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independence2 unconnected
applies to

b2b and consumer, needs an existing audience

outcome not stated

confidence

high

evidence

5 claims · 3 articles · 4 receipts

window

these articles carry no publication dates

2 builders who never spoke to each other

Run a giveaway a sponsor pays for

Brands will supply prizes free in exchange for exposure to a whole list, which works at a few thousand subscribers because the sponsor is buying attention rather than doing you a favour. Make the prize something your specific readers cannot easily afford, such as the software they already pay for, hang it off a subscriber milestone or whatever your audience is currently talking about, and let the partnerships conversation turn into paid deals later.

The method

  1. 01

    Run a referral giveaway with a prize a partner brand pays for, which works even at a few thousand subscribers because the sponsor gets the exposure.

  2. 02

    Once past twenty thousand subscribers, ask brands and existing sponsors to supply physical rewards free in exchange for being placed in front of your whole list, and let your partnerships team turn that conversation into paid deals.

  3. 03

    Where your readers rely on expensive tools, make the prize thousands of dollars of that software and let one referral be the entry ticket.

  4. 04

    Attach a giveaway to each round subscriber milestone so the list has a reason to recruit the next block of readers.

  5. 05

    Time the prize to whatever your audience is talking about that month, so the giveaway rides an existing wave of attention.

What it returned

  • Front Office Sports had Bose supply prizes at no cost. The Hustle produced tens of thousands of referrals in a single month by giving away a whole software business funded by MicroAcquire. Mollie McGlocklin of Sleep Is A Skill lined up prizes worth thousands of dollars with only a few thousand subscribers, and authors readily donate signed copies.

  • It works best with physical goods and books, and can also work for digital products.

  • Aleyda Solis puts SEO software and training worth thousands up as the grand prize on SEOFOMO giveaways, entered with a single referral, and credits them with getting the newsletter past growth plateaus.

  • Aleyda Solis runs giveaways to hit milestones on her SEO newsletter at 10k, 20k and 30k subscribers.

Sources

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.

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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.

963 corroborated plays to draw from · 3 a week

One email a week. Unsubscribe in one click, and the address is used for this and nothing else.