True story:
Earlier this week, an agency reached out to my client. My client responded, forwarded me the exchange, and asked for my opinion.
There was something about their offer that seemed so, well, familiar.
And so, when I replied back to set up a meeting, I asked if they knew Troy Ericson.
Their response?
“Never heard of him”
Hmmmm, now that’s peculiar, I thought to myself.
Because their offer was almost an exact carbon copy of one of Troy’s offers. If you’re unfamiliar with Troy, he’s in the same space, and I’ve been following him for a while, reading a daily email here and there.
Anyway, since Troy’s offer always intrigued me, I decided to take the call with said agency.
We had a demo call a few days ago. The longer the call went on, the more it seemed like the agency was straight up stealing Troy’s offer.
So, I had to investigate…
I replied to one of Troy’s emails and let him know about the pirates swiping his business mode.
Troy’s response?
This agency saw the ads Troy ran in 2020/2021 and decided to steal his entire business model.
Not only did they charge a higher premium than Troy and his team, but according to Troy, they also skimp out on some of the compliance things that could get you in trouble with ESPs.
While we passed on both offers, when we entertain this offer again, we’re giving our business to Troy. Not the impression artists.
Anyway, moral of the story?
Years ago, I heard the great and powerful Ben Settle tell a similar story:
When you start sending daily emails that people look forward to opening and reading, an unintended benefit is having a better relationship with your list. Ben told that story because he was in a similar position: Instead of swiping his offers, people would swipe Ben’s email ideas, subject lines, stories, yada yada yada. And whenever a lazy marketer did this, it would make its way back to Ben because his “tentacles” reach far and wide.
And you know what?
I found myself in the exact situation as Ben’s Gestapo who reported the swipers and stealers to Ben. That’s why I replied to Troy immediately after our demo call with the agency ended. And why we’re only going to entertain Troy’s offer if we decide to move forward with it.
Best part?
I don’t even read most of Troy’s emails tbh. But just seeing him show up in my inbox, day after day, has built enough of a relationship to turn me into an unpaid Gestapo intern.
Such is the dastardly and diabolical power of email.
Especially when you treat your list like a long-term relationship instead of a one-night stand.
Need help doing this?
While I can’t promise you your very own Gestapo force, I can promise that your email revenue will shoot up and your business will be less diseased as a result.
Wanna see how it works?
Hit reply and let’s chat.
John
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