2 builders who never spoke to each other
Write something worth forwarding
Content that is merely good earns opens; content nobody else would go to the trouble of making gets passed on, which is why twenty hours of research per edition grew one list from four readers to five figures with no paid acquisition. An email funny enough to forward ends up reposted on forums and blogs, earning links you never asked for.
The method
- 01
An email funny enough to be worth forwarding gets reposted on forums and blogs, earning links you never asked for.
- 02
Outspend everyone on research depth so the issue is worth forwarding: good content earns opens, but content nobody else could be bothered to make is what gets passed on.
What it returned
- 20
Chenell Basilio puts more than 20 hours of research into each Growth In Reverse edition. Her first edition went to 4 people and a year later the list was above 30k, grown entirely without paid acquisition.
The CD Baby email was passed around music forums and personal blogs, generating discussion and backlinks
Sources
- CD Baby's confirmation emailHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · CD Baby's confirmation email · undated
- Friday Feature: 22 Lessons from Successful Newsletter Creators (Part 2)Chenell Basilio · sparkloop.app · Lesson #21 - Creating “better” content is a growth cheat code · 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 word of mouth
- Check word of mouth exists before you build8 unconnected · contested
- Turn buyers into fans instead of buying ads6 unconnected
- Show up in person where your readers are5 unconnected
- Make the second user arrive with the first5 unconnected
- Answer support as if it were the sales channel4 unconnected
- Give the hardest customers your hours4 unconnected