Roadmap: How to build a profitable email business

by

Ascend 101

Lessons about building a one-person business, writing, and self-improvement

When I first came to Twitter my only goal was to start making money and build my one-person business.

It took me a long long time and I made plenty of mistakes. Mistakes I didn’t have to make.

I simply didn’t know what I was doing. I experimented a lot, had crappy offers, never made any money for a long time, and often thought about quitting.

That’s until I realized the power of an email list.

The most successful people on Twitter don’t generate their income from Twitter.

So I started putting all of my efforts into my email list and I saw my income increase gradually and consistently.

I started making more money while even doing less work.

I stopped relying on viral tweets and weekly giveaways. And it did wonders for me.

Here’s the exact roadmap that made my business succeed and it’s the only roadmap I’d use if I ever had to start over again. (which I don’t because I have an email list)

The Roadmap

Step 1) Build an Audience on Twitter (X)

A functional business needs traffic.

And the easiest way to get traffic is to build a following on social media. I recommend Twitter (also known as X now).

It’s got the fastest feedback loop of any platform. You can post 10 times a day if you want and test out all of your ideas.

Seeing how your ideas perform and which ones resonate more than others is key to building a profitable business.

Anyone who can tweet 3 times a day can build a following.

Step 2) Build an email list

The next step would be to build an email list.

Social media is great to get a huge amount of traffic for free. But that traffic isn’t yours.

You can lose it at any given moment. And most platforms don’t like it when you advertise your products or services.

For this reason, you’ll want to get people off Twitter and onto your email list.

Start building one as soon as possible.

Learn how to scale an email list, how to write emails, and how to stay consistent as early as you can.

These skills compound with time. The earlier you start. The more money you’ll make.

Step 2.5) Affiliate marketing

I’ve called this step 2.5 because this is optional.

You don’t have to do this, you can still build a profitable email business without this step.

But I highly recommend you to start out affiliate marketing for a number of reasons.

One of them is that early on you probably won’t have an offer in place.

You’re still learning how everything works and you have no idea what you want to do. But that doesn’t mean you can’t earn money already.

This is where affiliate marketing comes in handy. It allows you to pick a product from someone else.

Preferably one that’s selling and has a lot of social proof.

This way you can practice your copy in the emails you’ll write.

And even though your copy won’t be perfect. You’ll still earn money because of the sheer popularity and quality of the product.

Step 3) Build a high-ticket offer

Many people think the next step would be to create their own product.

But that’s not the best way to go about it actually.

For one, you don’t have any experience yet. You don’t know what’s going to appeal to people or even what pain points they’re struggling with.

Let alone that you know how to solve them for others. What works for you might not work for others.

This is why it’s recommended to create a high-ticket offer first. Think freelancing, coaching, consulting, or tutoring.

Something where you work 1 on 1 with (or for) the client.

Get some experience in the field and start creating your own systems.

You’ll also be able to start earning loads of money early on with this method.

Step 4) Build a product

Once you’ve got more experience it’s time to finally build your product.

The good thing about a (digital) product is the enormous amount of leverage. All you have to do is create it once and you’ll be able to keep selling it forever.

It’s almost an infinite money-making machine if you do it right.

The best type of products you could create are the systems you’ve developed in step 3) with your high-ticket offer.

You’ve experienced the common problems people have and you’ve created systems that are able to help them.

All you have to do now is to package these systems up nicely into a digital product.

From here on you can use your email list to keep promoting your products regularly and keep earning money from them.

P.S. Whenever you’re ready. Here’s how I can help you:

  1. Hop on a Clarity Call with me: Remove all of your uncertainty. Get clear on what you have to do, when you have to do it, and how. Let’s get you on the right track to achieving the freedom you deserve.

  2. Work 1-on-1 with me: We’ll determine where you stand and where you want to go. Then we’ll devise a roadmap to get you from A to B that’ll get you there in the next 30–60 days.

  3. Check out my products (free & paid): Ranging from every resource I ever read to everything I know about content creation. It’s all waiting for you to claim it. Start your journey to financial freedom the right way.