Most people think of a newsletter as just another piece of content to keep up with. Onikepo Omotade,business coach and host of the Grow with Kepo podcast thinks of hers as a product with one specific job: helping her audience turn their annual salary into their monthly salary.

That single shift in mindset changed everything. In this episode, she breaks down how she went from years of false starts with email to launching her Paid in Full newsletter in just seven days and the simple, low-effort strategy she used to start filling it with the right people.

If you have been overthinking how to start or grow your email list, this conversation will give you permission to simplify everything.

INSIDE THIS EPISODE

1. Why treating your newsletter as a product instead of "more content" changes how you write and grow it

2. The one job Onikepo gave her newsletter and why that single decision removed all the guesswork

3. How she went from idea to launch in just 7 days without overcomplicating the tech

4. Why outsourcing the setup to a VA freed her to focus on the one thing that actually mattered

5. The "your network is your net worth" strategy she used to get her first subscribers

6. The simple forward-to-a-friend tactic that quietly grows your list while you sleep

7. What she would do differently if she launched again and why patience with the timeline matters more than perfection

8. Her advice for anyone who feels like the people on their list right now are not their "real" audience yet

9. Why clarity comes from execution, not from overthinking your strategy

10. What she would change if she had to launch her newsletter all over again

GUEST RESOURCES

Guest: Onikepo Omotade

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/growwithkepo/

Newsletter: Paid in Full- https://onikepo.com/paid-in-full-opt-in

You're sitting on Gold Live Webinar: https://link.vyveplus.ai/widget/form/yIwamSQK3LPjcGUhaL4U

EPISODE TIMELINE ⏱️

[01:33] – Onikepo's background: strategy consulting, tech, coaching, and a few unexpected detours

[04:59] – Introducing the Paid in Full newsletter and what makes it different

[07:36] – Why Onikepo decided to take the leap now after years of false starts

[08:12] – Treating your newsletter as a product with one specific job

[11:26] – Her actual process: from idea to launch in 7 days

[15:39] – Keeping the tech simple and outsourcing the setup to a VA

[20:56] – Why she stopped stressing about open rates and engagement

[22:33] – The "your network is your net worth" strategy for first subscribers

[26:29] – What to do if the people on your list are not your real target audience yet

[27:05] – The forward-to-a-friend strategy that grows your list passively

[30:36] – What she would do differently if she launched again

[31:44] – Her plans for adding a community element to the newsletter

[34:07] – Her advice for anyone hesitant to start: what's the cost of waiting?

[35:19] – About the You're Sitting on Gold workshop and what it covers

Connect with Us

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.sapphire_/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayebanoabenwari/

Threads: https://www.threads.com/@dr.sapphire_

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/school/sapphirelearninghub/

Website: https://sapphirelearninghub.com/

In 2025, Adam Schaeuble did something most email marketers would never dare to do. He deleted every funnel and lead magnet he had ever built and started promoting his weekly newsletter as the only opt-in.

The result? Over 2,000 new subscribers, a 70% open rate, and a list full of people who actually want his emails.

In this episode, the podcasting business coach and host of Podcasting Business School shares the full story, including the content flywheel that powers his podcast, newsletter, and social media without burning out, and the welcome email strategy that gets replies every single time.

INSIDE THIS EPISODE

1. Why Adam deleted every lead magnet and funnel he had and what happened next

2. The big difference between people who want your freebie and people who actually want your emails

3. How he maintains a 70% open rate with a 4,000+ person list without clever subject line

4. The content flywheel that powers his podcast, newsletter, and social media without starting from scratch every week

5. The welcome email strategy designed to get replies and clicks and why he only sends one

6. How to sell through email without sending more emails during a launch

7. Why promoting your newsletter every week is not being salesy and how to do it well

8. What his exact Thursday newsletter format looks like from the warm open to the PS

9. How he decides who gets the bonus Monday email and why it works

10. Why podcasters who want to grow their email list need to hear this episode

GUEST RESOURCES

Guest: Adam Schaeuble

Website: https://www.podcastingbusiness.school/

Threads: https://www.threads.com/@podcastingbusinessschool

Recommended Episode: Episode 608 -The SEO strategy that helped Adam reach 1 million downloads - https://open.spotify.com/episode/5bC46ZOU0xBZlzLyqQ4AcN?si=On72q7RCS22KD047og-7Yw

EPISODE TIMELINE ⏱️

[03:07] – Adam's background: from fitness entrepreneur to full-time podcasting business coach

[04:16] – If email had a job description in Adam's business, it would be this

[05:29] – Open Rates Confession: the tagging mistake that left an entire list without emails

[08:58] – The big pivot: deleting all lead magnets and funnels in 2025

[10:25] – Why your lead magnet attracts people who want the freebie, not your emails

[13:03] – How his podcast and newsletter work together without repeating the same content

[16:29] – Why people now open his emails based on who it is from, not the subject line

[17:45] – The content flywheel: how one piece of content powers weeks of content

[22:11] – The bonus Monday email and how he decides who gets it

[26:29] – His exact Thursday newsletter format from warm open to PS

[31:54] – The welcome email strategy that gets replies and keeps him out of spam

[35:28] – What changes and what does not during a launch

[38:29] – Why one clear newsletter opt-in beats five lead magnets every time

[43:25] – Email marketing myth: do we really need funnels?

[47:18] – Advice for podcasters who want to bring email into their content strategy

Connect with Us

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.sapphire_/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayebanoabenwari/

Threads: https://www.threads.com/@dr.sapphire_

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/school/sapphirelearninghub/

Website: https://sapphirelearninghub.com/

What happens when you do everything right, the segmentation, the re-engagement, the strategy and the results still don't follow?

In this episode, Monica Badiu, a conversion strategist, sales copywriter, and email marketing specialist for course creators pulls back the curtain on two of the most revealing email experiments of her career. One Black Friday campaign that came within $5,000 of six figures. And a 1 million-person email list that broke her heart.

If you have ever wondered whether segmentation is actually worth the effort, or what to do when a big list produces small results this episode will change how you think about email marketing strategy.

INSIDE THIS EPISODE

1. Why sending the same Black Friday offer to everyone was quietly killing this creator's revenue, and what changed when they segmented

2. Why Your Black Friday Campaign Flopped (and How to Fix It with Segmentation)

3. The 3-Layer Customer Research Framework for Highly Profitable Email Launches

4. What a 1 million-person email list with low engagement actually looks like behind the scenes

5. How a re-engagement campaign brought 200,000 inactive subscribers back from the dead

6. Why deliverability alone is not the real problem and what the data actually revealed

7. How to do customer research that gives you real segmentation ideas, not just guesses

8. The email revenue self-assessment tool that tells you exactly where you are leaking money

9. How to Turn Your Email List into a Sales Engine

GUEST RESOURCES

Guest: Monica Badiu

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monicabadiu/

Website: www.monicabadiu.com

Free Resource: https://www.monicabadiu.com/email-revenue-self-assessment/ - this is a self-assessment that identifies the bottlenecks that are impacting email marketing performance. It's based on her experience working with course creators for 6 years.

EPISODE TIMELINE ⏱️

[01:13] – Introduction: who Monica is and what she does

[2:52] – Monica's background: from SEO and PR to falling in love with email marketing

[13:58] – The Black Friday campaign experiment: two years of declining results and what changed

[15:04] – How segmentation turned a struggling campaign into 50% more revenue

[20:07] – Why there is no secret recipe and how customer research changes everything

[23:22] – The three-layer customer research framework: survey, validate, waitlist

[26:50] – How to write survey questions that actually give you useful answers

[33:59] – What she would do differently looking back

[36:41] – How to manage multiple segments without burning out

[42:16] – The email revenue self-assessment explained

[46:19] – The 1 million-person email list: re-engaging 200,000 inactive subscribers

[48:11] – Why the promotion still failed and what the data revealed

[50:03] – Email marketing myths Monica wants to bust

[52:32] – Rapid fire questions: paid vs free wait-list, building email list organically vs through collaboration, interactive vs community based lead magnets

[56:42] – Best email marketing advice for someone just starting out

Connect with Us

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.sapphire_/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayebanoabenwari/

Threads: https://www.threads.com/@dr.sapphire_

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/school/sapphirelearninghub/

Website: https://sapphirelearninghub.com/