Adventures In Content Creation: How I made $3,409 from an email list of less than 100 people

Earlier this year I hosted a virtual live “get shit done” three-workshop for $19.

From that workshop I made $3,409 (not counting the $19 I charged for the workshop itself), even though:

• I had NO sales page
• I had NO funnel
• Not everyone who paid to attend the workshop actually showed up
• Not everyone who showed up live invested in my larger workshop offer

Here are the particulars.

1. My list was under 100 people at the time.

Not every lead on my list is high-quality in terms of “likely to consume my offers,” but ENOUGH of them are.

Takeaway: You don’t need “everyone” to be on your list. You need ENOUGH of the RIGHT people.

2. I have a great relationship with people on my list, and it’s not by accident.

I work at it, with consistent, daily emails that are worth their time to read, are full of my personality, and always include a call to action.

Because of that, ENOUGH of the RIGHT people on my list trusted me to deliver a valuable experience.

Without that relationship component, my workshop wouldn’t have done as well (especially without a sales funnel — I did my selling in my emails).

Takeaway: If you want your list to show up for you, you have to show up for your list.

3. The workshop was a “get shit done” participation format.

Meaning, it wasn’t just me droning on and on for three hours, then making an offer.

Instead, people who showed up and participated got a clear result that they could start implementing — without any help from me — the instant the workshop ended. (In this case, the workshop outcome was a 30-day content acceleration plan to promote their offers.)

I did make an offer at the end, for a two-month coaching and training program, for anyone who wanted help, guidance, and support implementing their content acceleration plan.

Seven people bought it, leading to the $3,409.

The final part of the workshop was laser coaching, so everyone got to experience what working with me was like, before investing in my two-month offer.

Takeaway: My workshop didn’t withhold what they needed to go out and create their result, whether they continued working with me, or not. It was a confident approach, instead of a needy approach.

4. Instead of a membership site or social media group, the programs included with my offer were delivered in my Andrea Dell Copywriting app. The coaching was delivered in Zoom.

Zoom call recordings were also added to my app, making access to everything convenient to consume and simple to access.

No lost passwords to contend with, and no having to log on to some membership site from your computer to enjoy the content they paid for.

Plus, with the way my app is set up (it’s hosted by a company called Learnistic), people can download the content and listen even without cell service, just like you can with iTunes.

(Incidentally, my app is also available on desktop, for those who prefer that method.)

Putting the content in my app, instead of a membership site, made it stand apart, AND made it more fun to consume.

That last bit is important, because if people aren’t CONSUMING your offers, they aren’t getting results.

Takeaway: When people consume your programs and get results, they’re more likely to buy more and refer more compared with people who buy and never consume.

Profiting from a tiny email list is 100% possible when you have:

• ENOUGH of the right people on your list
• A great relationship with these “right people”
• An offer these “right people” want

You need all three of these components in place.

When you have all three in place, more is possible than you think.

Don’t trash your list just because it’s tiny. If it’s got enough of the right people, if you’re building a relationship with them by showing up in a way that’s worth their time, and you’ve got an offer they want, a tiny email list can absolutely be profitable.

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If you enjoyed this article, please hit the clap icon. If you need help coming up with what to write about, check out my free 7-Day Content Accelerator email challenge here: https://andread.me/email. That link also gets you access to my free Andrea Dell Copywriting mobile app, where you can access free content training!