2 builders who never spoke to each other
Put your list building inside someone else's promotion
Having a partner promote your course or webinar rather than your newsletter gives their readers a reason to act and lands them on your list in one step. The same applies to deal sites, guest appearances and podcast clips: make an opt-in part of the deal, and cut a section narrow enough that the other party wants to mail it.
The method
- 01
Have partners promote a webinar or an email course of yours rather than the newsletter itself, and let their readers land on your list from that promotion in one action.
- 02
Make an opt-in to your own list a condition of every deal-site promotion you agree to
- 03
Cut a topical section for your guest to publish to their own list, so their audience meets your show through something narrow enough to email about.
- 04
Pitch guests with a genuine personal email that shows you know their work and what they care about, and include a scheduling link so they pick the time.
- 05
A single email to one industry partner can be worth more than a campaign - it produced a recurring weekly flow of signups.
What it returned
- 1,300
About 1,300 subscribers picked up from a handful of deals with AppSumo, Dealotto and Mighty Deals
- 90
Matt D'Avella cut four minutes on landing dream clients out of a 90-minute interview, which the guest released separately and sent to his own email list
Brennan Dunn built his lists this way through joint partnerships and reports the click-through rates were extremely high, though the setup was awkward before tooling existed for it.
Justin uses SavvyCal so guests choose a slot that suits them.
Sources
- Where are these signups coming from?Justin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Where are these signups coming from? · undated
- How to make a podcast (and submit it to Spotify and Apple Podcasts) in 2024Justin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · How to book podcast guests · undated
- How I use email for marketingNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · My system · 2013-06-28
- How to fix podcasting’s critical flawNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · Matt D’Avella · 2018-10-22
- Introducing Magic Links: Add one-click signup everywhere you shareBrennan Dunn · sparkloop.app · Sprinkle some Magic in your marketing · undated
the second source
Three plays a week, for the phase you are in
No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.
More in email
- Move the audience you rent onto a list you own7 unconnected
- Hold the schedule you promised to hold5 unconnected
- Decide whether cold email is worth what it signals5 unconnected · contested
- Settle who the publication is for before growing it5 unconnected
- Open the list before the product is real4 unconnected
- Send each subscriber the thing they told you they want4 unconnected