And turned over 50% of people into buyers.
Welcome to Day 15 of the 30 Days of Growth.
This is a pop-up newsletter put together by the team at Growth In Reverse. We’ve pulled 30 creators together to help give one short, actionable way you can either grow or improve your email list.
You can view past issues here.
When a subscriber feels like they actually know you, they open every email, show up for every launch, and tell their friends.
In a perfect world, you can introduce yourself, virtually shake hands, and thank your new subscriber, by name, for signing up.
That sounds awesome in theory. But how can you build that kind of connection at scale without burning out?
Sam Vander Wielen found a way, and the numbers she shared are kind of wild.
Nearly 100% of the people she sent a video back to showed up live to her webinar – and over 50% of them bought her product.
But you don’t need a webinar for this. Let’s dig in.
How Sam Did It
1. She invites every new signup to ask her one thing. The welcome email has a casual GIF of her holding her phone and a link so the subscriber can reply with a quick video or text. She uses a tool called VideoAsk to streamline this process.
2. She keeps the question simple. For her newsletter it’s “What’s one thing you want me to talk about on Sam’s Sidebar?” That gives her voice-of-customer research in the subscriber’s exact words and turns a passive opt-in into a real conversation.
3. She replies personally, by name, with video. For her last live workshop she sent over 250+ individual video replies. She greets the person, restates their question, gives the one-line reason it matters, then tells them where she’ll cover that topic.
4. She asks for a small commitment at the end. “Have you added this to your calendar? Let me know if I’ll see you live or if you’ll watch the replay.” That locks them in and gives Sam a quick read on intent. This is specifically for the webinar, but you can tailor this to the situation.
5. She looks through the responses for newsletter content. Every question is voice-of-customer data handed to her for free, so themes from the inbox become the next few newsletter issues in her readers’ exact words.
Sounds a little like Justin Welsh’s strategy from yesterday, doesn’t it?
Why It Works
Relationships build trust. Once a subscriber has had a real exchange with you, the dynamic flips and they stop being a random person on a list.
People who got a personal video showed up to her webinar at near 100% and bought at over 50%. The relationship she built in that one exchange is what closes the sale.
The long-term play matters too. The people who don’t buy this round might read the newsletter, listen to the podcast, and stick around for the next launch. Sam treats every reply as an investment in a relationship that will pay back over years.
Results
- 11,000+ signups for her last live workshop
- 250+ personal video replies sent in a single workshop window
- Nearly 100% of that group showed up live
- Over 50% of that group purchased, which means 130+ buyers from those 250+ personal replies
- The same flow now runs on her newsletter opt-ins, building a list of people who feel personally connected before Sam has sent her first issue
How You Can Implement It
Step 1: Pick one open-ended question to ask every new subscriber. “What’s one thing you want me to cover?” works for almost any creator.
Step 2: Set up VideoAsk so subscribers can reply with a quick video or text. A casual GIF of you waving beats anything polished.
Step 3: Put the link in your welcome email.
Step 4: Reply personally to every question you can. Use their name, restate what they asked, and give the one-line reason it matters. Video first, text if you’re short on time.
Step 5: Point them to where you cover the topic in full and ask for a small commitment, like adding the workshop, webinar, event, to their calendar.
Step 6: Pull themes from the responses each week and use them to plan your next few newsletter issues in your reader’s exact words.
Tools
- VideoAsk for the async video and text replies
- A simple
Notion page or doc to log themes from responses
Sam turned her first impressions into a real conversation, and the people on the other end open every email, trust her recommendations, and become buyers when the time is right.
The best part is this works at almost any list size.
See you tomorrow,
Chenell
P.S. You can follow Sam on Instagram or subscribe to Sam’s Sidebar.
