Yesterday, Stefan and I got notified that our Copy Accelerator program hit the “2 Comma Club” milestone in Clickfunnels.
Which basically means we’ve made a million dollars with it so far (not bad for a business that’s only 7 months old).
So this morning, I decided to write a post in the Clickfunnels Facebook group about we did it.
Specifically how we built a 7-figure business from my tiny 974-person email list.
Most people would think that’s impossible.
But we did it.
So I broke down what I thought were the most important parts into a post…
Here it is for you…
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How I hit the 2 Comma Club with a tiny list of 974 people
I just got an email from ClickFunnels that my new business hit the 2 Comma Club for 2019.
What’s crazy is that I did this with a super small list of just 974 people.
So I’m gonna break down how that happened.
But first, a little context for you…
The business I run is a high-end copywriting training program with my partner Stefan Georgi called Copy Accelerator.
We teach hardcore direct marketers how to get their offer working on cold traffic.
So we help our members dial-in their copy, their upsells and more.
It’s a high ticket program with most people in the group paying between $12k – $35k for the year.
This business was started just 7 months ago.
And now it’s a million dollar business (with high profit margins) .
So let’s dig in to how all this happened…
The Idea
From 2014-2017 I owned a supplement company that I grew from scratch to $23 million in sales.
From growing that business I knew firsthand that making an offer work on cold traffic was the “holy grail” of marketing.
It was my biggest focus.
And all of my competitors biggest focus as well.
I also knew that this was really hard to do.
And most companies simply don’t have smart enough marketers and copywriters on their team to do it.
So… I saw a big need in the marketplace to help companies train their employees for copy and funnel optimization so they could get an offer working on cold traffic.
So I pitched this idea to Stefan Georgi one day at Whole Foods.
If you don’t know Stefan, I believe he’s the best copywriter in the world right now (probably neck-and-neck with Craig Clemens).
As we talked about the idea, Stefan started to get really excited.
And he saw the same potential in the business that I saw.
So in March of this year, we launched Copy Accelerator.
This was a very simple launch.
We hosted a private mastermind at T&C in San Diego, and wound up doing a soft-pitch of the offer to people a the mastermind.
And then we also launched it to my email list.
Now unlike most people in this space, my email list is not big.
It’s nothing like Russell’s list. Or Frank Kern’s.
My list is 974 people.
BUT….
And this is a big but…
It’s 974 really high-quality people.
It’s business owners of 7, 8 and 9 figure businesses. And it’s also high-end freelance copywriters.
(One note: Unlike most email lists that you can simply opt-in to, my email list is private. People have to apply to be on it. So this limits the number of people on it. But it also helps me attract the RIGHT kind of people)
Anyways…
When we launched Copy Accelerator to my list, there was nothing fancy about the launch.
I wrote emails about the program for about two weeks.
And then we had a deadline for when the program was going to start.
I think we had 42 people sign up right out of the gate.
These were at various price levels as well.
But the two main price points were $12,500 and $28,000 I believe.
So right out of the gate Copy Accelerator showed promise.
And over the last 7 months we have continued to grow the membership.
We had a live event in September where 180+ people attended (members + non-members).
This event went incredibly well. And we enrolled another 28 people in the program from the live event.
I don’t know our exact numbers now, but I believe we have like 85ish people in the program now.
Which is awesome.
But I think what’s even more important is how Stefan and I built all this off my little email list of 974 people.
So let’s dig into the lessons here.
LESSON #1 – It’s about who’s on your list, not how many people are on your list
This is probably the biggest factor.
I care more about WHO is on my list than how many people are on it .
In fact, I actually deny people from joining my email list.
I make people fill out an application.
And if they don’t fit the bill, they don’t get to join.
I do this for a few reasons, but the main reason is that I only want a certain kind of person on my email list.
I want serious business owners.
And I want successful copywriters.
Almost everyone else is NOT my target market.
So it’s all about WHO is on the list and not how many people are on the list.
LESSON #2 – I email my list every day
I look at my email list like Howard Stern looks at his radio show.
It’s a chance to connect with people.
And I do that every day.
Most people are simply not dedicated enough to email their list every day.
But for me it’s the focal point of my business.
Everything I’m doing right now (and next year) will stem from my email list.
In 2020 I’m going to be launching 5-6 new products including a high-end newsletter.
All of that will stem from my email list.
This is only possible because of my email list and the relationship I have with the people on it.
LESSON #3 – I treat my email list like real people
If you’re on my email list you’ll see that I do things a bit differently than other people.
It’s a little more of a running diary of my life.
Sure I teach things about copy, marketing and funnels…
But I also share everything going on in my life.
And I talk about really personal things.
I talk about how my mom never believed in me as an entrepreneur and how that still pains me to this day.
I talk about the struggles I have with being a perfectionist.
I talk about how I made a bunch of money when I sold my supplement company in 2017 – and how I hit rock bottom after that.
I even talk about really emotional things like the day I put my dog down.
A lot of this stuff is hard to write about.
But it also really connects with people.
My email list is basically a peek inside my life.
It’s not hardcore tactics.
Or straight content.
It’s all about me sharing and bonding with the people who read my stuff.
Also I take time to actually respond to people who email me back (which is one of the reasons I limit the number of people on the list).
So the big takeaway here is that you want to build a REAL, long-term relationship with the people on your list.
And that can only be done by sharing stuff about yourself (usually stuff that makes you uncomfortable)
Wrap-Up
As you can see, what I just shared with you is not fancy.
1. I basically built a quality list of 974 people
2. I emailed the list every day
3. I created a real bond with many of the people on my list through my daily emails.
4. I made an offer that I knew they WANTED.
That’s the extent of it.
And we just hit the 2 Comma Club because of this.
The reason I wanted to share this is because this model could be repeated in hundreds of different niches.
You just have to follow the plan and stick with it.
Hopefully this post gives you some ideas…
And helps a few people in the group.
-Justin
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So that’s the whole post I put in the ClickFunnels Facebook group.
And it’s getting crazy feedback.
So looks like it’s connecting with people.
If this was helpful for you, feel free to reply to this email and let me know.
Talk soon,
– Justin
If you want to hear more from Justin, he has a private email list for top marketers, copywriters and business owners. To apply to be on the email list simply click the button below that says “apply now”.
