As a founder, your time is your biggest asset.

I understand that.

You wanna:

• Become an authority in your industry.

• Grow your personal brand.

• Get your story out there.

It’s a well-established idea that starting your newsletter is one of the most impactful things that you can do for your personal brand.

Think of anyone you admire on the internet.

There’s a big chance that they have a newsletter of their own.

But here’s the thing.

You don’t have that time with you.

And how the hell do you even drive subscribers to your newsletter without spending time?

Well, Codie Sanchez, one of the biggest creators out there, has applied a genius yet unconventional strategy to grow her newsletter and eventually her personal brand.

Here’s what you’ll get in today’s edition:

• How Codie scaled her personal brand through her newsletter.

• Her journey of acquiring newsletters.

• How you can follow Codie’s strategy.

• A 3-step action plan for you to acquire newsletters.

The Unconventional Acquisition

Codie Sanchez.

After building her own Private Equity firm to millions of dollars, she decided to go all-in on her content journey.

Her newsletter, Contrarian Thinking, has amassed 700,000+ subscribers in the last 3 years.

So it’s obvious.

Codie is really bullish on having a big newsletter.

But she was clear from the start.

She did NOT want to invest a lot of her own time to grow her email list.

That’s when she decided to bring her Private Equity brain into the equation.

If you have seen any of Codie’s content, you know that she has one mantra in pretty much all of her endeavors:

“Buy, don’t start from scratch.”

It’s one of her core philosophies.

Go check out her content, and you’ll know why.

So obviously,

She went to buy a newsletter.

Why?

It’s way easier to acquire someone else’s audience and turn it into yours than to start from scratch.

This is like personal branding on steroids.

She started checking out her favorite platforms & newsletters and found a massive list of defunct newsletters.

After emailing 97 of the newsletter owners who had closed their shops, she received….just 3 replies.

One said yes.

Damn.

That was close

These were the newsletter stats:

• 18k subscribers

• 30% open rate

• It was defunct back then and non-monetized (used to make 50k a year supposedly on Patreon)

• In a similar vertical as Grow Getters (Codie’s first newsletter)

Everything was going well.

But then, BOOM!

The guy makes an offer for $100k for it.

With no revenue and no emails sent for 12 months.

Yeah, that makes no sense.

Alright. Not everything can go well.

Time for round two.

This time, she searched for newsletters that were already in Codie’s space.

The idea was to find newsletters that Codie herself liked.

Found a newsletter soon, and here are the stats:

• Subs: 400

• 8 months of history 

• side hustle for the founder

• Membership fee: $20-80 a year

• Members: 300

• MRR membership: 800

• Sponsorships: $1000 MRR

• MRR total $1800

• ARR: $21,600

• Expenses: $400 MR

• Annual expenses: $4800

• SDE: (seller’s pay) tough because she doesn't pay herself a salary

• Annual profit: $21,600 - $4,800 = $16,800(ish) annual profit (w/o substracting salary)

After successfully acquiring their audience, she acquired one newsletter after the other and gained influence quickly.

This made her scale her personal brand exponentially.

How do you do this for yourself?

Not everyone can be Codie Sanchez.

But you can still learn from her unconventional approach to growing a newsletter and eventually strengthening the influence of your personal brand.

Here’s an actionable 3-step framework for founders to leverage acquisitions and build their own successful newsletter influence.

Step 1: Identify and Evaluate Potential Newsletters

1. Research Platforms and Communities: Start by exploring platforms like Substack, Beehiiv, Convertkit, and other newsletter platforms.

   Look for newsletters in your niche or related fields.

2. Find Defunct or Underperforming Newsletters: Focus on newsletters that have stopped publishing or are struggling to maintain engagement. 

   These are the ones that you can acquire at a lower cost.

3. Evaluate Key Metrics:

   • Subscriber Count: Look for newsletters with a good subscriber base.

   • Engagement Rates: Check open and click-through rates to gauge audience engagement.

   • Monetization Potential: Take an estimate if the newsletter has existing revenue streams or potential for future monetization.

Step 2: Initiate Contact and Negotiate

1. Reach Out: Send personalized emails to newsletter owners showing your interest in acquiring their newsletter.

   Highlight the mutual benefits and your vision for the newsletter's future.

2. Negotiate Terms:

   • Pricing: Be prepared to negotiate. Base your offer on subscriber count, engagement rates, and monetization history.

   • Due Diligence: Ensure you have access to the newsletter’s performance data to make an informed decision.
     

3. Draft an Agreement: Once terms are agreed upon, draft a formal agreement outlining the acquisition details, including payment terms and transfer of assets.

Step 3: Integrate and Grow Your New Asset

1. Transition Smoothly:

   • Communication: Inform the existing subscribers about the acquisition and introduce yourself. Outline your plans and any upcoming changes.

   • Brand Alignment: Ensure the acquired newsletter aligns with your brand’s voice and values.
     

2. Optimize Content and Strategy:

   • Content Audit: Review past content and identify what resonated most with the audience. Use this insight to guide your content strategy.

   • Engagement Tactics: Implement strategies to boost engagement, such as interactive content, surveys, and personalized emails.
     

3. Monetize:

   • Memberships and Sponsorships: Introduce or grow revenue streams through paid memberships and sponsorship deals.

   • Product Integration: If you have existing products or services, find ways to integrate them into your newsletter content.

By following this framework, founders can effectively grow their newsletters and personal brands without starting from scratch.

Codie Sanchez's success proves that with strategic thinking and execution, anyone can achieve remarkable personal brand growth.

So there we have it.

A complete breakdown of Codie Sanchez’s personal brand strategy.

I firmly believe that reverse engineering the top leaders of the industry can create magic for your personal branding journey.

And that’s what I promise to bring to your life. Magic.

So, subscribe to this newsletter if you want this type of post straight to your inbox.

Also, send it over to your friends too. Thanks :)

Let’s meet next Thursday.

Your Big Brand Theory, Professor Josh!