đ» From 5 Million to Flat Sales
In late 2019, I was hired by an entrepreneur who had achieved what many dream ofâhe built a YouTube-based business teaching online violin lessons and claimed to have made over $5 million in the process.
His secret? It wasnât just the contentâit was an accidental marketing discovery. By giving away a violin in a contest, he organically built an email list full of genuinely interested leads. These were people who wanted the violin, and therefore, were naturally inclined to care about his lessons too. With that email list, he drove traffic, nurtured leads, and converted them into loyal customers using email marketing.
It worked so well that he decided to start a second business: one that would help other entrepreneurs use giveaways and email marketing to scale. But this time, the magic didnât happen.
â What Went Wrong: The iPad Trap
Despite high hopes, the new business floundered. He was attracting thousands of emails⊠but sales didnât move. Thatâs when he brought me in to figure out why.
It didnât take longâless than 10 days, in fact.
He had shifted from giving away violins (a product directly tied to his niche) to giving away iPads and iPods to build his email list. Sounds great on the surface, right?
Wrong.
Hereâs the problem: people who enter a giveaway for a free iPad donât necessarily care about your product or serviceâthey just want the iPad. That misalignment meant the email list was full of unqualified, uninterested leads. They ignored the marketing emails and didnât buy anything. The giveaway was working to attract attentionâbut from the wrong people.
â The Fix: Align the Prize with the Product
I recommended a simple but powerful shift: give away something you’re already selling.
That way, everyone who signs up is already interested in the offer. Even if thereâs only one winner, the rest of the email list is full of warm leads who might buy the product later. You stop playing the volume game and start playing the value game.
It was a clear solution. A better strategy. A better business foundation.
đ€ But Then⊠The âMarketing Guruâ Showed Up
Just as I began to implement the fix, the founder brought in someone newâa so-called marketing expert. He talked the talk and pushed a different vision: programmatic marketing (automated digital advertising using algorithms and AI). He argued that it would fix everything.
Spoiler alert: it didnât.
The ads were running, money was being spent, but the same problem remainedâbad leads donât convert, no matter how many ads you run or how smart the targeting system is.
Eventually, they went back to my strategy. And it worked.
đ„ The Results: Back on Track and Bigger Than Ever
Today, that business is thriving. Theyâve built a high-converting email list full of genuinely interested prospects. Theyâve even landed a famous Hollywood actor as a client.
The takeaway? Tools, tech, and tactics matterâbut alignment and audience are everything.
đ§ Key Lessons
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Lead quality > lead quantity
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Align your giveaway with your actual product
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Donât let shiny objects distract from solid strategy
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Automating a broken funnel just burns money faster
If youâre building an online business or scaling with email marketing, donât fall for the iPad trap. Give your audience a reason to opt in that reflects what you actually sell. Youâll save time, money, and headachesâand you might just land a Hollywood client along the way.