Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alex Cattoni. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alex, appreciate you joining us today. If you’re open to it, can you talk to us about the best (or worst) investment you’ve made. What’s the backstory and the relevant context behind why you made the investment
Long before I started the Copy Posse, my best friend and I started a business.
And it was BOTH the best and the worst investment I ever made.
Here’s the back story…
Back in 2011, after I quit my job as the Creative Director at Mindvalley, my best friend and I packed up our life and moved to the Philippines, where we stayed at a 5-star Mediterranean-style resort on the beach…
For 30 days… Completely free…
We bartered our marketing and copywriting skills in exchange for a 1200-square-foot suite overlooking the ocean.
We basically created a system for “free travel” before travel influencers were even a thing.
Kinda cool, right?
It worked better than we could’ve imagined.
So, what did we do? OBVIOUSLY, we decided to create a program to teach other freelancers how to cash in their skills for free travel…
We wrote a killer sales page…
We recorded a webinar training…
We did it all.
And although we did make SOME sales…
After years of trying to get it off the ground while simultaneously running our own freelancing and consulting businesses, we made the decision to shut it down…
Despite our best efforts, it just didn’t happen.
When all was said and done, and our accountant was closing our final books, he let us know we had lost a total of $80,000 in that business.
Ouch, right?
But if I’m being totally honest with you…
Even though we took a major financial hit on that business, I’ve never really viewed it as a “failure”…
I’ve always seen it as an invaluable lesson – or a series of invaluable lessons – because that business taught me a lot…
One of the most important lessons I learned is the importance of understanding your market BEFORE going “all-in” and creating a product or service.
There’s a statistic that says 90-92% of all new businesses fail and HALF of those failures happen because there wasn’t a sufficient market need.
That’s why, when I started the Copy Posse, I was CONSTANTLY asking my audience exactly what they wanted BEFORE I created it.
About a year after starting my YouTube channel, my subscribers told me they wanted in-depth and hands-on training to help them start a freelancing business from scratch…
So I listened.
In January 2020, I created and launched my first program – The Copy Posse Launch Pad – to my small audience (I had about 2300 email subscribers at the time).
I made $84,000 from that launch – basically the exact same amount I had lost in my other business.
So while taking an $80,000 hit DEFINITELY hurt (both my ego and my pocketbook) – I wouldn’t trade it for the world because I truly don’t think I’d be here today without it.
It wasn’t an $80,000 loss. It was an $80,000 lesson. And I’ve made millions because of it.
Alex, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Alex Cattoni – I am a marketer, copywriter, and the Founder of the Copy Posse (the raddest, baddest crew of copywriters and entrepreneurs on the internet!)
After 8 years of running a freelance copywriting and marketing business – writing for and advising some of the hottest personal growth brands on the planet…
I started to notice a dangerous divide in the copywriting industry.
While there were a lot of brilliant and authentic marketers out there, many still used manipulative, hypey, and severely outdated sales tactics that she just didn’t vibe with…
And, well, I had something to say about it.
So in 2019, I stepped out from working behind-the-scenes and started my YouTube Channel…
And in 2020, I launched the Copy Posse focused on teaching entrepreneurs and copywriters how to ignite their businesses with modern copywriting and marketing…
In one year, I went from anonymous copywriter to founder of a 7-figure brand and in 2022, I was crowned Marketer of the Year by DigitalMarketer.
Today, through my various social communities, programs, and email list – the Copy Posse has helped hundreds of thousands of rad humans around the world find more freedom, have more fun, and sell more products and services… with the type of marketing that today’s businesses need and today’s audiences crave.
We believe you have the power to create the life of your dreams, build a lucrative business, AND make an impact on humanity – WITHOUT selling out your integrity.
It’s our my mission to de-douchify the Internet, redefine marketing and build an EMPATHY empire
Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?
When I created my first program and “officially” started the Copy Posse, any marketing expert would have told you that I wouldn’t have been very successful…
Many marketers and online entrepreneurs I knew urged me to optimize my funnel, do more sales calls, add more upsells, push more affiliate offers – and so on and so forth…
Or they would look at my YouTube Channel, which was growing pretty slowly compared to other big channels, and they’d tell me not to talk about something “so niche” and to expand to broader topics like social media…
So I was getting all of this unsolicited advice about all the reasons it wasn’t going to work out…
Keep in mind my following was not very big, and I only had an email list of about 2,300 subscribers… but here I was… about to launch a $2,000 offer through email marketing alone.
To say it was a “risk” or that I was incredibly nervous is an understatement. I was SO nervous.
I had spent so much time and money getting everything ready for this program. I literally hired a team to help me organize and run it smoothly, and I spent months pouring my heart and soul into the course content… And I was just so terrified that it was going to flop.
I actually remember going to bed the night before the launch thinking, “okay if 5 people join – then I’ll be happy. That’s all I need… 5.”
Well, 42 people joined that first program & I made $84,000.
And my brand has continued to grow every year.
In fact, I was able to build my brand into a multiple-7-figure business in less than 3 years WITHOUT following any of that “must do” marketing advice.
I broke all the “traditional marketing rules” but was still successful.
Because I focus, first and foremost, on building a community.
I invest TIME into building relationships with my audience and that will always be the best business model.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I published my first YouTube video on February 13, 2019.
This is when I officially started producing one original, high-quality copywriting tutorial every single week – with a grand total of 0 subscribers.
6 months later, I finally had my first 1,000 subscribers!
And honestly… that’s not super fast growth!
Especially when you’re putting in the time, money, and energy to produce high-quality videos every single week.
There are tons of channels that did it much faster than I did.
And to be honest, there were times that I wanted to give up and asked myself if it was worth it.
Sure, I would get a few likes and a few comments on my videos. But it felt like I was putting in all this work to speak to an empty room… the echo was deafening at times and I began to truly wonder if I was actually helping anyone at all.
But what kept me going was the belief in my message and mission and the innate knowledge that good things take time.
So every single week, I kept delivering value and showing up…
And what do you know — my audience continued to grow, piquing the attention of aspiring copywriters, hungry creatives, and business owners internationally.
A year after hitting 1,000 subscribers, I hit 50k subscribers! Now I have 250K.
But it was never an “explosion” of growth. It was slow and steady.
Listen – A LOT of people want to see immediate results. They want the hack, tactic, or secret that will help you succeed… but the truth is… there is no magic button. It takes time. Which is why so many people quit and fail.
But the beautiful thing is that once you put in all that time, energy, and passion…
All of a sudden, you start growing a business that you absolutely love.
And while to you, it might SEEM like other people are growing super fast (almost overnight)… that’s just because you’re looking in from the outside, and you may not realize that they’ve actually been out there hustling for YEARS when they hit that “overnight success”.
When it comes to building your dreams, you just have to keep going – even when times get tough. If there’s one big message you take from this video it’s this: never ever, ever, ever give up on something you’re passionate about.
So my advice?
SHOW UP, BE CONSISTENT, AND HAVE PATIENCE.
Remember – good things take time (and probably more time than you think!)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://copyposse.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/copyposse
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/alexcattoni
- Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/company/copyposse
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexcattoni
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AlexCattoni
- Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@copyposse
Image Credits
Jaxon Howell