From Jan 2024 to Nov 2025 we helped one of our clients with a tonne of virtual and IRL events.

• 6 in-person conferences
• 3 virtual summits
• 4 challenges
• 19 webinars
• …As well as various product launches and promos for core offers

Paid traffic isn’t their strong suit so I had to get good at milking every last drop of attention from their CRM. By mid-2025 I was halfway decent at event promos.

The best result we were able to get was a 70% show-up rate for a 3-day challenge. 90% of those made it to the last day. They added something like $30K to $36K MRR with one- to three-year contracts. So, $400K to $1.2MM in revenue. Of course, not all of that will be collected.

To get this result we had 113 marketing touch points across landing pages, emails, SMS, and WhatsApp. I can’t remember how many ads we ran but there were a handful of statics. Plus a few social posts in the Facebook group.

• 3 Landing pages
• 1 VSLs
• 15 Show-up emails
• 6 Pre-event bonus workshop reminders
• 6 Day 1 reminders
• 5 Day 2 reminders
• 5 Day 3 reminders
• 3 Homework follow-ups
• 5 Post-event bonus session reminders
• 12 Challenge promo emails
• 21 Offer promo emails
• 22 WhatsApp & SMS reminders

Missing from this list: Calling every registrant to get them to show up. We didn’t have a sales team.

This used to be a lot of work but now, once you know what you’re trying to do, AI can handle all of the writing. I’ve included a complete SOP at the end of this post.

The Biggest Mistake in Event Promotions

The biggest mistake people make is UNDER-PROMOTING your events.

This includes:

• Not giving the marketing team enough lead time to promote the event. People have lives and jobs. They need to figure out how to fit the event into their calendar with everything else going on.
• Not spending enough money on ads to promote the event. Many of my clients think they have big lists but their engaged audience is only a fraction of that. And the buyers are a fraction of the engaged audience. Most of their CRM contacts are so old and “ran through” they are gray mail.
• Not hard-selling on main. Some clients have this chip on their shoulder about being a “CEO” and aren’t willing to seriously promote their event on their personal socials. Daily posts are the bare minimum; reels, stories, 2-steps. Don’t post links. Sell hand-to-hand in the DMs.
• Not being ANNOYING. People need to be unsubscribing and unfollowing you for selling too much. If you’re not getting emails and DMs complaining about how much you’re promoting the event, you’re not promoting enough. They can buy or die.

All of the above is just to get them to sign up.

That’s the Easy Part

The hard part is getting them to show up. That’s why you need so many touch points. Even if they pay for the ticket, never assume they care enough to show up live.

You need them to show up live because you need to force consumption. The more content you are able to get them to consume, the more likely they are to buy your offer. And don’t rely on them watching the recordings. They almost never do.

It takes roughly 7.5 hours of content consumption to build enough trust for a significant purchase decision. For a three-day challenge there is about 6 to 9 hours of content, not including any additional resources outside of the live training.

That’s why challenges are such a good monetization system. They compress all that consumption into a 3-day window. Can you imagine how long it would take for them to watch 7.5 hours of short-form video?

Mistakes That Kill Offer Take-Rate

Other mistakes I’ve seen that lower conversion rate on the core offer:

• Not selling tickets. Even if you’re doing a free challenge it takes no extra effort to sell VIP tickets and do a Q&A for an hour before the main event. It also takes no extra effort to put a few OTOs in the funnel to liquidate more of your ad spend. We did a bunch of free challenges where the show-up rate sucked. The owner finally took my advice and started charging.
• Not pricing the tickets congruently with the offer. The tickets for this particular challenge were $100 and there was no VIP ticket. Too low, in my opinion, because we were selling a $36K offer ($3K per month on 12-month contract.) That’s like the Bugatti sales team trying to sell a Tourbillon to a mf who bought a souvenir from the gift shop.
• Not calling everyone who clicked one of the offer emails and didn’t book a call. For this particular challenge that pool was small enough that the event host could have called everyone personally. They were partners on the offer so every call is money in their pocket. Another example of unwillingness to get hands dirty.
• Not calling everyone who showed up. You’ll need a sales team but even if you do it yourself, it has to be done. You went to all this effort and spent all this money, why wouldn’t you call them?
• Delaying the post-challenge “pop-up” event. The pop-up event is a group sales call where you answer all questions and objections you got on sales calls after you pitched the offer on day two of the challenge. One time we delayed the pop-up event 2 to 3 weeks after the challenge because of some scheduling issue. Needless to say it bombed. Do the pop-up event within a week after the challenge ends.

Okay, so that’s all I have in terms of insights. But I want to give you one last thing. I turned our best-performing challenge into an SOP. Turn it into a Custom GPT or Claude Skill and use it to write your next challenge.

Challenge SOP

Overview

• A live challenge campaign typically runs 3 to 5 days
• Total estimated touch points: ~110 across email, SMS, WhatsApp, and landing page
• Goal: maximize registrations, drive live attendance, build engagement, and convert participants into a high-ticket offer

1. Campaign Assets & Infrastructure

Core Assets

• Landing Page (1 touch point): Single, high-converting registration page outlining the challenge promise, schedule, and transformation
• Community Group: Dedicated WhatsApp or Facebook group for accountability, networking, and host access
• Live Event Platform: Zoom or equivalent for interactive live sessions

Multi-Channel Approach

• Email forms the backbone (~80% of touch points)
• SMS and WhatsApp reminders drive live attendance (~20% of touch points)

2. Pre-Challenge Promotion Phase

• Goal: Drive registrations from existing lists and new leads
• Duration: 10–14 days before the challenge start date
  Total touch points: 21 promo emails

Promo Email Cadence

• Days 14–7 (Pre-Launch): 1 email/day — introduce the event, focus on the core problem it solves
• Days 6–3 (Build-Up): 1–2 emails/day — highlight specific daily outcomes, share case studies, agitate pain points
• Days 2–0 (Final Push): 2–3 emails/day — urgency, scarcity, and transformation messaging

3. Post-Registration/Pre-Event Phase

• Goal: Convert registrants into live attendees by building anticipation
• Total touch points: 15 show-up emails

Show-Up Sequence (triggered on registration)

• Immediate: Welcome email with calendar link, community group access, and first pre-work assignment
• Every 1–2 days: Value-driven emails teasing session content, sharing success stories, reinforcing the importance of showing up live
• Ongoing: Nudges to introduce themselves and engage in the community group

4. The Live Challenge Phase

• Goal: Maximize daily live attendance, drive implementation, build momentum

Daily Reminder Cadence (5–6 touch points per day)

• 8:00 AM: Set the day’s agenda; tease the primary “aha!” moment
• 2:00 PM: Short story or case study related to the day’s topic
• 4:00 PM (2 hrs before): Final prep checklist and instructions
• 5:00 PM (1 hr before): Urgency — eliminate distractions, check tech
• 6:00 PM (start time): “WE ARE LIVE NOW” email with direct access link

Note: If a Pre-Game session is held the day before Day 1, it follows this exact same 6-touch cadence.

Homework Follow-Up (1 touch point per day)

• Sent immediately after each session ends (e.g., 8:00 PM)
• Includes: session recap, recording link (if applicable), clear “FUNwork” assignments
• Directs participants to post completed homework in the community group

5. Post-Challenge Sales Phase

• Goal: Convert engaged participants into paying customers for the core offer
• Duration: 7 days immediately following the final challenge session

Sales Email Sequence (21 touch points)

• Cadence: 3 emails/day at 6:00 AM, 12:00 PM, and 6:00 PM
• Content themes (rotate across 21 emails):
  • Cost of inaction vs. ROI of the program
  • Full breakdown of what’s included (the “stack”)
  • Objection handling (time, money, effort, past failures)
  • Case studies and testimonials
  • Urgency and scarcity (cart closing, expiring bonuses)

Bonus Q&A Session (5 touch points)

• A live Q&A call held during the open cart period to address final objections
• Follows the standard daily reminder cadence: 8 AM, 2 PM, 4 PM, 5 PM, Live Now

6. SMS & WhatsApp Integration

• Total touch points: ~22 (approx. 25% of total email count)
• Pre-Challenge: 1–2 messages confirming registration and encouraging group joining
• Daily Reminders: Short, punchy messages sent 15 minutes before going live each day
• Sales Phase: Notifications for cart open, bonus Q&A, and cart close warnings

7. Landing Page SOP

• Goal: Drive challenge registrations by clearly articulating the problem, the transformation, and the specific daily outcomes
• Format: Long-form, single-page, narrative-driven sales page
• CTA type: Registration form or “Book a Strategy Call” button (depending on whether the challenge is paid or free)

Section 1: Hook & Problem (Above the Fold)

• Headline: State the exact, measurable outcome the audience wants (e.g., “How [Audience] Are Building [Outcome] Without [Pain Point]”)
• Subheadline: Immediately neutralize the top 2–3 objections (“Without hiring more salespeople, burning ad budget, or babysitting another useless agency”)
• Social proof bar: Quick-hit stats or logos (e.g., “For Agencies doing $1M–$10M in annual revenue”)
• Problem agitation: List the specific daily frustrations the audience is trapped in (writing cold emails at 6 AM, juggling outreach between support tickets, etc.)
• The pivot: Name the real problem — they don’t have a business, they have a “high-paying job with extra stress”

Section 2: The Solution & The “Why Now”

• Introduce the challenge as the specific system to solve the problem
• Path segmentation: Create 2 audience paths (e.g., “I need to hire my first SDR” vs. “I have an SDR but they’re not performing”) to show the challenge applies to both
• The “Anti-Pitch”: Explicitly state what the challenge is NOT:
  • Not a passive course
  • Not recycled generic advice
  • Not a pitch-fest for a $10K program
  • Not theory from people who’ve never done it
• Credibility: Establish host authority with specific, verifiable proof points (e.g., “We built an agency to 7 figures and sold it”)

Section 3: The Daily Breakdown (The “What”)

• List each day of the challenge with a clear named theme, 3–5 specific outcomes, and a tangible deliverable:
  • Day 1 example: “Your Million-Dollar Hiring Blueprint” → Deliverable: Job posting ready to publish
  • Day 2 example: “The 30-Day Transformation System” → Deliverable: Complete onboarding playbook
  • Day 3 example: “The Performance Machine” → Deliverable: Complete management system
  • Bonus Day: Highlight the exclusive panel or Q&A as a high-value live-only incentive
• Session format breakdown: Show the structure of each session (e.g., 30 min training → 45 min guided implementation → 15 min hot seat coaching)

Section 4: The Transformation & Cost of Inaction

• Future pacing: Paint a vivid picture of the participant’s life at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year post-implementation
• Before/After contrast: Side-by-side comparison of life before the challenge vs. after
• Cost of delay: Quantify the exact monthly cost of inaction (e.g., “Every month you wait costs you 20–40 missed appointments and $50K–$200K in lost pipeline”)
• Competition angle: Remind them their competitors are building this system right now

Section 5: Logistics, Objections & The Guarantee

• The schedule: List every session with exact date, day, and time
• Time investment summary: Total hours required (e.g., “Less than 7 hours to transform your business”)
• FAQ / Objection handling (top 10):
  • “I can’t make it live” → recordings available, but live gets 3x better results
  • “I’ve tried hiring salespeople before and it failed” → this is different because of X
  • “I don’t have budget for an SDR” → start part-time, the math works
  • “My business isn’t ready” → this is backwards; you need appointments to build better processes
  • “My niche is too specific” → specialization makes this easier, not harder
  • “I’m too busy to manage someone” → a properly trained SDR needs 30 min/week from you
  • “How long until this pays off?” → real timeline data from members
  • “Is this just another course?” → no, you build your assets live during the session
  • “What happens after the challenge?” → 30-day community access, recordings, and optional next steps
• The Guarantee: Action-based, risk-reversal guarantee (e.g., “Show up, do the homework, implement. If you don’t see progress in 30 days, get a full refund and keep everything.”)

Section 6: The Stack & The Close

• Value stack: List every item included in the core curriculum plus all fast-action bonuses with implied or stated dollar values
• Pricing table: Present General Admission and VIP tiers with clear differentiation
• Price anchoring: Compare the investment to the cost of a bad hire, one month of an agency, or one day of billable time
• The crossroads close: Frame the decision as two explicit paths:
• Path One (“Maybe Later”): Describe the painful 6-month future if they do nothing
• Path Two (“Enough Is Enough”): Describe the exciting 6-month future if they register today
• Final CTA: Clear, action-oriented button (“Register Now” / “Book Your Strategy Session”)
• Sticky CTA bar: A persistent bottom bar with the CTA button visible throughout the entire page scroll

Go Forth & Prosper (OR)

If you have done Challenges before, let me know in the comments if I’ve missed anything. Or if I’ve pointed out something you missed.

If you haven’t tried a Challenge Funnel before, I’ve given you everything you need launch your first one. Or you can hire us to launch it for you. We have the capabilities and relationships to handle every aspect of the Challenge, from the ads to the sales calls and everything in between.

Fill out our application and, if you fit our qualification criteria, book a friendly chat with us.

Business owners and sales reps often overlook this, sending unique emails every day wastes time and kills your conversion rates. When you're trying to close deals, why leave success to chance? If you're writing different emails from scratch every time, nothing gets measured or improved. You can't test what works because there's no consistency. Meanwhile, your competitors are refining their approach with every send.

Business owners and sales reps often overlook this, sending unique emails every day wastes time and kills your conversion rates. When you're trying to close deals, why leave success to chance? If you're writing different emails from scratch every time, nothing gets measured or improved. You can't test what works because there's no consistency. Meanwhile, your competitors are refining their approach with every send.

Business owners and sales reps often overlook this, sending unique emails every day wastes time and kills your conversion rates. When you're trying to close deals, why leave success to chance? If you're writing different emails from scratch every time, nothing gets measured or improved. You can't test what works because there's no consistency. Meanwhile, your competitors are refining their approach with every send.

Business owners and sales reps often overlook this, sending unique emails every day wastes time and kills your conversion rates. When you’re trying to close deals, why leave success to chance?

If you’re writing different emails from scratch every time, nothing gets measured or improved. You can’t test what works because there’s no consistency. Meanwhile, your competitors are refining their approach with every send.

Think about how many sales emails you send daily. Without templates, you can’t measure what works, test different approaches, or improve over time. Each email becomes a random attempt rather than a refined pitch that gets better with every send.

The volume matters here. Most sales professionals send dozens of pitches weekly. That’s dozens of opportunities to either apply proven methods or hope for the best. Which approach do you think wins more deals?

Three Types of Sales Pitches

Your approach changes based on how you met the prospect:

After Meeting in Person: These people are slightly warm but not fully engaged. Remind them where you met, reference your conversation, and provide value that moves them toward booking a call. Keep it short and immediately clear about the benefit of continuing the conversation. They gave you their contact info for a reason, respect their time while nurturing their interest.

After a Call: You’ve already talked, so now outline what you discussed, clarify next steps, and remove any doubts about moving forward. This is about momentum. Reference specific points from your conversation and address any concerns they mentioned. The deal is closer here, so focus on clearing the path.

Cold Outreach: You have one shot to prove your worth. Be immediately valuable, personalized, and offer something easy to say yes to. This isn’t about you, it’s about solving their problem quickly. Make your first ask frictionless, like downloading a valuable resource or answering a simple question.

Getting Your Emails Delivered

Before writing anything, ensure your emails actually reach inboxes. Clean your email list regularly and maintain a good sender reputation. Sending to invalid addresses tells email providers you’re a spammer, and once you’re marked as spam, even your best pitches won’t be seen.

This means removing bounced emails, checking for typos in addresses, and following email service provider guidelines. It’s not glamorous work, but it’s the difference between pitching to prospects and pitching to the void.

Emails That Convert

Keep emails under 300 words with short, scannable paragraphs. Long blocks of text get skipped. True personalization means understanding their situation, not just using their name. Reference their company’s recent news, their role’s specific challenges, or mutual connections.

Subject lines deserve special attention, they determine if your email even gets opened. Test variations that are personal, relevant, and create curiosity without being clickbait. A good subject line relates directly to the value inside the email.

Use proven frameworks like AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) or PAS (Problem, Agitate, Solve) to structure your message. These frameworks exist because they work—they guide readers naturally toward your call to action.

Write from their perspective using “you” instead of “we” or “I.” Instead of “We offer great software,” try “You’ll save 3 hours weekly with automated reporting.” Focus on benefits, not features. Support claims with specific stats, case studies, and testimonials. Proof beats promises every time.

Make your call to action frictionless. Don’t just ask for a meeting, make booking dead simple and non-threatening. “Would you be open to a quick 15-minute call next Tuesday or Wednesday?” beats “Let me know when you’re free to discuss.”

Following Up

Never send “Did you get my email?” messages. They add no value and annoy prospects. Instead, add new insights with each follow-up. Share a relevant article, mention industry news that affects them, or reference their recent activity (like visiting your website).

Timing matters too. Space follow-ups appropriately, not too eager, not too distant. A good sequence might be: initial email, follow-up after 3 days, another after a week, then move to monthly value-adds. Each touchpoint should feel natural and helpful, not pushy.

Templates

Start by creating templates for each scenario you encounter. Include variations for different industries, company sizes, or pain points. Test different opening lines, value propositions, and calls to action. Track open rates, response rates, and conversion rates for each version.

The magic happens when you analyze results. Maybe your Tuesday emails get more responses. Maybe mentioning a specific stat in paragraph two doubles replies. These insights only come from consistent testing of templated approaches

Course marketplaces promise easy discovery and passive income. Upload your course to Udemy, Skillshare, or Domestica, and their algorithm will send you students. When those first sales roll in, you feel validated. You're tempted to upload everything you know. This path leads to a business you don't control, revenue you can't predict, and growth you can't sustain.

Course marketplaces promise easy discovery and passive income. Upload your course to Udemy, Skillshare, or Domestica, and their algorithm will send you students. When those first sales roll in, you feel validated. You're tempted to upload everything you know. This path leads to a business you don't control, revenue you can't predict, and growth you can't sustain.

Course marketplaces promise easy discovery and passive income. Upload your course to Udemy, Skillshare, or Domestica, and their algorithm will send you students. When those first sales roll in, you feel validated. You're tempted to upload everything you know. This path leads to a business you don't control, revenue you can't predict, and growth you can't sustain.

Course marketplaces promise easy discovery and passive income. Upload your course to Udemy, Skillshare, or Domestica, and their algorithm will send you students. When those first sales roll in, you feel validated. You’re tempted to upload everything you know.

This path leads to a business you don’t control, revenue you can’t predict, and growth you can’t sustain.

The Dating App Problem

Course marketplaces operate like dating apps. They’re matchmakers, not relationship counselors. They profit from connecting students with courses, not from helping you build a sustainable teaching business.

Once that match is made and the transaction completes, their job is done. They have no interest in you developing ongoing relationships with your students or building a loyal following. They just want the next swipe, the next purchase, the next commission.

Platform Risk

Here’s what happens when you rely on marketplace algorithms:

Your premium course gets placed next to low-quality content with terrible thumbnails. The platform discounts your course without warning or explanation. Your best content disappears from search results because the topic isn’t “trending.” Meanwhile, inferior courses in business and tech categories get promoted because that’s what corporate buyers want.

On Udemy, with its 70 million users, most revenue comes from selling business subscriptions to companies. If you teach watercolor painting or personal development, you’re competing in a system designed to sell Excel tutorials and coding bootcamps.

The Money Math Doesn’t Add Up

When someone finds your course through Udemy’s platform, you get 37% of the sale price. That’s right, you keep barely a third of your own course revenue. Sure, you can earn up to 97% through your own referral links, but attribution is messy and unreliable.

Skillshare is even worse. They pool 30% of subscription revenue and divide it among creators based on watch time. You’re competing for scraps from a fixed pie. Domestica is selective about who they accept, but the payout structure remains similarly restrictive.

The average course creator makes $2,000 to $3,000 per year from marketplaces. Only the top 1% in trending niches reach $50,000. Is that the business you’re trying to build?

Self-Hosting

The path to real course creator success requires taking control. Platforms like Kajabi, Teachable, and Thinkific solve the technical challenges without stealing your revenue. For $30 to $300 monthly, depending on your student count, you get:

Complete control over pricing and presentation. Direct relationships with your students. The ability to build email lists and sell additional courses. Keep 100% of your revenue minus payment processing fees.

Yes, you need to drive your own traffic. But here’s the truth: serious course creators drive their own traffic anyway. Even on marketplaces, the algorithm rarely delivers sustainable results without your marketing efforts.

The Hybrid Approach

Don’t abandon marketplaces entirely, use them strategically. Here’s the approach that actually works:

Test on Marketplaces First: Upload initial courses to validate ideas and get feedback. Use the platform’s audience to refine your content and messaging. Build your brand within the course itself.

Convert Platform Students to Your List: Include strong calls-to-action within your courses. Don’t send students to social media—capture their emails. Build brand recognition that encourages them to seek you out directly.

Move Proven Courses to Self-Hosted Platforms: Once you know what works, create premium versions on your own platform. Price appropriately for the value you deliver. Build deeper relationships with serious students.

Why Running Ads to Marketplaces Fails

The math is brutal. You pay for ads to drive traffic to Udemy, where you keep 37% of sales. After subtracting ad costs, you’re often losing money. Even worse, you’re paying to build Udemy’s customer list, not yours.

For premium courses requiring consideration, ads to your own platform make more sense. But the real strategy is using ads to build your email list, then nurturing prospects until they’re ready to buy. This approach yields higher conversion rates and lifetime customer value.

Building Your Course Business

Real course creator success comes from owning three things:

Your Platform: Whether through Teachable, Kajabi, or similar services, you need direct control over the student experience and pricing.

Your Traffic: Develop content marketing, SEO, and social media strategies that bring students directly to you, not through intermediaries.

Your Student List: Email addresses and phone numbers are your most valuable assets. They enable repeat sales, upsells, and long-term relationships that marketplaces prevent.

Course marketplaces aren’t evil, they’re just not designed to help you build a business. They’re designed to build their business using your content. The algorithm that gives you initial success will eventually bury you beneath newer courses and platform priorities.

If you’re serious about course creation as a business, not a hobby, you need to own your platform, your traffic, and your customer relationships.

Getting a prospect to reach out is a major milestone in B2B sales. But that's when the real work begins. With sales cycles stretching from four to eleven months and involving up to ten decision-makers, the gap between first contact and closing the deal presents both challenges and opportunities. Email marketing tactics can make the difference between deals that close and those that fall through.

Getting a prospect to reach out is a major milestone in B2B sales. But that's when the real work begins. With sales cycles stretching from four to eleven months and involving up to ten decision-makers, the gap between first contact and closing the deal presents both challenges and opportunities. Email marketing tactics can make the difference between deals that close and those that fall through.

Getting a prospect to reach out is a major milestone in B2B sales. But that's when the real work begins. With sales cycles stretching from four to eleven months and involving up to ten decision-makers, the gap between first contact and closing the deal presents both challenges and opportunities. Email marketing tactics can make the difference between deals that close and those that fall through.

Most people don't like cold emails. Customers don't like receiving them. And chances are, you don't like getting cold emails in your inbox either. Yet when businesses look for B2B email marketing strategies, cold email seems to be the only thing anyone talks about. There are better options available.

Most people don't like cold emails. Customers don't like receiving them. And chances are, you don't like getting cold emails in your inbox either. Yet when businesses look for B2B email marketing strategies, cold email seems to be the only thing anyone talks about. There are better options available.

Most people don't like cold emails. Customers don't like receiving them. And chances are, you don't like getting cold emails in your inbox either. Yet when businesses look for B2B email marketing strategies, cold email seems to be the only thing anyone talks about. There are better options available.

Most people don’t like cold emails. Customers don’t like receiving them. And chances are, you don’t like getting cold emails in your inbox either.

Yet when businesses look for B2B email marketing strategies, cold email seems to be the only thing anyone talks about. There are better options available.

What Cold Email Really Means

Cold email is straightforward. Someone finds an email address and sends a message out of nowhere asking if the recipient wants to buy their product or service. There’s no relationship, no context, just a straight pitch landing in an inbox.

This isn’t marketing. It’s throwing messages at strangers and hoping something sticks.

The Problem With Cold Email

Think about any professional’s inbox. They’re trying to get work done, and suddenly they’re dealing with dozens of random sales emails. These messages clutter up mornings, slow down workflows, and frankly, they’re annoying.

The timing is almost always wrong. Maybe the recipient isn’t ready to buy. Maybe they don’t have the budget. Maybe they’re already using a competitor. Or maybe they just don’t need what’s being sold. But these emails keep coming anyway.

It’s like someone dropping business cards all over a parking lot. Sure, someone might pick one up and call. But most people will just see it as litter. That’s what cold email has become, digital litter in professional inboxes.

The Risks of Cold Outreach

Email providers like Gmail are getting smarter about blocking cold emails. They’re tightening spam filters and making it harder for these messages to get through. Companies that send too many cold emails from their business domain can destroy their sender reputation. Once that happens, even regular business emails might not reach people.

That’s why many companies hire agencies to do cold outreach. These agencies use their own domains and take the reputation risk. But is that really the best use of a marketing budget?

When Cold Email Can Work (It’s Rare)

Cold email gets a pass in very specific situations. If a business has such good data and targeting that they know with high confidence someone needs their product right now, then maybe it makes sense.

For example, if data shows a company just started and needs office equipment maintenance, that cold email might actually be helpful. But this level of targeting requires data and personalization that most businesses simply don’t have.

In B2C, cold email can sometimes work because consumers are often browsing and ready to buy on impulse. But B2B is different. The sales cycle is longer, often 3 to 12 months. Businesses are dealing with bigger decisions and multiple stakeholders.

What Works Better Than Cold Email

Instead of spraying cold emails everywhere, successful companies focus on the middle and bottom of their sales funnel. They work with people who already know about them. They build relationships with prospects who have shown interest.

When someone enters a sales process, they’re valuable. Why let them slip through the cracks? In B2B, where sales cycles can stretch for months, there’s time for follow-up and relationship building.

During those months, smart businesses stay in touch through targeted email marketing. They build trust. They demonstrate value. They become familiar to prospects. Even if someone doesn’t buy immediately, they might buy later or recommend the business to others.

Making Cold Email Work (If You Must)

For businesses that insist on using cold email, here’s what actually converts:

The offer needs to be crystal clear about who it’s for and what they get. It must address an immediate, urgent problem that’s bothering them right now. The prospect needs to feel high urgency and be willing to take a chance on an unknown sender.

Direct sales can work in B2C. Lead magnets can work if they’re creative and valuable – not just information anyone can find online. Service businesses might offer something free to demonstrate their value, like creating a sample of their work.

But remember, it’s still a numbers game. It’s still spray and pray.

Maybe you've built a list but nobody's bought yet. You've got subscribers from your newsletter, lead magnet, or content marketing, but zero customers. Here's how to change that.

Maybe you've built a list but nobody's bought yet. You've got subscribers from your newsletter, lead magnet, or content marketing, but zero customers. Here's how to change that.

Maybe you've built a list but nobody's bought yet. You've got subscribers from your newsletter, lead magnet, or content marketing, but zero customers. Here's how to change that.

Maybe you’ve built a list but nobody’s bought yet. You’ve got subscribers from your newsletter, lead magnet, or content marketing, but zero customers. Here’s how to change that.

You need email fundamentals. Not fancy strategies or secret hacks. Just the basics done right.

Start with deliverability. Your brilliant sales copy means nothing in the spam folder. Set up your technical foundations properly. Monitor your sender reputation. Use a reputable email service. Clean your list regularly by removing inactive subscribers. A smaller engaged list beats a large dead one every time.

Keep your design minimal. Forget beautiful templates and graphics. Plain text or simple HTML works better. No broken links, no spam trigger words, just clean emails that look like they’re from a real person. Your emails should feel personal, not corporate.

Segment your list so messages are relevant. A 25-year-old fitness junkie needs different messaging than a 50-year-old getting back in shape. Group people based on their interests and behaviors. Send them content that speaks directly to their situation. Relevance drives sales.

Test everything systematically. Test subject lines to improve open rates. Test CTAs to boost clicks. Test send times to maximize engagement. Start with your biggest assumptions and validate them with data. Maybe you think long emails work better. Test it. Maybe you think Tuesday mornings are optimal. Test it. Keep testing until you find what works for your specific audience.

Master these basics and sales will follow. It’s not sexy, but it works.

Getting the Second Sale

Someone already bought from you, they trusted you enough to pull out their credit card. They’re sitting in your email list right now, ready to buy again if you give them a reason. But most businesses ignore them after the first purchase.

Think about it. You’ve brought these people all the way through your funnel. They’re in their inbox, the most intimate digital space most people have. They know you, like you, and have proven they’ll pay for what you offer. Why would you abandon them now to chase strangers on social media?

Keep emailing valuable content after the sale. Not just promotional emails, but genuinely helpful stuff. Educate them on getting more value from their purchase. Share tips and strategies. Stay top of mind without being pushy.

Look at how smart companies handle retention. SaaS businesses don’t let churned customers disappear quietly. They send win-back sequences: “Hey, we noticed you left. Here’s what you’re missing. Come back for a special discount.” Game companies announce new features to bring players back: “New expansion pack just dropped. Your character is waiting.” These emails work because they give people a reason to re-engage.

Your retention strategy needs three core offers:

Upsells are upgrades to what they already bought. Present them at checkout: “Add our premium package for just $80 more.” Or trigger them based on behavior. When someone’s heavily using your basic service, pitch the pro version: “You’re crushing it with Basic. Ready for Pro? Here’s 20% off.”

Cross-sells are complementary products that enhance the original purchase. Someone buys running shoes? Suggest premium socks. They buy a Facebook ads course? Offer your Google ads course at a discount. Make it logical and valuable.

Loyalty programs create emotional connections beyond transactions. Give best customers early access to new products. Send exclusive discounts. Make them feel like insiders. When people feel special, they don’t just buy more – they become advocates who bring in new customers through word of mouth.

The Strategy That Actually Works

Constantly chasing new subscribers while ignoring existing customers is expensive and exhausting. It’s like having a bucket with a hole in the bottom. You can pour water in faster, or you can fix the hole. Only one approach is sustainable.

Make your first sale using solid email fundamentals. Once someone buys, immediately shift focus to the second and third sale. Plan your customer journey before you launch. Know what your second offer will be. Understand how your offers connect naturally. Build your retention strategy around this journey.

Your existing list has more revenue potential than any new subscribers you could chase.

Focus on the people who already know, like, and trust you. Give them reasons to buy again

If you're running a SaaS and wondering how to do email marketing right, It's not about having six types of sequences it's about understanding the six reasons you should be sending sequences in the first place.

If you're running a SaaS and wondering how to do email marketing right, It's not about having six types of sequences it's about understanding the six reasons you should be sending sequences in the first place.

If you're running a SaaS and wondering how to do email marketing right, It's not about having six types of sequences it's about understanding the six reasons you should be sending sequences in the first place.

If you’re running a SaaS and wondering how to do email marketing right, It’s not about having six types of sequences it’s about understanding the six reasons you should be sending sequences in the first place.

User Journey

Before you even think about email software, grab a pen and paper. Map out how someone goes from “never heard of you” to “can’t live without your app.” Talk to your product team. Talk to customer service. Talk to anyone who deals with users. Figure out when they struggle, when they succeed, and when they leave.

This is the foundation. Everything else builds on this.

Nurturing Sequences

You’ve got people who downloaded your guide or signed up for your newsletter but haven’t tried your app yet. They’re interested but not ready. These people need nurturing.

Send them valuable content on a regular schedule. Teach them how you solve their problem. Share insights they can use right now, even without your app. The goal is to stay top of mind until they’re ready to try.

Clean your list regularly. If someone hasn’t opened an email in three months, remove them. They’re dragging down your open rates and costing you money. Focus on the people who actually read your stuff.

Keep emailing the engaged ones forever. As long as they keep opening, keep sending. Some people take months or even years to convert, but when they do, they’re often your best customers.

Onboarding Sequences

When someone finally signs up for a trial, you have 7-14 days to blow their mind. Any longer than 30 days and they’re gone.

Your only job is to get them to their first win as fast as possible.

Send a welcome email immediately. Follow up with tutorials showing exactly what to click. Share case studies of people like them succeeding. Give them the top 5 actions that lead to success. Make it impossible to fail.

Every email should move them closer to that “aha” moment where they realize they need your app. If you mapped their journey right, you know exactly what that moment looks like.

Survey Sequences

Want to know what users really think? Ask them. But do it smart.

Keep survey sequences short, three days maximum. Ask one or two questions, not twenty and make it easy to respond.

Perfect times to survey:

• Right after someone upgrades (why did they do it?)
• When someone doesn’t upgrade after a trial (what stopped them?)
• When someone uses a specific feature way more than average (what do they love about it?)
• Every 3-6 months for general feedback

Sometimes a $5 gift card helps response rates. Sometimes just asking genuinely is enough. Use what you learn to make everything else better. These insights are gold.

Win-Back Sequences

Someone’s subscription expired 30 days ago. They haven’t logged in for weeks. Most companies give up here. That’s a mistake.

This is the perfect time to re-engage. Show them what’s new since they left. Remind them of the problems they were solving with your app. And yes, this is where discounts actually make sense.

Here’s an example: Someone can’t afford the monthly payment anymore. Offer them a discounted annual plan that works out cheaper per month. Sometimes it’s not about your product – it’s about making the economics work.

For high-ticket SaaS, pick up the phone. A personal call asking “What happened?” can save a customer worth thousands per year.

Just don’t waste time on people who’ve been gone for a year. Focus on the recent departures,  30 to 60 days after they leave is the sweet spot.

Transactional Sequences

Payment confirmed. Cart abandoned. Credit card about to expire. These aren’t just notifications, they’re conversation starters.

Someone left something in their cart? Don’t just send one email. Send three:

• 30 minutes later: “You left this in your cart”
• 24 hours later: “Still thinking about it?”
• 3 days later: “Last reminder”

Keep the message simple. Remind them they were about to make a good decision. If there’s urgency (like a deal ending), mention it. But be helpful, not pushy.

Same goes for expiring credit cards. Don’t wait until it fails. Email them a week before, three days before, and the day before. Make it easy to update. Your revenue depends on it.

6. Trigger-Based Sequences: The Smart Stuff

This is where you get to be clever. Set up emails based on what users actually do (or don’t do).

No login for 7 days? That might mean they’re stuck. Send a helpful email with quick tips to get them back on track.

Using one feature 10x more than average? They’re probably your ideal customer. Ask them why they love it. Their answer will help you sell to others like them.

Approaching renewal date? Don’t wait for them to remember. Start the conversation two weeks early. Show them their usage stats. Remind them of their wins.

The key is studying your specific patterns. What behaviors predict success? What behaviors predict cancellation? Set up automatic emails for those moments.

Email list hygiene and email list cleaning aren’t the same thing, even though people use these terms like they mean the same thing. Think of it like personal hygiene. Cleaning activities are things like brushing your teeth or cutting your nails. But hygiene is your overall attitude about taking care of yourself and how you want to present yourself to the world.

Email list hygiene works the same way. It’s not just about cleaning tasks. It’s about your attitude toward your email list and how you want to manage it based on your goals. What do you want to achieve with your list? That’s where your hygiene strategy comes from.

Let me show you three different strategies that work for different situations.

Open Rate and Click Rate Hygiene

You’re trying to create a list where people actually open your emails and click on your links. Here’s how it works.

You track who’s opened your emails in the last three months. Then you go deeper and see who’s not only opened but also clicked links during that time. Six months is usually too long to wait, so stick with three months or 90 days.

Once you know who’s engaged, you keep those people. Everyone else needs to go. This might sound harsh, but here’s why it works. When you remove inactive subscribers, your remaining list looks much better to email providers like Gmail and Yahoo. They see that most of your list opens and clicks your emails. Your unsubscribe rates drop. You get fewer spam complaints. All of this improves your sender reputation, which means more of your emails actually reach people’s inboxes.

But don’t just delete people without warning. Send them one last email asking if they still want to hear from you. Or offer them something compelling like a free download to see if they’re still interested. If they don’t respond, then remove them.

This strategy works great if you have a large list that you haven’t maintained for a while and you need to clean out the dead weight. Yes, your list will get smaller, sometimes dramatically smaller. But a smaller engaged list beats a large dead list every time.

Engagement Scoring Hygiene

You want to identify your most engaged subscribers and try to win back the ones who’ve gone quiet.

Here’s how engagement scoring works. You assign points to different actions people take. Opening an email might be worth 10 points. Clicking a link gets another 10. Did they interact with your social media? Add points. Did they register for a webinar or attend an event? More points. You track everything and add it all up.

This gives you a clear picture of who’s most engaged with your brand. These are your VIP subscribers. You can email them more often, ask more from them, maybe even give them special treatment because you know they’re interested.

But here’s where this strategy differs from the first one. Instead of removing disengaged subscribers, you try to win them back. You create a separate segment for people with low engagement scores and treat them differently.

Maybe you send them a survey asking what content they’d prefer. Maybe you email them less frequently, only reaching out when you have something really important to share. Or you could create special campaigns just for them, trying to reignite their interest.

This approach works well if you’re worried about list size. Maybe you have a small list and can’t afford to lose subscribers. Or maybe growing your list is a key business goal. By segmenting instead of deleting, you keep the door open for winning people back while protecting your sender reputation. Your engaged subscribers still get regular emails, while the disengaged ones get special treatment that might bring them back.

Preference-Based Hygiene

When someone signs up for your list, you don’t just grab their email and run. Instead, you take them to a preference center where they can tell you exactly what they want.

Ask them how often they want to hear from you. Daily? Weekly? Monthly? Ask what topics interest them most. If you run a travel website, do they want tips about Southeast Asia or Europe? How do they want to receive your content? Just email, or would they prefer app notifications or social media messages too?

This gives you a pre-qualified, pre-segmented list. Every subscriber has already told you exactly what they want, so they’re much more likely to engage with what you send. They’ve invested time in telling you their preferences, which creates a small but important sense of commitment.

Plus, asking for preferences early sets up an expectation. If you need more information later, they’re already comfortable sharing with you. It’s not weird or sudden when you ask for details.

The preference center also becomes a tool for maintaining list hygiene. When someone stops engaging, you can send them back to update their preferences instead of just removing them. Maybe they want less frequent emails or different topics. Giving them control often re-engages people who were about to tune out completely.

If they don’t update their preferences after you ask, then you can gradually phase them out and suggest they unsubscribe if your content isn’t helpful anymore.

Which Strategy Should You Use?

The right strategy depends on your situation. If you have a neglected list full of inactive subscribers, the open rate strategy gives you a fresh start. If you’re focused on growth and can’t afford to lose subscribers, try engagement scoring. If you produce varied content for different audiences, the preference-based approach sets you up for long-term success.

Email list hygiene isn’t just about cleaning. It’s about having the right attitude toward your list based on what you’re trying to achieve. A smaller, engaged list will always outperform a large, dead one. The key is finding the approach that matches your goals and sticking with it consistently.

Every email you send should nurture your audience. If you’re not nurturing, you’re just asking for a direct sale. Think of nurturing as gently guiding someone through your sales funnel. At the top of the funnel, people don’t know about your brand or solution. Your ads bring them in, and then your emails help them become aware of your brand and understand how you can solve their problems.

Your emails nurture prospects into qualified leads, then into buyers, and finally into repeat customers who might even recommend your business to others. The only time you’re not nurturing is when you directly ask for a sale. For example, if you’re a poet announcing your new book to your email list, that’s a direct sales email. But even then, the copy will still try to persuade and nurture a bit.

What is a Drip Campaign?

A drip campaign is a specific type of email sequence. It has a beginning and an end, with emails spaced out over time at specific intervals. You might send one email today, skip tomorrow, send another the day after, and so on. If someone doesn’t respond, you can space the emails further apart, maybe sending the next one a month or six months later.

This spacing protects your email deliverability. If you bombard people with daily emails and they don’t open them, your emails might get marked as spam. Dripping emails out over time lets you stay in touch without being annoying.

Common Uses for Drip Campaigns

Common uses for drip campaigns include welcome emails for software companies, where you guide new users through getting started. Real estate agents use them too, combining cold calls with follow-up emails to create multiple touchpoints with potential clients. You might also use drip campaigns for win-back sequences (trying to re-engage people who haven’t interacted with you in 90 days), mini email courses, or abandoned cart reminders.

The Three Types of Emails

There are really only three main types of emails you’ll send. First are drip sequences. Second are transactional emails, which are triggered by specific actions. These include payment confirmations, failed payment notices, subscription renewal reminders, and post-purchase upsells. They’re called transactional because they relate to transactions and are triggered by things that happen outside the inbox.

The third type is broadcast emails. These include regular newsletters that go out weekly or monthly to your entire list. Unlike drip campaigns, newsletters don’t have an end date – they continue as long as someone stays subscribed. Broadcast emails also include one-off announcements like product launches, software updates, or Black Friday sales.

Newsletters Still Nurture

Even newsletters nurture your audience by building familiarity and trust. When you consistently share valuable information, you establish yourself as an authority. This makes people more likely to engage with you when you do have something to sell.

Every email serves a purpose in your overall marketing strategy. Whether it’s part of a drip campaign, a transactional message, or a broadcast, each email should move your reader closer to taking action. The key is understanding which type of email to use for each situation and making sure you’re always providing value, not just asking for sales.

Is having a lead magnet necessary to build an email list?

Is having a lead magnet necessary to build an email list?

Is having a lead magnet necessary to build an email list?

Building an email list without lead magnets is possible, but it’s tough.

When someone finds your business online, they go through stages. First, they realize they have a problem. Then they look for ways to fix it. They find different companies offering solutions. Finally, they start comparing options and thinking about which one to choose.

Having someone’s attention is like having them look at your shop window. They’re interested, but they haven’t come inside yet. Lead magnets fix this by offering something free in exchange for an email address – basically saying “come in and get this gift.”

Why Lead Magnets Work

A lead magnet is anything you give away for free when someone signs up for your email list. It could be a guide, a video, a calculator, or a template. The point is getting people to take that first step by giving them something useful right away.

Different customers need different things. You might need dozens of them for different situations. It gets overwhelming fast, which makes people wonder: what if you just didn’t make them at all?

Having No Lead Magnets

When you skip lead magnets, you miss an important trust-building step. When someone downloads your free guide and finds it helpful, they think “this business knows their stuff.” Without that quick proof, building trust takes much longer.

To build trust without lead magnets, you need to become someone who writes and shares regularly. You need to become someone people actually want to hear from. Most businesses hire writers or content teams because it takes real skill and consistency.

Be Worth Following

Without a lead magnet, everything depends on how good your ideas are. You need to show real knowledge, question what everyone else accepts as true, spot trends before others do, share news with your own spin, and have strong opinions about your industry.

You want to help people understand their work better. This means finding interesting data, making predictions, commenting on what’s happening in your field, questioning common beliefs, and writing pieces that make people think. But just sharing information isn’t enough.

Having a clear point of view matters. People need to know what you believe. If you try to agree with everyone or avoid taking sides, people forget about you. Pick your position and explain it well.

Offer Solutions

Here’s an example of what not to do. There’s a newsletter writer who covers digital marketing. He’s always negative, constantly attacking big tech companies. While his different viewpoint is interesting, the non-stop negativity gets tiring. Every email complains without offering any fixes.

When you’re using content instead of lead magnets, you must offer solutions. Always. It’s not enough to point out problems or share interesting facts. People need something they can actually use.

Trust happens when someone reads your email, tries your advice, and it works. They realize you actually know what you’re talking about. That’s the whole point – proving your value through results, not just words.

Using AI

ChatGPT and other AI tools have changed the game. People can get basic answers instantly now. You can’t just repackage common knowledge anymore. The days of turning obvious advice into a PDF and calling it valuable are over.

What matters now is what AI can’t give people: your personal experience, insider information, real data from your work, and lessons learned from actually doing things. This is why good writing matters more than ever. You need to think clearly and explain complicated things simply.

Getting People to Sign Up

Without lead magnets, you still need reasons for people to join your list. Some businesses open their email list only at certain times, creating urgency. “Sign up in the next two days or wait until next quarter.”

Another way is making your emails themselves the attraction. Instead of creating a separate guide, promise to teach something through emails. “I’ll explain this whole topic in seven emails. Want to learn?” After those emails, you ask if they want to keep hearing from you.

What’s Changing

What worked for email marketing before doesn’t work now. Even without AI, people are sick of the same old tactics. Nobody wants another “5 Steps to Success” guide that says nothing new.

Many successful email lists never offered lead magnets. People signed up just because the writing was good. These writers help readers understand related fields and industries, giving perspective they can’t get elsewhere.

Playing the Long Game

Building a list without lead magnets means getting three things right: giving people a reason to sign up, writing interesting stuff consistently, and sharing insights they can’t get from AI. When you help people solve problems over time, they’ll eventually buy from you.

But this is the slow path. Lead magnets exist because they’re faster. Without them, you’re building trust one email at a time, proving yourself slowly.

It works, but it’s harder. Much harder. That’s why most businesses use lead magnets even though they’re work to create. You have to decide: is writing great content forever actually easier than making a few good lead magnets? For most businesses, that answer determines whether they succeed with email marketing or not.