Marketing Examined

How Alex Grew a Newsletter Business to $1 Million ARR in Months

December 28th, 2024

Founded By

Alex Garcia

Monthly Revenue

$70.5K

Founders

Employees

10 (est.)

Profitable

Yes

Year Started

2023

Customer

B2B

Founded By
Alex Garcia: Monthly Revenue
$70.5K: Founders
1

Employees
10 (est.): Profitable
Yes: Year Started
2023

Customer
B2B

Who is Alex Garcia?

Alex Garcia, the founder of Marketing Examined, is from Austin, Texas, and has a diverse background in marketing and content creation. He previously held roles like CMO of a top gym in America and has experience in launching his own social media agency, contributing to The Hustle, and growing his personal brand via Twitter. Alex's entrepreneurial journey emphasizes his passion for media and strategic growth.

What problem does Marketing Examined solve?

Marketing Examined solves the problem of confusing and overwhelming marketing strategies by providing clear, actionable insights that save businesses time and enhance their marketing efforts, making it indispensable for marketers looking to improve their skills and grow their brands.

Marketing Examined Homepage

Founder-Market Fit

Skills

What skills did Alex Garcia have that led to their success?

No Code

How did Alex come up with the idea for Marketing Examined?

Alex Garcia's journey to founding Marketing Examined began with an early passion for marketing, particularly fueled by his work experiences and the gap he noticed in B2B marketing content. After a stint at The Hustle, where he learned the intricacies of newsletter growth and media scale, Alex set out to create a space that combined his appreciation for practical marketing insights with a focus on B2B needs. This inspiration came from a desire to build something that was both impactful and reflective of his interests.

He validated his idea by leveraging Twitter, which he saw as a platform where many had successfully built newsletters. Through an intensive period of creating threads—with a personal challenge of writing 50 marketing threads in 50 days—he not only built a substantial following but also tested content that resonated with his audience. This hands-on research and iterative approach allowed him to refine his newsletter's content and growth strategies effectively.

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Throughout the ideation phase, Alex continually iterated on his content strategy by identifying what worked best for his audience. His key lesson was the importance of consistent experimentation and being flexible enough to pivot when necessary. Moreover, he realized that starting with a niche audience allowed him to cultivate a dedicated readership that fueled broader growth and opened doors for deeper engagement and monetization opportunities.

How did Alex Garcia build the initial version of Marketing Examined?

Marketing Examined was built through a structured and strategic approach. The initial prototype was a simple newsletter, leveraging Alex Garcia's expertise from his experience with The Hustle and his growth on social media platforms like Twitter. Utilizing tools like Zapier, Notion, Slack, and email service providers, Alex's initial focus was content-driven with a tech stack that allowed seamless management and distribution. The development phase involved extensive use of Twitter for traction, posting 50 marketing threads over 50 days to rapidly grow the audience from 2,000 to nearly 9,000 subscribers. Building the first version of the newsletter took meticulous planning and adaptation; it wasn't just about releasing content but ensuring the content resonated with and expanded its niche audience. Challenges arose in finding sustainable growth strategies beyond mere posting, but this was overcome by implementing the '3Ps framework'—analyzing the potential platforms, leveraging strengths, and establishing content pillars.

What were the initial startup costs for Marketing Examined?

Team Expansion: Since going full-time, grew from two people to five full-time employees and five contractors.
Office Space: Acquired an office in Austin, which significantly improved productivity and execution speed.
Funding or Revenue Growth: The company has achieved a seven-figure run rate by quadrupling revenue in that period.

What was the growth strategy for Marketing Examined and how did they scale?

Twitter

Marketing Examined, under Alex Garcia's leadership, used Twitter as a primary growth driver for their media business. They began by leveraging Twitter threads to share insights and marketing strategies. Notably, they executed a strategy involving 50 marketing threads over 50 days, which was a significant growth lever, increasing their follower count from 500 to over 40,000. These threads provided value-packed insights in a concise format that attracted marketing professionals and other founders, ultimately directing them to subscribe to their newsletters.

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Why it worked: Twitter served as a natural platform for reaching a target audience of marketers and business founders. The strategy of delivering high-value content in digestible threads helped build a strong follower base and prompted actions such as newsletter subscriptions. Furthermore, Twitter's algorithm favored thread content, enhancing reach and engagement during that period.

Content Strategy and SEO

Marketing Examined built a robust content strategy focusing on SEO to sustainably grow their subscriber base. They employed a structured approach using their 3Ps framework: Potential, Platforms, Pillars. They identified platforms where they had the potential to grow their brand and shared content that aligned with their strengths, primarily focusing on detailed marketing case studies. This strategy led to significant organic growth, highlighting the power of SEO in driving lasting inbound traffic.

Why it worked: This strategy capitalized on existing demand for high-quality, actionable marketing content. By optimizing their content for search engines and focusing on platforms where their audience spends time, Marketing Examined efficiently attracted and engaged their target audience. The structured, value-focused content approach ensured sustained growth and subscriber retention.

Sponsorships and Partnerships

Sponsorships played a crucial role in the revenue strategy for Marketing Examined. They effectively monetized their newsletter by securing sponsors who were keen to reach a highly engaged audience of marketers and business professionals. To enhance inbound sponsorships, they focused on building relationships with current newsletter readers, offering accessible paths for interested parties to sponsor content. They also employed an outbound strategy by identifying potential sponsors already active in similar niches.

Why it worked: Sponsors were attracted to the high level of engagement and trust within Marketing Examined’s audience. The newsletters provided targeted reach akin to platforms like Instagram or Facebook but with the added credibility of being curated by a trusted media entity. This combination of inbound and outbound sponsorship approaches ensured a steady stream of revenue.

Paid Acquisition

Another significant growth channel was paid advertising across platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Marketing Examined invested in ads to grow its newsletter subscribers by targeting specific demographics and interest-based groups aligned with their content. This strategy complemented organic methods and was crucial during periods where organic growth was limited.

Why it worked: Paid advertising allowed for precise targeting, ensuring that high-intent users who were likely to engage with marketing content were introduced to Marketing Examined. Coupled with an established content foundation, these users were likely to convert into paid subscribers, thus providing a quick return on ad spend. This approach helped to accelerate growth parallel to the organic traction being gained through other channels.

What's the pricing strategy for Marketing Examined?

Marketing Examined prices its offerings primarily through ad sponsorships, generating $65-70K monthly, with plans for a subscription-based product bringing in an additional $15-20K monthly.

What were the biggest lessons learned from building Marketing Examined?

Start Small and Iterate: Marketing Examined began with persistent efforts like posting consistently to gain traction. Initial strategies focused on action, but sustainable growth came from refining these steps over time.
Build a Strong Team Culture: By transitioning from a remote setup to acquiring an office, the team could work side by side, boosting execution speed and fostering a richer team culture, proving the value of in-person collaboration.
Focus on Core Tools and Strategies: The company's success is partly due to leveraging essential tools like Notion and Zapier, alongside a clear content strategy structured around Potential, Platforms, and Pillars, ensuring consistent and focused growth.
Engage in Hands-On Marketing: Initial subscriber growth benefited from "hand-to-hand combat," involving direct, personal engagement strategies such as reaching out on social media and leveraging connections, before scaling digitally.
Evolve Based on Feedback and Opportunities: The team's ability to adapt by resigning from secure roles to focus on Marketing Examined full-time showcases a readiness to pivot and capitalize on growth opportunities, leading to significant business scaling.

What platform/tools does Marketing Examined use?

Zapier
Other

307 using

All right, so there's four primary tools that I use and like, this is the core of the, of the company. It's Zapier. It is Notion. It is Slack and is an ESP. If you have those four things, you have just about everything you need to run a successful newsletter.

Alex Garcia
Beehive

2 using

A lot of platforms like Beehive are now in ConvertKit. They gave you a scalable way of having cross promotions.

Alex Garcia
Asana
Productivity

254 using

It is Notion. It is Slack and is an ESP. If you have those four things, you have just about everything you need to run a successful newsletter.

Alex Garcia
Slack
Productivity

773 using

It is Slack and is an ESP. If you have those four things, you have just about everything you need to run a successful newsletter. You have Zapier, which connects everything. You have Notion which controls everything. You have Slack to communicate with everyone.

Alex Garcia
Sparkloop

2 using

So that's running Facebook ads, Instagram ads, TikTok ads, Reddit, like all, you know, testing all the different acquisition channels. I'll try all sorts of different CTAs on my Twitter threads. Whatever works there is then the basis for a lot of things I'll do on page. And then the third is this is new where it's a lot of platforms like Sparkloop.

Alex Garcia

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