Interview Date: May 26, 2024
Table of Content
CREATOR INTERVIEW
As an experienced copywriter, Jeff Felten has been sending emails to his list since the beginning. In the early days, it took him 3 years to reach 100 subscribers. But, once he decided to niche down and went all in on email marketing, things started to change.
Jeff Felten now sends his newsletter Humans Sending Emails to an engaged list of over 2,000 subscribers and is highly successful at marketing his business.
He’s also an expert on creating lead magnets and how to increase sales with email marketing. Accordingly, he launched a product called Creator’s Welcome System in Dec’23 for $127. After a while, he increased the price to $249, and he already made 200 sales.
Now, I’m handing the mic over to Jeff Felten to learn how he built his newsletter business.
Let’s get started.
NEWSLETTER IDENTITY CARD
TOOL STACK
- ESP → ConvertKit
- Website → Squarespace
MEET THE CREATOR
Welcome Jeff. Let’s start with getting to know you.
I started copywriting in 2019 as a StoryBrand Certified Guide. Back then, I was kind of a generalist – meaning I would write any kind of copy for anybody. Over time, I niched down to email marketing, then eventually further down to email marketing for solo entrepreneurs.
Now, I primarily write email sequences and run course launch campaigns, but I also sell a DIY course on welcome sequences. 🙂
START
How and why did you start Humans Sending Emails in the first place?
I’d been sending emails to my list for a few years before naming my newsletter. I decided to give it a name to make it easier for people to grasp “the point” of my content: which is to humanize our marketing. Elements like “trust” and “being human” are key parts of my philosophy about marketing. Mainly, it serves these roles:
- Long term nurturing
- Keeping offers in front of subscribers
- Indoctrination to my approach to email
- Validation for new ideas / a place to flesh out ideas more fully than social media
GROWTH
Which growth strategies did you utilize to reach over 2,000 subscribers?
It’s honestly been the same all the way through.
There’s no magic strategy, tbh.
“If you create great social content, people like you and vibe with your ideas, and you have a GOOD reason for them to sign up for your list, they will.”
MONETIZATION
What is your monetization strategy?
My newsletter hasn’t really created many new opportunities itself, although I don’t pursue many direct monetization opportunities with it (like sponsorships or ads).
“I mainly use my newsletter as a channel to establish myself as a trusted leader and deepen relationships, then heavily promote an offer when the time is right.”
What was your strategy to build and position Creator’s Welcome System? What is the funnel you built to promote it? (see here)
I’d created a few simple templates in 2023 that sold for $17-$65 (here is an example), but I always knew I wanted to make something BIGGER…I just didn’t know what that was.
I didn’t want to create an info-course that nobody would actually use. So when I finally had the idea to make a course/template hybrid, I jumped on it. The Welcome Sequence framework had been proven to work in a few cases, so it was just a matter of organizing the content properly and setting new users up to win.
“As for the funnel, I take my own medicine. I reverse engineered the offer (a welcome sequence system) and created a lead magnet that ties in perfectly with the offer.
So once a month or so, I’ll open up a 3-Day Lead Magnet Challenge to help people build lead magnets. After that, i’ll lead them to the most logical next step: a welcome sequence to turn their new leads into clients!”
IMPACT & LEARNINGS
How did building Humans Sending Emails contribute to your life professionally and personally?
I was already sending emails so this wasn’t a new discipline. And I tried to send massive deep dives on a regular schedule, but that’s just not for me.
Once I allowed myself to believe it was ok to send emails however I wanted, whenever I wanted, it really freed me up to be a little more unique. (Now I send 1-3x per week whenever I have the time / have a good idea.)
If you had a chance to start over, what would you do differently while building Humans Sending Emails?
I would’ve niched down sooner.
“It took me 3 years to get 100 subscribers (before I went all in on email marketing).”
What would it be if you had the right to give one piece of advice to aspiring newsletter creators?
Don’t try to be too fancy. Just share stories, teach simple lessons, and ALWAYS make offers.
Just. Get. Started.
FINAL WORDS
Focus heavily on the contents of your newsletter. Be unique. Be thoughtful. It doesn’t have to be fancy, long, or complicated. But it MUST BE GOOD. Eventually (not at the beginning), people will open emails from you simply because your name is attached to it…not because of the subject lines.
“Make great, unique content and you’ll make fans for life.”
