to read it.”

3. Tighten Access, Don’t Loosen It

When worried about losing readers, Mexico News Daily did the opposite of what many publishers do: they reduced free articles and required registration earlier. Subscriptions increased, not decreased.

The key was getting everything else right first: no annoying ads, high-quality content, complete trustworthiness, smooth user experience. With those elements in place, tightening the paywall worked.

4. Trust Requires Complete Purity

No sponsored content. No political lean. No questionable sourcing. No AI without disclosure. The Bembeneks understood that reader revenue only works when readers trust you’re working for them, not advertisers.

“We’re approached all the time by people saying, hey, will you write about our hotel or about whatever,” Travis notes. “We don’t do any of that. I think we’ve really created an environment where people trust us. They trust us that we’re not trying to push our opinions on them. And they trust our objectivity.”

5. Repurpose Core Assets Strategically

MND Kids takes existing articles and transforms them into bilingual educational content at three reading levels, extending mission and revenue without massive content creation costs. The Confidently Wrong podcast draws on written content to fuel deeper conversations. Both expansions leverage the core asset (quality journalism about Mexico) in new formats that serve new audiences.

The Competitive Moat

When asked about competition, Travis acknowledges the landscape: “TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Substack, think tanks, government entities—we have infinite competition.”

But Mexico News Daily found its defensible position: balanced, non-political, English-language coverage of Mexico that doesn’t treat readers as traffic to monetize or opinions to manipulate.

In an era of media fatigue, political divisiveness, and AI-generated content, they’ve built something increasingly rare: a publication readers trust enough to pay for.

“Everybody’s feeling fatigue on everything,” Travis observes. “Social media has managed to make us fatigue not just on our phones or to read, but just in life, because there’s never a down moment. We have to be very cognizant of that reality of humanity and make sure we’re giving people exactly what they want. And no more.”

The Path Forward: Patience and Product

Mexico News Daily has spent zero dollars on marketing. Growth comes entirely from product quality and word-of-mouth.

“We haven’t seen a drop off on Google traffic,” Travis notes about their paywall implementation. “We get a good chunk of traffic directly to our site. Still, we’ve only done a light touch on social media because we just have not seen conversion from social media to our site or even traffic.”

The focus remains on continual improvement:

• Newsletter customization by reader interest
• Expanding MND Kids into more schools
• Growing the Confidently Wrong podcast audience
• Deepening understanding of what different reader segments need

“We feel like we are increasingly working to understand our customers and what they want and what they need and what they can’t get from social media or Substack,” Travis explains. “Every day I feel like we have kind of limitless things we can do to get better. We just keep getting better every day at what we’re doing.”

Lessons for Other Publishers

Start With Mission, Not Money

The Bembeneks didn’t buy Mexico News Daily to maximize revenue, they bought it to fix media’s broken relationship with readers and change the narrative about Mexico. That mission clarity informed every decision, from eliminating profitable ads to refusing sponsored content requests.

Fix Infrastructure Before Flashy Features

Year one focused entirely on back-office systems that readers never see but absolutely experience when they fail—servers, hosting, paywall systems, team alignment. “We grossly underestimated how precarious and dangerous and important the back office is,” Travis admits. “Everything from your server to your paywall to everything in between.”

Be Patient With Revenue Transitions

It took two years to eliminate all advertising. That patience was possible because they genuinely believed their content had value independent of ads. They started by cutting the most intrusive ads first, then worked toward complete elimination as subscription revenue grew.

Don’t Fear the Registration Wall

Publishers worry registration walls will kill traffic. Mexico News Daily proved the opposite. Their registration wall at article two converts at 15-20%. Far higher than typical newsletter signup rates—and didn’t hurt traffic at all.

The key factors:

• First article is completely free and uninterrupted
• No popups or interruptions before they’ve seen content
• Paywall messaging is clear and straightforward
• The experience after registration is genuinely good

Diversify Without Diluting

MND Kids and Confidently Wrong podcast extend the brand into new audiences without compromising the core publication’s integrity or focus. Both draw on existing content assets, both serve the broader mission, and both maintain the same quality and objectivity standards.

What This Means for Your Publication

Mexico News Daily’s success suggests several principles for other publishers considering the reader-revenue path:

If you’re ad-dependent: Start by eliminating your most intrusive ads first. Track subscription conversion on cleaned-up pages versus ad-heavy pages. Calculate the trade-off. Most publishers discover their most profitable ads are also their most conversion-killing ads.

If you’re paywall-hesitant: Implement a strategic registration wall before worrying about paid conversions. Get visitors on your email list first. The registration wall at article two gives you a direct marketing channel to nurture readers toward eventual payment.

If you lack confidence in content: You probably need to make hard choices about sponsored content, political bias, or content quality before a paywall will work. Reader revenue requires reader trust, which requires editorial independence.

If you’re stuck in “but we’ve always…”: The Bembeneks had no industry baggage about “how publishing works.” That outside perspective helped them see obvious customer-experience problems that industry veterans might overlook. Sometimes not being from the industry is an advantage.

The fundamental question isn’t “Can we afford to lose ad revenue?” It’s “Can we afford to keep losing subscriber trust?”

Key Takeaways

1. Ad-free experiences work for everyone. Don’t make free readers suffer through ads to incentivize upgrades. Make the entire experience good, then offer premium value for payment.
2. Registration walls convert at 15-20% when implemented correctly (first article free, no interruptions, clear value proposition). This far exceeds typical newsletter popup conversion of 3%.
3. Tightening paywalls increases subscriptions when content quality, trust, and user experience are already strong. Get those fundamentals right first, then tighten access.
4. Newsletters are direct marketing tools. The email list is how you bring readers back repeatedly to see upgrade messaging and premium content. Dual daily newsletters (thematic + news) serve different reader needs.
5. Repurpose existing content strategically. Don’t create entirely new content lines. Look for ways to extend existing assets into new formats (educational, audio, video) that serve your mission.
6. Customer focus beats industry experience. Understanding what readers actually want and how they want to consume it matters more than knowing “how publishing has always worked.”

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Watch the Full Episode

Listen on the Paywall Podcast

Resources Mentioned

• Mexico News Daily— English-language news and information about Mexico
• MND Kids — Bilingual educational platform with leveled reading content
• Mexico News Daily TV — YouTube channel featuring the Confidently Wrong podcast
• Leaky Paywall — WordPress subscription platform for publishers