This Simple Marketing Mistake Cost Me $100K in Sales

The Lightbulb Moment

In 2023, I decided to take an email marketing course. (Yes — even after years of doing this, I still take courses. We’re all always learning, right?)

That’s when I learned about the difference between active, passive, and inactive subscribers.

Here’s the short version:

• Active subscribers (0–90 days): They’ve just joined your list or recently interacted with your emails. They’re paying attention.

• Passive subscribers (90+ days): They’re starting to lose interest.

• Inactive subscribers: They’ve pretty much forgotten who you are.

Once someone passes that 90-day mark, they’re way less likely to buy — and much harder to re-engage.

That blew my mind.

A Simple Test That Proved Everything

So, during my next Black Friday promotion, I decided to test it.

I ran two separate email campaigns — one to my active list, and one to my passive list.

The results?

• Active list: Over 200 course sales.

• Passive list: Only 2 or 3 sales.

That’s when I realized my “once-a-year” strategy was a huge mistake. By waiting until November, I was trying to sell to people who had already gone cold.

No wonder I was leaving money on the table.

The $100,000 Fix

In 2024, I made one simple change — and it completely transformed my business.

Instead of promoting my course once a year, I started running a quarterly promotion — every 90 days.

Each quarter, I’d send a special offer to my new subscribers — people who had joined my email list in the past few months. I didn’t discount the course (I actually never discount). Instead, I added bonuses that made the offer too good to ignore.

And guess what?
It worked.

That one small tweak generated an extra $100,000 in sales — without creating new content, new products, or spending more on ads.

The first two promotions alone brought in over $63,000 — just from a few emails.

Crazy, right?

The Lesson You Can Steal From My Mistake

Here’s what I want you to take away from this:

Visibility doesn’t equal awareness.

Just because people know who you are doesn’t mean they know what you offer — or how you can help them.

If you have an audience, big or small, you need to keep reminding them what you do and how they can work with you. Because every week that goes by, new people are discovering you — and they don’t have a clue what you sell unless you tell them.

So here’s what you can do right now:

1. Segment your email list. Know who’s new, who’s engaged, and who’s gone quiet.

2. Run regular promotions. Every 90 days, give new subscribers a reason to buy now.

3. Add bonuses, not discounts. Make your offers more valuable, not cheaper.

4. Automate it. Set up an email sequence so it runs on autopilot.

That’s exactly what I teach inside my mentorship program — because once you understand this process, it changes everything.