Every week you don't send an email, someone else is talking to your database.
Your leads go cold. Your past clients forget about you. And that referral that could've been yours goes to the agent who actually stayed in front of them.
Ryan Sneddon was a mechanical engineer with 800 subscribers in 2020.
Today he has 21,000+ subscribers in a city of just 40K people, a 65% open rate, and makes over $322K a year without spending a dollar on advertising.
How? With a 3-phase playbook any agent can copy.
— Andrew
PHASE 1: The organic hustle (0 → 500 subscribers)
The mistake: Running ads before you know your content works. It's like pouring gasoline on dry firewood, nothing happens.
The rule: If you can't get your first 1,000 subscribers through personal outreach, you're not working hard enough. That's from Matt McGary, the guy who grew The Hustle to 2.5 million subscribers.
PHASE 2: Paid acquisition (500 → 5,000+ subscribers)
Once the content works, that's when you pour gasoline.
The tool: Facebook Lead Ads targeted to your city.
Ryan and Alec's numbers:
→ Target: people over 35 years old within your area.
→ Cost per subscriber: $0.10 to $1.00 if the form is filled out within Facebook, no external landing page.
→ If you send them to a landing page, it goes up to $0.30 to $3.00 per subscriber.
Ryan invested $21,000 in Facebook Ads in his first 6 months, targeting women over 40 within 10 miles.
Important: When you reach ~10% of your market, you already have a strong position. In smaller cities, the ceiling for paid ads hits around 25-50% penetration.
PHASE 3: Referrals and partnerships (5,000+)
When ads start giving diminishing returns, growth comes from partnerships.
→ Partner with local businesses to share audiences.
→ Swap subscribers or lead magnets with other creators who have lists.
→ Co-registration: someone signs up for one thing and also subscribes to your newsletter.
WHAT CONTENT DO YOU PUT IN?
Because none of this works if the email is a sales pitch.
Ryan's rules:
→ No politics.
→ Minimal crime.
→ Write at a sixth grade level, like you're texting a friend about cool stuff in town.
What drives the most engagement (in order):
Restaurant openings → most consistent engagement
Development updates → best open rates
Live music listings → most clicks and virality
Weather alerts → returning audiences
WANT THE FULL STRATEGY?
Search on How He Makes $320K/YR by Emailing People in a Small Town (Local Newsletter) YouTube or your favorite podcast app to watch the complete episode now!
Ryan Serhant turned a failed acting career into a $6.5 billion real estate empire. I went through over 70 hours of his interviews, podcasts, and talks, and read all three of his books to pull out the 46 principles that explain exactly how he did it.
In this episode:
The media-first business model he used to build his brand
Why visibility beats sales skills
How reputation is the foundation of his success
Why his only plan B is himself
The power of content to generate leads and close deals
What's inside:
The 3 mindset shifts before any system works
The 30-60-90 onboarding framework
The feedback system that stopped 375 hours/week in revisions
Push and pull metrics for real accountability
The weekly, monthly, and quarterly leadership cadence
The 70-20-10 content mix for growth
How to prevent burnout for your team and yourself
Here are 12 new ideas to inspire your next video:
2.2x - Top 7 BEST Downtowns Near {CITY/AREA}
10.1x - Why {CITY/AREA} Is the Opposite of Every Other Major U.S. City
3.6x - These {CITY/AREA} Suburbs Will BOOM in {YEAR} (Get In Early)
2x - Areas of {CITY/AREA} Everyone Is LEAVING
12.8x - {CITY/AREA} vs {CITY/AREA} | The Differences Between {AREA A} and {AREA B} | {CITY/AREA} Suburbs
3.4x - {NEIGHBORHOOD NAME} Review: {CITY/AREA}’s Secret Spot
55.7x - Every Major {CITY/AREA} Suburb Explained
3.7x - Where To Live in {CITY/AREA} for the HIGHEST ROI in {YEAR}
3.7x - {NEIGHBORHOOD A} vs {NEIGHBORHOOD B}: Which Is Better?
5x - {STATE/AREA}’s Mass Exodus — The REAL Reason People Are Leaving (And Why {AREA} Is Thriving)
2.5x - Why Living in {CITY/AREA} Suburbs Feels Just Like the City
2.5x - The Truth About {CITY/AREA} Housing — What You Need to Know Before You Move
I hope this helps inspire your next video!
Rapid Fire For Your Consumption:
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Which content did you like BEST?
I appreciate you reading,
Andrew Bayon
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