
I am seeing massive change, growth, and opportunities for small businesses today, and incredible ways to get visible. In today’s episode, I’m going to dig into what it’s like to get paid to grow your email list
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Emily
A lot of Scaling a business is a numbers game. If you have enough of the right eyeballs, with a solid conversion rate, you can keep growing a business. Welcome to the Strategy Hour Podcast brought.
Abigail Pumphrey
To you by Boss Project. I'm your host Abigail Pumphrey and I'm dedicated to supporting online businesses.
Emily
I don't believe in one right way to build a business.
Abigail Pumphrey
I'm here to help you build business you your way.
Emily
One that supports not only the life.
Abigail Pumphrey
You have, but the life you want. I'm on a personal mission to help you become financially free.
Emily
I'm taking all the lessons learned as.
Abigail Pumphrey
I turned a layoff into a seven figure online business. I'm here to help you prioritize your life every step of the way. Whether you're creating your first digital product, growing an email list, or scaling an already profitable business, Settle in.
Emily
It's time to talk strategy.
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Abigail Pumphrey
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Emily
I cannot tell you how good it feels to be back at the mic. This is my very first episode that I am recording in 2024 and I feel like it's been forever since I've talked to you guys and I have so much to say. I feel like a lifetime has happened between now and the last time I was in this seat. Just get Ready for the most wild ride. I am absolutely seeing for so many small businesses in 2024 that this is going to be a pivotal year for people. We're talking massive change, massive growth, new opportunities, incredible ways to get visible, and it really feels like 2016 all over again. In the best way. In the best way. In today's episode, I'm going to be digging into what it's like to get paid to grow your email list and how I've been using this strategy for almost a decade, and I've kind of.
Abigail Pumphrey
Been keeping it to myself, not on purpose.
Emily
I'm ready to reveal what I've been doing and how I've been doing it and give you guys the roadmap so that you can follow this step by step. It has been revolutionary to my business. It has been an incredible way to see consistent growth, and I definitely think it's going to solve for the leads problem for so many small businesses this year. Now, before we get into it, I gotta tell you, it has been a wild month, right? I do what I always do in December, and I close the business for a couple of weeks. Sometimes I close for two weeks, sometimes I close for four weeks. This year, we close for two weeks. But in the week or two leading up to settling down and enjoying Christmas with family and resting and all of those things, normally by the time December rolls around, I am bur burnt out. I need the rest. I'm exhausted. I just. I'm ready to walk away. But this year was super different. This year, I got to my last day at my desk and I was like, are we sure I have to walk away? Because I have so many ideas, I have so many things I want to do, so many things I'm excited about for 2024. And it really felt like a challenge to step away and be fully present with my friends and family, which is definitely what I wanted to do. I definitely wanted to be there. I wasn't about to, like, work through one of my favorite holidays of the entire year, but it was interesting to have that feeling kind of creeping in, even in the week or two leading up to Christmas. I definitely really pride myself in the way that we've built this business and that we build it so that we can prioritize our life first and living and spending time with friends and family. And that always comes before work. And I think I felt this pressure for a long time for that to be a really structured thing. Like I have to walk away at a certain time or if I'm off, that I can't work at all or whatever. And I was putting all these confinements around what it looked like to do that and respect that. And going into this break, I kind of gave myself a little bit of grace. And I said, you know, you do need to prioritize family. Let's focus and be present when that's happening and when it's not. If you feel like watching, you know, cheesy Hallmark movies, go for it. And if you feel inspired, like, don't stop yourself. Obviously, this is me having a conversation with myself. And. And I leaned into that. And this was such an interesting break because I really was able to step away from 90, 95% of what was going on in the business. And I really got to just try things in a space where no one else needed me. I didn't have any meetings on my calendar. There was nothing else going on. And so I could really just play. And I think that's an element that I've really been missing in business. I feel like the bigger the business has gotten, the more I've grown, the more people I've reached. I felt this requirement to take it so seriously. And that's not why I got into business. I didn't get into business to be a serious CEO. I got into business to give myself freedom and flexibility and adventure and fun. And I think somewhere along the way, some of those funner things that I'd done, I just sat down because I thought they're silly or not important or that they didn't in some way add to the bottom line. And for the record, you having fun in your business will absolutely energize every other part of what you're doing. So do not stop yourself from enjoying what it is you're doing. This isn't to say that work isn't sometimes just work and that sometimes you have to do things because you've contracted yourself to do so for a client or whatever. It's still a job. You still ultimately have obligations, and because you are the one in charge, you can have a little fun along the way. And I have felt really good leaning into that the last couple of weeks. Now, I can't get into everything that happened because that would literally be a whole episode. But let's just say it has a lot to do with Instagram. It has a lot to do with experimentation and starting a brand new account and all the things. Okay, it just deserves its own episode to do the breakdown on what this experiment looks like and how it's happening. But if you want to see for yourself, What I'm up to, I think observation is probably the best way to go about doing this. And so you can go to the Boss Project account on Instagram. My personal account is linked in the bio at Abigail says. And then in the bio of Abigail says you will see this third account that I say. I'm racing myself to 10k. If you click on that, go ahead and follow both and I just want you to see what's happening in real time because this is some exciting stuff and I definitely think it's going to really impact momentum going into this year. Now, part of what happened on break is I couldn't help myself and I decided to let some of the people that were following me over on social media in on a secret for something I've been working on for a while and I had planned to announce and release it in January, but I announced it a little early. It's still coming. It officially opens 22 January. So by the time you're listening to this, it could be a week away or it could be out there. Okay. But I announced that I am doing a brand new program called Digital Product Jumpstart and I'm definitely going to share more about it. But it is the way I have leveraged digital products to grow my email list, get paid in the process and magnetize those ideal clients to me. They're paying to join my list and because of that they're pre qualifying themselves for other offers I have down the line. And I am teaching you my strategy for how to do this, how I got into it, exactly how I've implemented it and Boss Project and done it not once or twice but hundreds of times. And it has been absolutely such a key part of our growth strategy and something I haven't previously talked about or shared. And so I'm so excited. We have literally in the span of a couple of weeks, hundreds of people have already signed up. They are so pumped. I want you to be in that group. It is going to be absolutely, absolutely revolutionary for some of you and I'm so, so excited about it. So if you want to hear more about what that looks like, you can get all the details over@bossproject.com jumpstart and it'll take you to a page to get you a bit more info. This is currently at beta pricing. We're talking really accessible, so definitely go check that out. Bossproject.com jumpstart to get all the details. Ultimately, I'm in business to help other small business owners become financially free. I want to See people be successful. I want to see people earn not just a living wage, but an income that builds assets that allow them to retire early. And I can only do that if your business is thriving. Right. I want to see your business thriving. Thriving. And one of the things I've observed over the last 18 to 24 months is this real, like, need for small business owners to need more leads. And they feel like in the past, they just came to them and now they're feeling like they have to find them. And I really want to talk about why that's happening and specifically how we're going to solve for it. Because if I can solve for the leads problem, I know you guys know how to sell. I mean, can I give you tips that are going to increase your conversion rates or improve your process? Absolutely. But I know the majority of you know if you have the right people in your corner, you are going to thrive. And so how do we get the right people in your corner so that you can ultimately do what you do best? Whether you realize it or not, a lot of scaling a business is a numbers game. If you have enough of the right eyeballs with a solid conversion rate, you can keep growing a business. The problem is a lot of you have business models that are confined to what you can do in a limited amount of time. Like, you only have so much time. You can only take on so many clients. And because of that, your business currently has a ceiling. You can only bring in so much income. You can only serve so many people. And we can try to improve that by adding in systems and efficiencies and hiring and all of those things. And while that definitely helps, there will come a point where you're like, I could do this thing. I could add one more person. I could pay for one more software. I'm not sure I want to manage that. And that's probably the thing I've heard a hundred times in the last year from clients of just like, I want to run a small business. I didn't get into this business to be a manager. I'm like, I get it. Me neither. I got into this business to help people. And I love my team. They're incredible. I love working alongside of them. But management is not where I want to be spending my time. I want to be spending my time impacting people. So I see a lot of people attracted to because of this problem, because they have a limited capacity, because they know their income is pretty much capped. I mean, sure, they could increase their prices. That's definitely an option. But Depending on the market you're in, there's probably also like a reasonable limit for that too. Without you completely changing markets, could you change your niche to increase that more? Absolutely. But now all of a sudden you're marketing to a brand new group of people who don't know you exist. So what happens to the market that you've been selling to all this time? Like all of a sudden you have eyeballs that are relevant. Like it is something you can do. But it's a tough call. It's a tough call to constantly be changing your niche. Like all of these things require you to in some way start over. So then I hear these people saying, but I just want to bring in passive income. If I can bring in passive income, then I can insert whatever they think that is possible for them if they have access to this thing. And for a lot of years I've really hesitated to share about this side of our business because I, I really felt like in so many ways people tell you that it's one way and they sell it to you like it's one way, but they're not giving you the whole enchilada. Okay, can you have your entire business be from digital products courses, other one to many offers that you build once and sell again and again and again? Yes, your business could be entirely that. But if you have a business you've already built that has any sort of additional offer, whether it's one to one, coaching, consulting, other services, digital marketing, like whatever it is, if you were to pursue that thing and put this other thing aside, the thing that's been making you money for a year or three or five or 10 years is likely gonna shrink or go away entirely if you completely shift your focus. There is a better way and I am so ready to share it because I know it will have such a massive impact on people. Instead of you starting over, instead of you putting all your eggs in one basket or the other, I am so excited to help people build more hybrid based businesses where they can attract ideal clients through a digital offer. Serve more people in this way, impact more people in this way, and the right people will automatically be primed and ready for the other existing offers that you already have.
Abigail Pumphrey
Want to learn exactly step by step how to get paid to generate leads in your business. I'm ready to give you the exact steps that help me generate tens of thousands of qualified leads and, and millions in low ticket digital product sales.
Emily
I won't just show you what I.
Abigail Pumphrey
Did, but teach you how you can do it too.
Emily
I'M talking not just how to create.
Abigail Pumphrey
Low ticket digital products, but also showing you how to use them strategically to generate leads for your other existing or future offers. I'm sharing it all@bossproject.com jumpstart including exactly how I made $8033 and generated 277 leads my very first month selling digital products. Find out more at bossproject.com jumpstart the.
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Emily
Now this sounds too good to be true. I get it. But let me just paint a picture for you, okay? When I started my business I had been laid off for the second time and I was really fed up. I was tired of working for everyone else's dream and I really wanted to build something that was meaningful to me and and meaningful to the community around me. And I just felt like I was making other people rich. I wasn't necessarily fulfilled. I was constantly stressed out and I cried on my commute more times than not. And so when I was laid off, this felt like such a huge opportunity for me. I can do this. I can build my own thing. I can build a business that serves me and serves the kind of people I want to work with. And that's exactly what I did. I started my design agency. At the time I was working with local Kansas City based small businesses on their branding, marketing and website design. It was fantastic. Loved it. Incredible. Emily came on, she was helping me with photography. We were doing these high end shoots, we were doing these high end websites and we both burnt out really hard. We both burn out really hard. I was hesitant to walk away from the thing that had been making us income, the thing that had been building this business, the thing that had allowed us to do this full time. And I knew what was possible on the other end of the spectrum. So we developed our first digital product. And that product, in its very first month made $8,033. That same product has brought in over a quarter of a million dollars all on its own at $29 a pop, which for those of you trying to do the math, we brought over 10,500 leads into our business who all paid to be on our list. And when I started to see this happen, I knew that this is the way I wanted to build our business. So many people will talk about growing your email list. Like, you need an email list so that you have people to sell to, so that you can nurture them, so that you can insert all the things. And I don't disagree that an email list can be great. But for many of you, you don't necessarily need a huge list for the other parts of your business to be booked out and successful, but what you do need is leads that are primed and ready to buy those other offers. And you can do nurturing on email. I'm not saying you can't, but that can be a slow process. And, and what we have found again and again and again is if we get someone in the door with a low price digital product, like a mini course, a guide, a template, whatever it is, we can showcase intense value with that one thing. They're going to be like, oh my gosh, if this is this good at this price point, then I can only imagine what's possible if I were to invest with them in other areas. And because of that strategy, tens of thousands of people on our email list paid to join it. Like over 66% of our email list, which is over 50,000 people, by the way, paid to join the list. They paid us to be a lead in our business. Wild. Absolutely wild. Could you do this with a freebie or a lead magnet or whatever? Yes. The problem is when someone gets something for free, either they're a freebie seeker where they're just trying to gather free information so they can go do something themselves, or they download it because it sounds interesting, but they never open it, they never interact with it and they never engage with it. And the moment some amount of money doesn't necessarily matter the amount when money is exchanged, all of a sudden there is this internal responsibility for someone to pay a bit more of attention. They exchange money. So they want to get the value out of it because that way the consumption goes up. The consumption of what you offer goes up immensely versus offering it for free. Incredible. The problem was, as we continue to grow our business, I noticed so many people who may go out and make a digital product, who may have other services or offers, but they are not for the same person, which is just like, really hurts my heart because they're missing such a huge opportunity. Essentially what they're doing, or what you might be doing, is building two businesses simultaneously. You're building a business over here with these digital offers that all are attracted to one type of buyer and the rest of your business over here, completely unrelated. Different kind of buyer, different kind of personality, different kind of everything. These things are not interconnected. And so even if it's technically under one business name and the finances are all commingled, if you are talking to two totally different people, then you're in two niches and you're running two businesses under one roof, which is just messy. And it's making it so much harder for you to upsell into other things you offer. I believe in creating an offer ecosystem that's all interconnected, that all makes sense, that all works together, that allows someone to naturally move from one thing to the next. And if you can attract the right people with a digital offer, not only are you going to get higher quality leads because they paid to be there, they're going to be more invested because they paid to be there. But a buyer who buys once is 70% more likely to buy again than a brand new person, which is just like, why are people not paying attention? I just don't know. So I'm here to help solve for this in 2024, I want to see you get more qualified leads. Not just any leads. You can, sure, you can get any leads all day long. You can get leads anywhere online.
Abigail Pumphrey
You can even pay for leads.
Emily
You can pay for a list of leads. I instead want you to get the right leads, the leads that are ideal for the existing business that you operate or want to grow into. I want you to get paid to bring in those people. I want you to give them real value and make a real impact and make a real change. Enjoy your job more, have fun in the process and build a business that's interconnected and actually makes sense. Like, I can't explain to you how excited I am for this because I know, I know it's going to completely change the game. And like, it almost makes me emotional because I, I had to figure it out on my own and like I messed it up so many times. And yes, while I had a lot of success along the way, I definitely brought in people that were not ideal for my other offers. And I learned from that. I also tried and tested a ton of digital products and I know what makes the most sense to get the better impact long term. I know what's going to give you not just the one time sale, but how you take someone from $29 to a $10,000 offer, sometimes in less than a week. Like nearly every single person I'd have to go back and double check. But nearly every single person I have, as we all do, we have top clients, right? I have top clients. If I were to look at my top 20, most of my top 20 has spent anywhere between 15 and $75,000 with my company over the course of it could be one year or many years. Okay. If I were to look at my top clients, every single one of those top 20, they bought a $29 offer first. First. I had never done that. If they had never come in and been wowed, they may never have become one of my top clients in my company. And like, it's insane to me that that's even possible because these are people that I know very well personally. I know about their life, I know about their business, I know about their kids, I know how their business works, I know the inner minglings of it. And to imagine that I could have never met this person because I didn't put myself out there in this way like, blows my mind. Digital products all on their own, we're talking just entry products. I'm not talking about mid level price courses, group coaching offers or services. I'm not talking about any of that. Just entry level digital products alone has brought in more than $3 million into this company. So when I say I know what I'm doing, I know what I'm doing and it has absolutely been an integral part of our long term growth. And I am so ready to help you do this and help you identify what is the right offer, what is the right idea, what is the right package to put it in, how much do you price it at, where do you sell it? All of those things and I'm including all of those details. I could not possibly fit it inside this episode. If I could give it all away, I would. It's definitely going to take me more time than that. So I want to see you join digital product Jumpstart. Right now. It's listed at beta pricing at $77. That price will go up before the end of the month, guaranteed. I want to see you thriving in 2024 and I am so ready to help you get started. You can go to bossproject.com jumpstart for all the details and if you're an existing co op member, you can celebrate right now because all of our existing co op members are getting it for free. If you have more questions or you want to ask if this works for your niche or whatever, I am here for you. The best way to get that question answered is over on Instagram. Send me a DM at either Abigail Says or the new Abigail Pumphrey account, which again, I'll dig into why there's two in a later episode, let me know and I'm happy to help. But overall, if you got a little jazzed up listening to this and you're like, if I could get more leads and get paid for them to come in, if I could take like one or two less clients and have this make up additional revenue for me, that would be life changing. If you literally sat here and said that, do not hesitate. Do not hesitate. Bossproject.com jumpstart we're going to change the game. We're going to change the game in 2024. I can't wait to take you with me. It is going to be so good. Okay, I'm excited for you. I can't wait to help. I can't wait to be there for you. I hope you are as jazzed up as I am about 2024. You know what I will say I manifested or I put out into the world. Rather I claimed perhaps January historically has been the slowest month in my business for years. I've been in business a long time. January tends to be slow. I am claiming that this year will be my biggest month on record and I can't wait for you to come with me on this journey and be a part of this momentum and and go into 2024 with a new attitude. I want you to be excited. We're going to make it fun. This is going to feel good. I want your job to feel good. You're going to get paid to grow your email list. Not just full of emails, but full of people, the right people that are ideal for what you do. We're going to do it together. Bossproject.com jumpstart get ready.
Abigail Pumphrey
Hey, a few quick favors before you leave? I'd love if you'd share today's episode. Send it to a friend who needs to hear it and post on social. You can show us where you're listening from, your favorite takeaway, or why someone else should listen. Be sure to tag me Abigail says and bossproject so we can share it.
Emily
Okay?
Abigail Pumphrey
Second favor to get podcast updates and all the behind the scenes news from Boss Project. I'd love if you join my VIP list. Just head to bossproject.com sign up to make sure I have all your contact details.
Emily
Really love this show.
Abigail Pumphrey
It would mean so much to me.
Emily
If you'd leave a rating and review. It not only helps more listeners find the show, but allows us to bring.
Abigail Pumphrey
On quality sponsors so we can keep bringing you this valuable content for free. Thanks so much for listening. Until next time.
Host: Abigail Pumphrey, CEO of Boss Project
Release Date: August 14, 2025
Abigail Pumphrey kicks off Episode 980 with an enthusiastic return after a hiatus, expressing excitement about the transformative year ahead for small businesses. She highlights the anticipation of massive changes, growth opportunities, and innovative strategies that mirror the dynamic energy of 2016.
Abigail shares a personal narrative about her usual December routine of taking a business break, a time often marked by burnout and exhaustion. However, this year was different. She found herself full of ideas and eager to continue innovating rather than stepping away entirely. This shift allowed her to experiment freely, particularly on Instagram, leading to the creation of a new strategy that became the focal point of the episode.
Quote:
"I'm on a personal mission to help you become financially free... Whether you're creating your first digital product, growing an email list, or scaling an already profitable business, settle in."
— Abigail Pumphrey [03:26]
During her break, Abigail unveiled her new program, Digital Product Jumpstart, earlier than planned. This program encapsulates her decade-long strategy of leveraging digital products to grow an email list, generate leads, and increase revenue. The program is officially opening on January 22, 2025, and is designed to help entrepreneurs implement a step-by-step roadmap to replicate Abigail's success.
Key Features:
Quote:
"I want you to get paid to bring in those people. I want you to give them real value and make a real impact and make a real change."
— Abigail Pumphrey [26:24]
Abigail delves into the core strategy of selling digital products as a means to grow an engaged and qualified email list. She contrasts this with traditional free lead magnets, emphasizing that paid offers result in higher engagement and commitment from leads.
Advantages Highlighted:
Quote:
"When someone pays money, they have an internal responsibility to get value out of it. So the consumption of what you offer goes up immensely versus offering it for free."
— Abigail Pumphrey [16:57]
Abigail addresses a common challenge: businesses juggling disparate offers that cater to different audiences, leading to fragmented marketing efforts and limited scalability. She advocates for a hybrid-based business model where digital products serve as entry points, seamlessly leading clients to higher-tier offers.
Benefits of a Hybrid Model:
Quote:
"I believe in creating an offer ecosystem that's all interconnected, that all makes sense, that all works together, that allows someone to naturally move from one thing to the next."
— Abigail Pumphrey [15:10]
Abigail shares impressive metrics from her own experience:
She emphasizes that these results are not isolated but part of a consistent and repeatable strategy that has been implemented hundreds of times within Boss Project.
Quote:
"Digital products all on their own... has brought in more than $3 million into this company."
— Abigail Pumphrey [24:30]
Abigail invites listeners to join the Digital Product Jumpstart program, currently available at beta pricing of $77. The program offers comprehensive training on:
She assures that existing Boss Project members will receive the program for free and encourages potential participants to visit bossproject.com/jumpstart for more information.
Quote:
"We're going to change the game in 2024. I can't wait to take you with me."
— Abigail Pumphrey [33:02]
Abigail concludes the episode with a motivational outlook for 2024, expressing confidence that the strategies discussed will revolutionize listeners' businesses. She reiterates her commitment to helping small business owners achieve financial freedom and sustainable growth through innovative online marketing techniques.
Resources:
Notable Quotes:
This episode of Strategy Hour is a must-listen for entrepreneurs looking to transform their lead generation and email marketing strategies by monetizing their digital offerings. Abigail Pumphrey provides actionable insights and proven methods to not only grow an email list but to ensure that growth translates into tangible business success.