FF #003: How I Grew My Email List to 13,854 Subscribers

Couple days ago the ecom email legend Chris Orzechowski interviewed me in his coaching group, The Leverage Lab.

We talked about how I got started in the online biz world... and more specifically how I built my email list+social following from scgrigiddy scratch.

I have an enormous amount of respect for Chris so it was great getting to jam with him for an hour.

But there's only a few hundred people in his coaching group.

And there's no way I'm gonna leave you out in the cold on my list-building strategies :-)

So today I'll be sharing what I did with Chris...

How I Grew My Email List To 13,854 Subscribers

I could not live without email.

That's being a bit dramatic... but it really is the centerpiece of my bizness.

I love email because it's an owned asset that no one can take from you.

Think of it like your "house".

You can say what you want, do what you want, decorate it the way you want, and invite the people you want.

It's your house after all.

Now if you're someone famous like Brad Pitt?

It's pretty easy to get people over to your house because of your name alone.

But if you're like me? Just a regular dude no one knows?

You have to give people a damn good reason to come over to your house.

And that's what I'll share with you today.

How I got 13,854 people over to my house since 2020.

Let's roll.

(P.S. - I'm going to assume you already have skills/experience worth creating an email list + audience around. If you don't, that's step #0 for you and I have products at the end of this email to help you with that.)

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Step 1: Determine WHO you want in your house.

Get clear on who you can help and want in your house.

If I'm hosting a BBQ with joosy steaks and burgers... do you think I'm gonna invite a bunch of vegans?

Hell na.

I'm gonna invite a bunch of meat lovers!

I have a few different segments of my audience now... similar to how you might have different friend groups... but I started with one.

My main "who" now are experts who want to get paid to sell their advice.

And do it through writing online (emails + social posts).

Once you get clear on your who?

It's a lot easier to design your positioning, messaging, and offers to get them on your email list.

Step 2: Create a "bait".

If you're fishing for Marlin you can't expect to cast out a naked hook and catch one.

You'll need to put a squid on that bad boy.

Same thing with your email list.

What bait can you offer to get people HAPPY to join your list?

The delivery method doesn't matter much.

I've done a one-page PDF, single video training, short ebook, and a 7-day email course.

What matters is you're offering a "bait" your ideal person wants.

I'm looking to attract experts who want to build a lean 6-figure bizness selling their advice.

So I created this bait to attract them: 

My "$1k/Day Offer Buffet" course breaks down my biz model and how to model the strategy for yourself.

Do you think someone who wants to build a biz similar to mine would be interested in that?

Me thinks yes.

And there's a decent chance you've been through this course if you're here :-)

Once you have your bait?

Create a simple opt-in page like the above where folks can enter their email in exchange for the bait.

Onto the next step...

Step 3: Pretty up your social profiles.

Whether we admit or not... we as human beings automatically judge others.

If I go to your Facebook profile and you have a profile picture of Pikachu... I'm going to think/feel a certain way about you.

That's just how it is. I don't make the rules!

I use social media to get all of my email subscribers.

So I want to make sure my profiles are attractive when an ideal person lands on it.

Let's run through my LinkedIn profile as an example:

If someone lands on my profile it's clear in a few seconds who I am, who I help, and how I can help them.

My cover photo has a clear message with a call-to-action.

My headline tells you what I do in 1-2 sentences.

There's a link ("Build Your One-Person-Biz") that drives people to my bait.

And a featured section that also links to my bait.

Check out my Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube profiles and you'll see similar optimization.

When our ideal person lands on our profile from what we do in step #4?

We want them to be thinking, "how can I get MORE from this person?"

Once our profiles are pretty we need to...

Step 4: Generate attention.

At this point you should know your "who".

You also have some kind of "bait" to give people a reason to join your email list.

You should have an opt-in page to collect email addresses.

And you should have optimized your active social profiles.

Now it's time to generate attention so people find you.

Like I mentioned in the last step... I use social media to do this.

Social is a "borrowed asset".

Meaning it ain't your house and you can be booted or cancelled at any time.

The upside is your "who" is already hanging out here.

So all you have to do is generate attention by posting relevant, useful, and valuable stuff.

As you make these posts you'll start to attract people.

They'll check out your profile and see a way to get your bait.

Once they do... congrats!

They're now on your list.

Currently I'm active on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

I do NOT recommend you try and tackle 4 platforms at once though.

Choose 1 and stick with it for 6-8 months before thinking about adding another.

I started with a YouTube channel and Facebook group.

My YouTube videos would send people over to my Facebook group.

Which would then send people over to my email list.

I added Twitter in Feb 2021. And LinkedIn in May 2022.

But the goal with all of them is the same.

Publish posts that generate attention and drive people to my email list.

If you want to see a live case study of how I do this everyday?

Follow me on LinkedIn.

I'll be launching a product in the near future around creating content and building an audience.

No exact release date but it's in the works... so keep your eyes peeled for that.

In the meantime this should be more than enough to get you going.

It's the exact strategy I used to get 13,854 subscribers from scratch.

Hope this helps 🤙

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When you're ready, here are 5 ways I can help you...

1. Build and monetize audiences in my Audience Rainmaker community here.

2. Learn my multi-million dollar formula to write emails that sell here.

3. Launch a tiny digital product to Get Paid Everyday here.

4. Get paid to write simple 5th grade emails that sell here.

5. Join the waitlist for the next Leveraged Offer Launch workshop here.