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How I went from selling t-shirts to getting sued by a $15 Million company to building a 150k/month email marketing agency
A thread on how I made $47 million:
A thread on how I made $47 million:
2005: My story with online business started in (questionable) internet message boards.
I sold t-shirts that coincided with Nike shoe launches
This was before Shopify existed and Facebook was brand new
My strategy was really bare bones:
I sold t-shirts that coincided with Nike shoe launches
This was before Shopify existed and Facebook was brand new
My strategy was really bare bones:
Post about t-shirts in message boards and build a list.
I& #39;d then email the list whenever new shoes dropped and make sales directly.
Little did I know this would become a valuable skillset:
1. Build an audience with a list
2. Nurture that audience
3. Sell
I& #39;d then email the list whenever new shoes dropped and make sales directly.
Little did I know this would become a valuable skillset:
1. Build an audience with a list
2. Nurture that audience
3. Sell
You could say I "grew up in ecom"
Using the skills I learned from my t-shirt gig, I started playing with a bunch of different E-com projects.
My 1st cash cow came from a store I built with my homie.
We ripped Cartier bracelets and replicated them with 100% rubber.
Again...
Using the skills I learned from my t-shirt gig, I started playing with a bunch of different E-com projects.
My 1st cash cow came from a store I built with my homie.
We ripped Cartier bracelets and replicated them with 100% rubber.
Again...
The process was the same: Build a list, nurture, drive sales.
Our Cartier store was making BANK.
Cash was flowing but most importantly I was sharpening email marketing knowledge
My Cartier cash cow was pumping until...
Our Cartier store was making BANK.
Cash was flowing but most importantly I was sharpening email marketing knowledge
My Cartier cash cow was pumping until...
Cartier and its army of lawyers starting hitting us with cease and desist letters.
We weren& #39;t technically doing anything wrong so we tried our best to fight for awhile but eventually it became too much.
The final straw came when they sent a cease and desist letter to...
We weren& #39;t technically doing anything wrong so we tried our best to fight for awhile but eventually it became too much.
The final straw came when they sent a cease and desist letter to...
Shopify and they cut us off on Black Friday.
That& #39;s when we decided to hand in the keys.
At the time I was working at a software company doing sales & marketing.
Even though I didn& #39;t love the job it taught me a lot about marketing and starting sales conversations with clients
That& #39;s when we decided to hand in the keys.
At the time I was working at a software company doing sales & marketing.
Even though I didn& #39;t love the job it taught me a lot about marketing and starting sales conversations with clients
I also took all the lessons I learned from my E-com ventures and started doing email marketing and running ads for different people.
And that& #39;s how the agency was born.
The problem I faced was I was conflicted.
I had the job at the software company, the agency AND I was
And that& #39;s how the agency was born.
The problem I faced was I was conflicted.
I had the job at the software company, the agency AND I was
dabbling in E-com.
My newest e-com venture was a Nootropic supplement.
The product and branding was top quality.
I started going heavy with buying traffic and improving conversions
Looking back that was a big mistake.
I became so obsessed with traffic and conversions I..
My newest e-com venture was a Nootropic supplement.
The product and branding was top quality.
I started going heavy with buying traffic and improving conversions
Looking back that was a big mistake.
I became so obsessed with traffic and conversions I..
failed to focus on growing the LTV of my customers.
The problem was my agency was making the lion& #39;s share of my income but my heart was in the E-com business.
I knew I had to make a hard choice to ditch one project and focus on the other so I went to my dad for advice. He said
The problem was my agency was making the lion& #39;s share of my income but my heart was in the E-com business.
I knew I had to make a hard choice to ditch one project and focus on the other so I went to my dad for advice. He said
"you have one foot on the dock and one in the boat"
He reminded me I wouldn& #39;t get far trying to do both and I had to go all in on one without getting distracted with shiny object syndrome.
It was OBVIOUS my agency was the cash cow unlike the uphill battle I was facing with
He reminded me I wouldn& #39;t get far trying to do both and I had to go all in on one without getting distracted with shiny object syndrome.
It was OBVIOUS my agency was the cash cow unlike the uphill battle I was facing with
E-com.
The convo with my dad led me to making 2 hard choices; Go 100% into the agency and focus strictly on email marketing.
Late 2018: I went 100% into the agency and did 100% of the selling and service fulfillment on my own.
Even though I was making great money...
The convo with my dad led me to making 2 hard choices; Go 100% into the agency and focus strictly on email marketing.
Late 2018: I went 100% into the agency and did 100% of the selling and service fulfillment on my own.
Even though I was making great money...
I knew there was something I couldn& #39;t see that was preventing me from unlocking the next level.
Early 2019: I made some big changes to the agency.
I hired people to do fulfillment while I focused strictly on doing sales and marketing to bring in new clients.
I was doing 15k/mo
Early 2019: I made some big changes to the agency.
I hired people to do fulfillment while I focused strictly on doing sales and marketing to bring in new clients.
I was doing 15k/mo
and by the end of 2019 we did about a quarter million in sales.
And that was when everything began to snowball and I struck the power of momentum.
At this point I was doing zero fulfillment and focusing purely on sales.
That brings me to today:
And that was when everything began to snowball and I struck the power of momentum.
At this point I was doing zero fulfillment and focusing purely on sales.
That brings me to today:
Our agency now does 150k a month and we& #39;ve made $47 million for clients doing exclusively email + SMS
If you need any help with email and SMS marketing?
Give me a Follow and shoot me a DM
Cheers for listening to my story
Talk soon,
- Phil
If you need any help with email and SMS marketing?
Give me a Follow and shoot me a DM
Cheers for listening to my story
Talk soon,
- Phil
