8 things that had the biggest impact on my business this year

These made me more money and created less stress in my business in 2024

AuthorAuthor

Matt McGarry & Matt McGarry
December 21, 2024

DEEP DIVE

Here are the things that made me more money and created less stress in my business in 2024:

1) Focus

Focus is my biggest weakness.

I can context switch and productively jump from task to task faster than anyone I’ve worked with.

Maybe it’s ADHD.

Maybe it’s because I get excited by planning, doing, and launching new things.

Sometimes, this makes me feel like I run 10 businesses at once. But I can’t.

I consistently overestimate what future me can do. I take on too much and regret it.

The best thing I’ve done this year is focusing on what truly matters in my business and life — and cutting everything else.

I learned this lesson the hard way.

So far, I’ve cut multiple profitable revenue streams in my business:

  • No more 1on1 consulting

  • Shutting down our coaching program

  • Ending advertising in my newsletter and podcast

  • Cutting our ad network to focus on ad sales for existing clients only

And there’s still more to cut.

This hurts. It means saying no to at least $300k-$500k in revenue.

However, by focusing on the most important things the business will make more, our customers will be more successful, and the team and I will be less stressed.

2) Team

Hiring and keeping great people has had the biggest impact on our growth this year.

We finally moved from a part-time employee to full-time model in 2024.

  • This year we started with 1 full time person and 10+ part time.

  • Now we have 7 full time people and 6-8 contractors.

Hiring people full time and getting them 100% onboard with GrowLetter’s vision, systems, and goals unlocks so much more productivity and passion in their work.

Part time people can be great. We still work with many fantastic contractors.

But it’s just not the same as having someone 100% on your team. Running a business just feels better this way.

How I’ve found great people

For me, none of the “traditional” hiring sources have worked. I’ve had almost no luck with LinkedIn jobs, recruiters, and job sites.

Instead, I’ve found fantastic people from:

  • My newsletter, podcast, and social audience (this is the greatest benefit of building an audience no one talks about)

  • People in my network who I’ve worked with or known before

  • Referrals from employees and friends

  • Customers from my training program

Who to hire full time first

If you’re in the position I was in last year — with lots of contractors and no one full time — here’s who I would hire full time first:

  1. VA (virtual assistant)

Start buying back your time and removing repetitive and administrative tasks. A great full time VA can cost $800-$1200 per month.

  1. Salesperson

If you’re selling something that cost more than $1000 per month or $3000 one time, a good salesperson will make you more money.

It’s a low risk 1st or 2nd hire because half or more of their compensation is based on the sales they bring in. If they don’t bring in more revenue, your cost will be low.

3) Publishing a weekly newsletter

Writing and publishing a weekly newsletter is the #1 way I get people to know, like, and trust me so I can convert them into customers or clients.

Even if a sale isn’t made in the newsletter — it sets me up for future sales.

Everything trickles down from my newsletter:

  • My team and I repurpose 1 newsletter into 10+ social posts and 1 blog post every week (that’s 500+ social posts and 50+ blog posts per year that bring in new subscribers and customers)

  • Newsletters make marketing emails 10X more effective because subscribers are already opening, reading, and getting value from my emails

  • I use newsletter content to train my team and create SOPS (standard operating procedures)

  • Newsletter content becomes podcast topics

I’ve published a newsletter 101 weeks straight. No weeks off.

It’s not easy. But it’s worth it.

4) Send more marketing emails

I’ve sent ~31 dedicated marketing emails to segments of my list this year.

Those emails are responsible for 95%+ of revenue for Write, Grow, Sell.

If I would have sent 60 emails, I would have come close to doubling the revenue.

The crazy thing is: Most founders I talk with don’t send enough email to their list.

More emails = more sales.

The point of diminishing returns where you get too many unsubscribes, spam complaints, and audience fatigue is WAY higher than you think.

If you have something to sell, email your list more.

  • Set up a welcome sequence with 5-10 emails sent in the first 30 days someone is on your list.

  • Set up a sales sequence with 5-15 more emails sent after someone shows interest in your product or service.

  • Send 10-20 marketing emails around a new product launch or promotion.

  • Send 2 emails on the last day of any promotion with a deadline.

Send more email than you’re comfortable with.

I know, it sounds scary. But the fact is your subscribers are paying less attention than you think. They need reminders, deadlines, and more reasons to buy.

Pro tips:

  • Send short marketing emails, <200 words.

  • Focus each email on 1 topic, angle, or selling proposition.

  • Segment your list. In most cases don’t send marketing emails to everyone.

  • Your weekly newsletter should be 90% value (useful, insightful content) your marketing emails should be 90% sales (persuasive content with calls-to-action).

  • Don’t stress about unsubscribes. They weren’t going to buy from you. Your content and products are not for everyone.

5) Live webinars

Over half the sales for Write, Grow, Sell came from live webinars.

95%+ of the webinar sign ups came from my email list.

If you’re selling a product in the $500-$10,000 price range, webinars are a must.

The frameworks I use to create the webinar content came from 2 books:

  • Expert Secrets by Russell Brunson

  • One To Many by Jason Fladlien

Those books share 99% of what you need to know about building a successful webinar. The rest you’ll learn by doing.

I’ve done 10 live webinars this year. Every one has gotten better. And there’s still a ton of improvements I plan to make.

If you’re doing your first webinar, focus on mastering the content. Don’t spend too much time setting up the tech.

  • You can do a great webinar with Zoom only.

  • Or Luma for registration and reminders and Zoom for the live session.

After you master the content, add more sophisticated webinar marketing and reminder software like WebinarJam (or one of the many other great options out there).

6) Moving from monthly invoicing to subscription

This one is simple: We previously invoiced clients for payment at the end of each month.

Now we require upfront payment via a Stripe subscription that renews every month.

This has improved cash flow, saved my time, and reduced churn.

7) Publishing our podcast on YouTube

Another simple change: We started posting a video version of our podcast to YouTube.

That’s generated 53k+ views and allowed the podcast to be discovered by people who would have never heard of it.

This year the podcast has:

  • 67,820 downloads on podcast platforms

  • 53,585 views on YouTube

If it wasn’t on YouTube we would have missed out on most those 53k views.

Now, I would rather people subscribe and listen to the show on a podcast platform. I have more control. Every episode shows up on their podcast feed.

But more views are better. More people have subscribed to the podcast feed and joined this newsletter because of YouTube.

8) Starting a live training program

In January 2024 I ran the first cohort of Write, Grow, Sell (previously called Growth System).

So far, 500+ people have enrolled, we’ve received 250+ 5-star reviews, and a have an 89 NPS score from customers who enrolled in the program.

This transformed our business from an agency and into a media, education, and agency business.

At first, it took away focus from the main thing, our agency.

But it’s enabled us to do so much more:

  • Unlock more profitable and scalable revenue

  • Help more people who could not afford our services

  • Create more successful businesses who later work with our agency

  • Use the revenue from Write, Grow, Sell to grow this newsletter and get more customers and clients

In 2025 — Write, Grow, Sell will be the main thing we focus on.

And our agency will serve as a way for:

  • Students to ascend and work with us more closely

  • Research and development for strategies we’ll teach in Write, Grow, Sell

  • Build our expertise and credibility by working with the best media, creator, and education businesses in the world

My goal has never been to build a big agency with hundreds of clients.

Instead, my goal is to create a movement of founders building independent and profitable email-first businesses that enable them to own their audience and control their future without relying on big tech’s algorithms.

We do that with:

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