Yesterday I showed you the first pillar of my framework: Traffic via Affiliates & Word-of-Mouth.
I explained why I focus on just ONE traffic source rather than trying to be everywhere at once.
And that getting traffic can be really simple.
Now let’s talk about where I want that traffic to end up – and why this next pillar is the absolute BACKBONE of any digital business that’s actually profitable…
The Email List.
If you’re a seasoned entrepreneur – stick with me here for a second because I’m going to quickly go back to basics. But, it’ll end up being very valuable for you to keep reading.
You’ve heard it a thousand times:
"They money is in the list."
But what does that mean exactly?
I’ve seen inside countless businesses. BIG businesses.
Businesses spending tens of thousands a day on paid ads and generating similar money on the frontend.
But… all that money they’re generating is revenue.
Not profit.
Their operating expenses are HUGE.
So where do they actually make money?
From their email list.
Specifically sending follow-up emails to every person who either opts in to their list or buys something from them.
Over the course of a month… 6 months… 12 months… 24 months… and so on… they slowly make back more and more money from each subscriber by selling them more products.
So when I’m building a business, my #1 focus is getting to that part: building trust with my lists so they know I’m an actual expert in their niche and my products are worth buying – and then selling them those products.
This is why you’ll hear me call my businesses "email-based businesses".
What does it mean to build an "email-based business"?
It means email is the hub that everything else revolves around.
First and foremost, when I’m building a business, it means emailing your list at least 5x per week.
Businesses that email consistently (5+ times weekly) routinely outperform those that don’t… by a lot.
I’ve seen it play out the same repeatedly.
If you’re like most people, you’re probably crinkling your nose right now and thinking, "But that’s sooooo much. Won’t my list be annoyed by that many emails?"
The answer is simple: nope.
- If your emails suck, they’ll unsubscribe.
- But if you’re an expert in your niche and have real value to provide… they’ll light up every time they see your name in their inbox.
All I can tell you is that I have never seen a scenario where daily emails didn’t massively outperform irregular and less-frequent emails.
And that creator you love who only sends a once-a-week newsletter? I’d venture to guess they’re also posting daily on X, or TikTok, or Instagram, or some other platform – and email is simply their supplement.
And that’s great for them.
But for me, valuing simplicity, I stick to email as my only means of communication because it gives all the results I’m after with a fraction of the work.
How to approach sending 5x per week
After testing countless approaches, I’ve found two email types that consistently drive sales the best:
- One-off daily emails (telling a story and ending with a call to action to buy something)
- Tutorial-style email sequences (like the one you’re reading now)
And here’s my potentially surprising opinion (since it’s NOT what I’m doing right now): 95% of businesses should start with one-off daily emails.
Type 1: The One-Off Daily Email
Despite the fact that I’m currently sending you tutorial-style emails, I believe the vast majority of businesses should master one-off emails first.
The pros are significant:
- Much easier to write (especially for beginners)
- Can be produced in 15 minutes or less when you’re practiced
- Don’t require you to be a true expert on your topic
- Create a natural variety that keeps subscribers engaged
- Work in virtually any market or niche
I worked exclusively with one-off daily emails for about 8 years before making the switch to tutorials and it’s what I recommend even to this day for most solo operators.
Type 2: The Tutorial-Style Email Sequence
These are multi-day email sequences that dive deep into a specific topic (exactly like this email series).
The pros:
- You only need about 40 topics per year (versus 250+ for one-offs)
- They’re mostly evergreen and can be repeated
- They generate significantly more word-of-mouth
- If you’re actually an expert, they’ll help firmly position you as the authority in your space
- And if your subscribers see you as the expert in your niche, they’re FAR more likely to buy the stuff you sell
The cons:
- Require considerably more time and expertise
- Need a deeper knowledge of your subject matter
- Can feel overwhelming to create when starting out ("this is sooooo much content to write")
I now personally find the tutorial style email sequences easier to write because my brain struggled to find 250+ topics per year to write about…
And because the results I see from writing tutorial emails consistently outperform anything I’ve seen before.
It’s hard not to love that.
But I’ve built businesses to multiple six figures using exclusively one-off emails first.
With either approach, it’s critical to always be selling
In the One-Off Daily Email method, you’d simply drop a call to action at the bottom of every email. "Speaking of which, my course Blah Blah Blah is on sale now for 50% off…"
In the Tutorial Email method, you do a course launch every 3-5 weeks – with a week of pre-selling the course beforehand.
I’ve personally found that these 1-2 week launches always outperform quick one-liner throwaway CTAs.
Bottom line: Of the four pillars, your email list is unquestionably the most valuable.
Every business I build revolves around an email list.
The traffic I generate, the sales pages I create, and the products I build all serve one purpose: strengthening my relationship with my email subscribers.
I’ve seen businesses with mediocre traffic, average sales pages, and decent products absolutely flourish because they mastered this one pillar.
(This was me for many years. I usually couldn’t tell you where my traffic came from – but they ended up on my lists and things were great.)
Conversely, I’ve watched businesses with boat loads of traffic, beautiful sales pages, and exceptional products struggle to break even because they neglected their email strategy.
When you truly understand that your email list is the profit center of your business – not just another marketing channel – everything changes.
You start treating every subscriber like gold. You focus on delivering genuine value with every message. You build a business that’s insulated from external factors (look at the recent changes in LinkedIn’s and X’s algorithm).
And the beautiful part? This approach scales seamlessly from a few hundred subscribers to hundreds of thousands without adding complexity.
The most profitable businesses I’ve built or consulted with all share this focus on email as their primary money-maker – regardless of industry, price point, or overall business model.
Tomorrow we’ll explore Pillar 3: Simple Sales Pages – where I’ll show you why your sales pages can be dramatically shorter and simpler when you’re doing your emails the way I just described.
Talk tomorrow!
— Derek
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