What's grown my list over the years (4/6)

During the bronze age, back in 2021, while I still worked with copywriting clients, my biggest and steadiest client was an ecommerce business.

They were constantly testing new offers, running new funnels, lots of advertorials, emails, ad copy.

"Would be great to get more clients like them," I thought.

There was a company called GiddyUp, a kind of aggregator of viral ecommerce products. I often promoted their products to my client's lists.

"Wouldn't it be amazing if I could get GiddyUp as a client?" I thought.

But I didn't know anybody at GiddyUp. I didn't even know anybody who knew anybody.

Who to write to? What to say? What if they tell me no or worse yet don't respond?

(Typical copywriter problems.)

So I gave up on GiddyUp.

Fast forward a couple months.

I open my inbox and see the following email. It's from the co-founder and VP of marketing at GiddyUp:

===

John,

Good to meet you brotha. Just saw your [censored].

We're always looking to work with and test new copywriters who know how to write powerful advertorials and it's clear from your [really, really censored] that you understand this format well.

If you're interested in exploring a possible collaboration, I'd love to schedule a quick call with you and our Creative Manager and Head of Copy.

Let me know and we can set something up in the next week or two.

Looking forward to it.

===

Ignore the fact that the guy says they're "always looking to work with and test new copywriters."

Maybe that's true. Maybe I could have just reached out to them cold.

Or maybe had I bothered to cold email the VP of marketing at a busy ecommerce brand, pitching myself, nothing would have come of it, just like I had feared.

In any case, cold outreach is not what I did.

So how did I get the VP of marketing at GiddyUp reaching out to me and asking if I'd like to work with them?

This brings me to:

*** Magic List-Growing Secret #4 That Big Email Doesn't Want You To Know: Podcast or mastermind appearances WHERE I AM PREPARED AND GIVE A PRESENTATION ***

Here's the censored bits from the email above:

===

John,

Good to meet you brotha. Just saw your interview with Chase and funny enough... a handful of the examples you showed (both good and bad) were our products/advertorials.

We're always looking to work with and test new copywriters who know how to write powerful advertorials and it's clear from your presentation that you understand this format well.

===

I've been on lots of podcasts. I've given presentations inside private communities and masterminds a handful of times.

I guess each such appearance builds credibility a bit.

But a few such appearances have gotten me outsized results, either in terms of volume of new subscribers, or in terms of quality of subscribers, or both.

(My appearance on Chase Dimond's podcast, which you can find below, did both.)

I asked myself what was the difference between the really great appearances... and the rest.

What made some podcasts just a nice conversation, and maybe a handful of new subscribers... while others got me dozens or maybe a hundred good new prospects onto my list, some of whom were ready to buy right away?

Aside from the obvious (size of the audience, fit of the audience to who i want on my list), the one big thing was this:

The podcasts and mastermind appearances that got me great results were THE ONES WHERE I PREPARED AND GAVE A SPECIFIC PRESENTATION, rather than just answering questions posed by the host.

Mind you, I probably give more "value," as in hardcore, practical, how-to advice, when I'm just answering the host's questions.

The presentation I gave on Chase Dimond's podcast was basically a Dan Kennedy-style sales pitch, which I prepared using everything I knew about writing copy and writing insightful-sounding but ultimately promotional content.

And yet, it was this presentation that got a bunch of ecommerce owners to sign up to my email list, and to reach out to me to ask if they could work with me.

I think this kind of "infomercial" approach is perfect for free podcasts.

Inside paid communities, I've prepared more how-toish presentations. More teaching, less teasing.

But in every case that was successful, I prepared a presentation. I had slides or I shared my screen. I had example copy to work through.

It wasn't just me ad libbing, and it definitely wasn't mainly an opportunity for the host to talk and get his questions answered.

All that's to say, if you want really highly qualified prospects on your email list, try this:

1. Come up with a cool presentation about something unique you know about

2. Shop it around to podcast hosts and mastermind owners

... and when you're done, not only do you have new subscribers to your list, and possibly new clients or customers, but you also have a new marketing asset.

(I didn't do this with the Chase Dimond presentation, but that's because I'm an idiot. I should have run ads to it directly, or given it away as a lead magnet and run ads that way. You can also turn it into a pdf, or a book, or a Google Doc, a paid course, or whatever.)

Final point:

How do you shop your cool presentation around to podcasts hosts and mastermind owners? Our JV Outreach playbook is perfect for that.

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