This week we’re going over why and how I’m "buying" Ning Li’s copywriting coaching & course business.
Ning has decided to retire from the copywriting world and instead of closing his business down and deleting all his products and email list, we decided that I’d take over instead.
My hope is that you get some out-of-the-box ideas for list building and marketing strategies or find some inspiration to get out there and put together win-win business deals.
Buying An Email List Lesson #1: Ensure That You Don’t Lose Focus
Before we talk about the deal itself and why I keep putting "buying" in quotes, let me go over my number one concern with taking over Ning’s business & email list.
As you might know, I’ve been hyper-focused this past year. I’ve stripped away everything and now focus exclusively on selling courses.
More specifically, the audience I’m focused on writing to these days is anyone who wants to become a solopreneur and use copywriting to grow into 6- and 7-figures. I’m no longer really selling to "pure freelance copywriters". I still can serve them and teach them how to write copy – but it’s my belief that most people who are freelance copywriters want to start their own small online business anyway.
I won’t go into too much more detail there but this is my ideal audience and I like writing to them.
My biggest concern was that I’d lose focus if I started selling Ning’s courses and trying to write for his audience – which is filled with more freelancers than my current list.
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My list: Solopreneurs interested in learning copy
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Ning’s list: Freelance copywriters interested in learning copy
I had a talk with a business coach and mentor of mine on this very topic of getting distracted.
At the current level I’m operating, distractions can cost a whole lot more than any opportunity I might have (or extra revenue I’d generate) taking over a new list of names.
So here’s the lesson and exactly what I’m going to do… and as you’ll see this is all made possible by the deal structure Ning and I settled on.
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I’m going to run a "Ning’s Retirement Sale" (more on this in the P.S. below) to Ning’s list… and ONLY the segment of my list who’s interested in freelance copywriting and getting clients.
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I’m not running this sale to my entire list because I’m going to remain focused on my audience.
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After the sale, I’m going to pre-load up and send Ning’s list a 3-4 week series of my best emails, showcasing what I write about these days (solopreneurship & copy). I’ll only speak to my ideal audience.
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Each email will ask people upfront to unsubscribe if they’re not interested. I assume at the end of the series, I’ll have significantly less subscribers – but those that hang around will be highly valuable.
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And that’s it.
This all might seem simplistic but the core lesson here is clear: if what you’ve got going is working, don’t let yourself get distracted.
Buying another business or an email list is just a bigger form of Shiny Object Syndrome. I’m making sure that I’m integrating Ning’s business into my current operation, not expanding out trying to attract new audiences.
Make sense?
Again, this is ALL made possible and incurs almost no risk because of how the deal has been setup. That will be lesson #2 and I’ll get into that tomorrow.
Talk then!
– Derek
P.S. Starting on Thursday I’m going to run a "Ning’s Retirement Sale" to his email list and to anyone on my list (you) who is interested in freelance copywriting and getting clients, specifically.
I’ll make Ning’s most popular course, "Zero to $5k", available to purchase for the final time (maybe ever). "Zero to $5k" helps you write converting copy, get clients, and clear all mindset issues that might be holding you back.
- If you would like to receive details on "Ning’s Retirement Sale" – if you’re a freelancer or consultant – follow the link below.
- This link will tag you as interested in freelance copywriting or consulting.
- After you click, you’ll get to read my short story about Ning and how he used CopyHour several years ago.
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Nothing will be for sale until Thursday.
>>> WAIT! Only click this link if you’re interested in freelance copywriting or consulting
If you’re NOT interested in freelancing, don’t click the link. Just sit back and gather some insights this week on buying and selling businesses and email lists.