Yesterday I mentioned that I just ended my print newsletter, which was a $50k a month business.
The main reason I ended it was because it was pulling too much of my time away from Copy Accelerator.
However there were other reasons that I ended it as well.
And I want to share one of those reasons with you today because I think it will give you some good insight into how I make decisions.
Sound good?
Let’s jump in.
So back in January I had a huge launch where 332 new members signed up for the newsletter.
That gave me like 600 members total.
Which was awesome.
However like most continuity programs, not everyone stays a member.
You lose a lot of people in those first 1-2 months after they sign up.
So here’s the issue I was facing…
My goal was to average 500 members per month with the newsletter.
With 500 members @ $199 a month, the business would do around $700k-$800k in profit per year.
Which would be great.
That’s a nice chunk of change for writing a 20 page newsletter each month.
However, here’s the rub…
In order to keep the member numbers around 500 people a month, it was going to be a Herculean task.
Seriously.
First, I’d need an offer working on cold traffic.
Why?
Cause I’d need a consistent flow of new buyers that I could put into the print newsletter.
Creating an offer that scales on cold traffic is not an easy task.
But I’ve done it many times.
So I think I could have done it.
However, that’s just step one.
Step two is really what I didn’t want to do.
If I was good enough to get my offer working on cold traffic, then I’d also need…
– someone running the traffic
– someone creating the ads
– more customer service reps
– a better operations setup to handle the increase in volume
– copywriters to write new leads and headlines so things don’t fatigue
That’s a lot of stuff.
It’s a lot of me managing people…
And hiring…
And putting systems in place.
This is all stuff that’s necessary.
But I have no interest in doing any of it.
I like to focus on marketing.
That’s what I’m good at.
So when I realized what it was going to take to keep the newsletter at 500 members per month, I decided it wasn’t worth it.
That’s not the kind of business I want.
I don’t want the added stress…
And the added responsibility…
So I decided to just end it.
Which was a very tough decision.
I was making around $50k in profit each month from it.
And I actually enjoyed writing the newsletter.
But in the end, I knew if I wanted to keep it at the 500 subscriber mark, it had to evolve into a real business.
And I wasn’t interested in doing that.
So I made the decision to shut it down.
Like I said it wasn’t an easy decision.
It’s one I battled for weeks…
And even questioned my own sanity multiple times.
But in the end, I think it’s what’s best for me…
And it’s what’s best for my main business, Copy Accelerator.
So there ya go…
That’s a little look into my thought process.
And how I made the decision.
I hope me sharing all this helps you make better decisions with your biz in the future.
Enjoy your Thursday,
– Justin
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