How We Make $230K/Month Helping Businesses Revive Their Email Lists
Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?
Hi, I'm Troy Ericson - founder of Copywriting.org and EmailDeliverability.com– which are the 2 things that I do in my business, Email Paramedic. Our flagship offer combines those two things - it’s called Email List Management.
Our focus is on reviving dead or stagnant email lists for our clients and maximizing opens, clicks, and sales. We do this by writing daily world-class emails that are guaranteed to deliver to the Primary Inbox. We also help revive dead subscribers, hence the name ‘Email Paramedic’.
I've helped hundreds of businesses boost their monthly revenue by 5-6 figures just from their email lists. In addition to running Email Paramedic, I also train freelancers to improve their email marketing skills through my Email List Management Certification Program. All in all, we generate around $230K/mo between doing & training.
What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?
I grew up in South Bend, Indiana. All I ever wanted to do was be a professional baseball player. I eventually attended Cedarville University in Ohio on a baseball scholarship, where I had some mental complications resulting from elbow surgery.
My entire life, I’d outworked my competition, but as a senior in college, it didn’t matter. Because I got cut from the team. My dream was stripped away from me. And I didn’t believe I had any purpose in my life.
That’s when I found a guy named Grant Cooper from Social Vantage. I started following him on Snapchat & he talked all day long about not getting a real job - and instead, running Facebook Ads for clients. So I bought his course & started doing that. I was making a couple of grand a month when my parents started to put a lot of pressure on me to get a real job. Around the same time, one of my two clients wanted to fire me.
Instead of accepting defeat, I refused to be fired. I asked them to give me the truth about why they wanted to fire me. Because, as far as I could tell, there weren’t any issues with their ad campaign.
Get good at one skill, then that skill will lead you to a business that’s perfect for you.
Well, it turned out that their emails were going to spam - and that’s why they couldn’t monetize their leads. So I offered to find a solution and work for free until the problem was solved. That summer, I increased their email revenue from $13k/month to $51k/month. That’s almost a 4x.
So I took over my other client’s email list too. And then decided it was a much bluer ocean to manage email lists instead of Facebook Ads. It’s a no-brainer offer for a business owner who understands the power of email marketing but doesn’t have the time or expertise. That’s why the last few years have gone so well.
That’s also when I had my first taste of money - and decided to move to Florida to live with a couple of friends, Jason & Dave, who were also entrepreneurs. It was crazy to me that I was now free to do what I wanted. It didn’t seem real. But thankfully I used the money to level up the people around me.
Take us through the process of building the first version of your product.
In 2020, I reached my capacity for clients and expanded my services to include coaching and consulting, as well as one-off email deliverability projects. This helped my clients escape the spam folder and the Gmail Promo Tab, resulting in some cases of doubling their email open rates and sales. These services took less time while achieving incredible results since it was the same service minus email copywriting.
The following year, I made my first hires and scaled my agency to a dozen email list management clients and hundreds of deliverability projects. I also worked with top industry leaders such as Traffic & Funnels, The Sales Mentor, V-Shred, Rich Schefren, Josh Snow, Joel Erway, Ezra Firestone, SmartMarketer, Perry Belcher, 10X Advisor Network, David Meltzer, Sam Ovens, Stefan Georgi, Justin Goff, Jason Capital, Ryan Stewman, Joel Marion, and Alex Cattoni.
In 2022, I further scaled my agency to accommodate dozens of more clients and built the Email List Management Certification Program while speaking on several stages. Our whole team lives here in Saint Petersburg, Florida, where we’ve built an incredible culture.
Describe the process of launching the business.
I’m not sure if I ever had a real “launch”. I just knew that I had to be making enough money to not get a real job. Speed is king in all aspects of life. I just hunted for clients in Facebook Groups, made actual ‘value posts’, and most importantly made Loom videos.
Any time I saw a prospective client with an email marketing issue that I could solve, I made them a 2-minute Loom video to explain the problem and set up a call. It works incredibly well, but most people still don’t use this strategy or don’t do it enough times.
My “website” at that time was my Facebook page, and to an extent, it still is. Although I have a few different funnels and sites now, I always invest the heaviest into my brand because people buy from people. The more corporate you sound, the fewer people will get excited about you & what you do.
Go jump into your favorite software or tool right now and start building something cool.
Thankfully, the startup costs of my business weren’t very high either. But when I launched my email list, I just got an Amex card & opened an ActiveCampaign account where I got leads from my Facebook profile & some funnels that I’d built from Clickfunnels.
Then I pretty much just kept my subscribers ‘in the loop’ with what’s working in email marketing. As well as telling entertaining stories that help people get to know me. These are things I still do to this day on my email list and Facebook:
Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?
My top client attraction/retention strategy is just getting results for my clients. I get a TON of referrals. And I’m still in a blue ocean because not many people do what I do. And if they do, my brand has a stronger reputation than theirs. You really have to think about your offer.
Again, mine is simple: I’ll increase your open rates & sales, guaranteed, or you don’t pay. Why would anyone say no to that? It’s a good question to ask yourself before you spend a bunch of time, money, and resources promoting your offer.
Here are some of my best YouTube videos about the processes I used to get clients when I first started.
Going to Mastermind Events & joining paid programs is a great way to expedite this process because you’re surrounded by people who need you. And because they paid to be in the same group as you, you know they spend money on bettering their business. I’ve not had an ROI by joining a mastermind group.
I’ve also run some Facebook Ads in the past showcasing before & after results with clients’ open rates & sales. Turns out, you just have to keep your offer simple. Even if your ads aren’t profitable right away, people are still seeing your name & keeping you top of their minds. Most beginners don’t understand how powerful that is because it takes time for people to randomly reach out, but they do.
Lately, I’ve also been making a lot of TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram content to attract people to my Certification Program. This video recently got 1,300,000 views:
It’s a simple demonstration of what I do & how I make money. Which I find works best on social media.
On these platforms, I also make a point to share not only my clients' achievements but also my personal experiences. While many people limit their social media presence to business-related content, I find that personal stories are much more engaging.
People enjoy hearing about others' lives because they feel more connected. Think about your favorite celebrities, musicians, or athletes. Learning about their personal lives makes us feel closer to them. If you're feeling hesitant to post something because it’s ‘too personal’, you're likely on the right track.
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
About half of our sales come from B2B and the other half is B2C. Right now our margins are typically 25-40%, depending on how heavily I invest in growth in that given month. Most of our clients come via referral or organically by reading my emails or social content. So it gives me a lot of room to re-invest. Here are some new projects I’m working on:
1) On the B2B side, I recently acquired MailGenius - the internet’s best email spam tester. Not only is it a SAAS, but it’s also great lead gen for my main company. Definitely check it out if you send marketing emails. It might help you spot a couple of issues that are killing your open rates, clicks, & sales.
2) On the B2C side, I created Copywriting.org - which gives any copywriter the opportunity to be interviewed & posted on this premium domain… for free. It’s a massive opportunity to get noticed. And it builds a lot of reciprocity.
3) We’re going to run ads again that target business owners who’ve built a sizeable email list but don’t mail it. These are the easiest clients to get results for, and they pretty much let us have free reign. So why not grab the lowest-hanging fruit? Also, some of the people who see this ad will be freelancers - which will grow our certification program too.
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
Get good at one skill, then that skill will lead you to a business that’s perfect for you. For example, I got freaking good at email marketing. It’s a skill I can sell without much resistance. And it doesn’t have many hard costs when you’re starting out. Since then, that skill has created an entire agency and certification program. I’ve also used this skill to aid companies I’ve invested in. And I’ve also acquired assets like MailGenius.com & Copywriting.org that are HEAVILY reliant on email.
Just tackle one thing at a time with your best skill. Don’t get distracted. Every successful entrepreneur started with one skill and stayed FOCUSED. Put yourself in the right groups of people (whether online or in-person) and the next steps will become clear to you. You don’t need to know all the steps right now. You just need to know the few in front of you that you can see.
What platform/tools do you use for your business?
I already gave these 3 a shoutout, but I’ll do it again so I can emphasize just how much they’ve helped me grow my business from zero:
- Loom: This tool has been incredibly helpful for sending short video screen-shares to potential clients to show them how I can help & get them on a call.
- ActiveCampaign: As far as email service providers go, this one is my favorite. It has great email automation, functionality, and deliverability.
- Mastermind groups: There are plenty of these out there in the Internet marketing industry, and I highly recommend joining one. You'll not only make lifelong friends but also connect with awesome clients that not only pay you well but can help you succeed 10x faster than going on your entrepreneurial journey alone.
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?
To be honest, I’m not a big reader. I like to get hands-on as quickly as I can. But I do like a few books:
- $100M Offers by Alex Hormozi
- The Perfect Day Formula by Craig Ballantyne
- And the Bible, because it gives you a fresh perspective on life and how lucky we are. Hint: not everything you consume should be about business.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?
Start DOING it right away. Most people are afraid to break something, so they never start. But if you’re new, you have nothing to break. Go jump into your favorite software or tool right now and start building something cool.
If you make a mistake, no one will see it. It’s just you. Stop pretending like the world is watching your every move. And start moving quickly like your life depends on it. If you had to make $1,000 today to save your life, you wouldn’t read a book.
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
We’re always looking for Email List Managers. If you have copywriting or email marketing experience, email me [email protected] - but you better be creative or I probably won’t reply. Hint: Use the tips I’ve shared in this article.
Where can we go to learn more?
The best place is to get on my email list. There are 2 ways to do that:
If you’re a business owner looking to improve your email game, go to FAQemail - where I give you access to a Google Doc that answers all the most common questions I get about email marketing. Plus, you’ll start getting emails from me. Just reply to any email if you want to chat.
If you’re a freelancer looking to be trained by me, just head over to MakeMoneyTypingEmails where I explain exactly how you can follow in my footsteps.
I’m also on (almost) every social media platform - so you can just search for ‘Troy Ericson’ wherever you wish.
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
