What I learned about email marketing after losing $135,000 a day

6 years ago I started a company called Kickflip Inc. At the time, I was the #1 largest Facebook app developer.

Every week Facebook changed its API and we had to change our apps and games constantly. We were forced to play by their rules and they governed how we interacted with our own customers/players.

Kickflip eventually morphed into Gambit — a payments company that worked with Zynga, Tagged, Gaia Online, Disney and more.

Then one day Facebook banned us.

Sayonara Gambit

Within 24 hours, our daily revenue dropped from $150,000 to $15,000.

Imagine losing an extra $135,000 every day!

We had to play by THEIR rules. It was their home turf advantage.

This was a valuable lesson and I was determined not to repeat my mistake.

When you rely on other channels to obtain customers, you’re at the mercy of those channels:

• What if Google moves you to page 2?
• What if Facebook reduces the amount of exposure to your fans?
• What if Twitter decides to block your url? (this happened to us yesterday)
• What if Tacos were extinct? (false!)
• Etc, etc..

How can you avoid making the same mistake?

Control your own destiny for your business.

The best way to control your own destiny is to have direct communication with your customers and not depend on other platforms for your success.

For online marketing, the best way is to build and grow your own email list.

Email Marketing gives you the most effective way to talk directly to all of your customers. It’s been the #1 way AppSumo grew to a 7-figure business.

So, yesterday, I launched a free course, Email1K – 30 days to double your email list.

You’ll see the exact tactics I’ve used to grow OkDork to over 50,000+ amazing subscribers in 8 months.

The course features strategic lessons from the top email list growth experts (some you’ve seen on OkDork before) such as:

• Andrew Chen: Viral Marketing
• James Clear: Syndication Saint
• Brian Dean: Internet Professor
• Joanna Wiebe: Conversion Copywriter
• and more…

Each expert will share the strategies he or she has used to grow their own email lists and businesses.