How Michael Went From Making $2,200/m to $15,500 in 3 Months

What's going on, guys? Welcome back to another Student Spotlight interview. Andre Hagel Jr. Here from client Ascension, here with another super successful student in the program, my man Michael. What's going on, brother?

How you doing, man?

Good, dude. I mean, we've been trying to do this for a while now. I think we had technical difficulties a week or so ago, so I think this one's going to work out. And whether it's this one or another one, whichever one it is, it's going to be super powerful, super impactful. And so before we dive in, like, the way I like to do these quote unquote case study interviews is with a heavy emphasis and focus on the audience getting value. Because I hate going through listening to case studies, just hearing all about someone else's success and results and how great this program is because it doesn't really benefit the other person. And so we're going to dive into like things that you're actually doing and learning inside of the program and implementing that is just helping you to get the results that people are now seeing you post in the Wiz channel and also on your social media profile. So before we do that, if you could just let the audience know a little bit about who you are and what you're currently working on.

Yeah, my name is Michael. I run an email and SMS marketing agency for E Comm brands and yeah, that's really what we're focused on right now, not doing anything else other than email and SMS for ecom brands.

I love it, bro. And how did you hear about Client Ascension? I think there's been some stories and all the ones I've done so far, anywhere from like they heard about it from their college professor, which was a really interesting story or just typical. Like I've been following along on the dark corner of Twitter, not saying much until I was finally ready to make the leap. What was it like for you?

Yeah, I got into money Twitter like October of 2022 actually. Yeah, 2022. And then it's from a Mason's Cardinal. Mason's TikTok got on there and then I just saw like the amount of volume you guys put on Twitter. Just everybody posts and I was like, what is Client Ascension? Never heard of that before. And then just found you guys through Twitter organically like that and reached out to a couple people, asked about it and heard nothing but good things. So I was like, it's got to be where I land.

So that was kind of like the long term goal as soon as you became familiar with what it Was.

Yeah, yeah, actually. So my first client I ever signed was just off your guys free value on Twitter. All the sales assets and all the things you guys put out there took me from doing like 15 manual cold emails a day to automated cold emails and signing my first client through cold email. Dude.

It's funny, I feel like the most successful students or like the quickest success stories because you've not been in the program for very long. And so the fact that you're sitting here now in one of these interviews, like you've gotten results fast. And I think other people have gotten results as fast as you have. It's because they implemented some of our free stuff before. So saw that it works and then figured, hey, if I pay them, like, how much better could this get? And then it's just a continuation of like the same disciplines of like I get information and then I implement that information, which, as simple as it sounds, that's like the biggest blocker for most people getting results with stuff like this. So I guess what was your thought process? Right. Cause I love to ask this question. You knew what Client Ascension was back in, let's say late 2022, early 2023. What delayed you from actually joining as soon as you learned about it?

Yeah, you know, I know you guys had, you know, there's some qualifications to, to get in. I was really just not having any clients at all. It was like, okay, probably not the best, not the most ideal fit for you guys yet. And so because you had so much free content out there and I had taken so many courses beforehand and it was just like they weren't that good, but it was also like an action problem. So this was like the first time I ever really committed myself to taking action here. And so once, like I took action on your free content, got my first client through that, that content, and then I actually joined cold email mastery 2.0 as well. Like two weeks before I joined Client Ascension because I had got my second client the next week through an inbound Twitter lead. And it just really happened super organically. But my mindset was like, I wanted to join by end of year of 2023, and it just happened a lot faster than I expected with taking action on your guys's content. And so I ended up joining in like mid July.

Love it, bro. And so before Client Ascension you were, you're always working on this email marketing.

Agency I had started. So I actually decided I was going to learn copywriting and try to do that in October of 2022 and then really Picked up your guys stuff and did cold email outreach in March. But between October and March I just realized it was a lot harder to sell like Google Doc copy to an E comm brand who doesn't have a designer or someone who managed or Klaviyo. So I just switched like full service. And then that's when I found Daniel's videos, formulated an offer. And it was so bad. Looking back now, like it was really bad. But just getting that started with some cold emails is really where it happened. So I really only started working on this, taking it seriously for like done for you service. I'd say like right before March of last year.

Yeah. And that's the great thing about being in this space is you could continually evolve and serve the clients for what they actually need rather than what you want to offer. Which is, I think a problem a lot of business owners find themselves in is they're offering something that people don't actually want that is just something that they want to offer, which is irrelevant. So you, you realize that very quickly, I guess was the biggest reason why you joined Client Ascension because you're getting value from the free content or was there something more?

Yeah, so I knew that if I could get a client and like my second client as well through your free content of on cold email and just like how Daniel talks about existing so hard on the Internet, I was like, I've spent a lot of money on coaching before and mentorships, but I was like, man, like I've never actually gotten great results from someone's free content, let alone their paid content. So I really just knew that's really where I wanted to be. But then I also, I reached out to someone in CA and was able to hop on a call with a student and just like the value they gave me just from like their learnings of ca, I knew it was like, okay, this person's where I want to be in like the matter of six months and they're in ca. So if I just join ca, I'll just get there so much quicker. And so I just was like, as soon as I can even get on the call, because I could, like when I got on the call, I knew I could pay for it. I just wasn't qualified. So I was just like, I don't care. I just want to join in and then make it happen. So I just try to get there as fast as possible.

Yeah. And dude, to be honest, I think there's a huge misconception with people around who's qualified to join client Ascension. Because I don't know if it's something we've said in the past or just something going around that tells people like they need the first hit 10k and then join Client Ascension. My whole thing is like, join Client Ascension so you can hit 10k. But that's not all we're gonna get you to. Right. Like we have guys in Client Ascension doing seven figures a year. Right. We just had Eamon post in the WINS channel yesterday talking about how he just had his first eight, 83, 333, like yeah, special, that special number month. And he's only been in the program for just over a year starting from completely zero. And so we help people no matter where you're at. And that's why I always find it interesting is like why people delay joining until they get to a certain point. It's unlikely you're ever going to hit that point without the proper guidance and without the proper support from a community like Client Ascension. So you might as well get in there, get to that goal and then continue to move the goalpost. So again, maybe it's something we used to say in our marketing, but what makes someone qualified for Client Ascension? I guess we can change the entire sentiment now here on this call is someone that put in the work with our free stuff. That's always a great sign. It just tells you that you're willing to put in the work and actually implement the information you're learning. And then two, you will actually go out and execute on what you're learning in the program. So it's one and two are the same. It's really one thing. You just take action on the information you learn. If you're one of those people and you have a skill set like with you, you're good at copywriting, you're good at e commerce, email marketing, you can turn that into a really successful business if you're willing to listen to advice from all the different coaches and all the different trainings in the program. And that's exactly what it sounds like you did.

Yeah, I think a lot of people as well, they're scared to make that jump because they aren't like they don't trust themselves to take that action yet. And that's why it's like with the free content that you guys put out there, as soon as you take action on that, it's gonna work. It's just like a matter of time kind of thing. And so like, as long as you're the person who's taking that action, then Client Ascension's like the action plan for that action.

Yeah, exactly, dude, exactly. When you joined Client Ascension, I guess what, in your mind, what was the biggest thing that was preventing you from growing the agency at the time and how'd you go about solving it?

I was definitely just client acquisition is what I thought. And that's like always, you know, the pendulum of swings is acquisition and operations. Exactly. So. But what I found out there was like 99 other things that I was doing not sufficient enough. And so it helped bring all those to light that I probably would have thought like sales. I probably would've said I was really good at sales or like decent enough. And I just realized like, oh, my sales process actually doesn't even exist or there's no follow up game or there's no this or that. So it really put a spotlight on all the things I just didn't know because you don't know what you don't know. And just getting on a call and someone asks you like, what's your process here? And you're like, oh, I've never thought of it that way. And so it really helped in all aspects of the business just because. Just stuff I couldn't see.

Yeah, exactly. And I think that's the community aspect of Client Ascension is you're not just learning from one coach but from. I think at this point we have 20 people that are actually actively coaching in there. And I say people, but they're really experts, like expert coaches that have experience, especially for you. I know you work a lot with Connor, who's one of our coaches and the reason being is he has one of the most successful email marketing agencies, e commerce email marketing agencies in our space. And so he's going to be able to give you like advice and coaching and direction on your specific situation better than really anyone else. And so access to just a variety of coaches I think is what kind of opens your eyes to like all the other areas of the business that you should be thinking of or focusing on or that can drive growth. Right, right. Like the different levers you can pull.

Yeah, I think as well the big thing I noticed is in a lot of the coaching programs I've been in in the past, it was very much so like advice on, hey, here's what I would do if I were you. But all the coaches advice from Client Ascension is here's what I've done, this is my experience, take that, do what you will with that information. And then it was almost more so like, okay, which one of these coaches like aligns with where I want to go with my agency. And then you kind of like find that that call that you go on every week because you know this person, like, super aligned with, like, where you want to go. And then every week it compounds because they know more and more about your business, more and more about you. And so your questions just are like that much more relevant. And that's why I found, like, Connor's calls to be like, the most valuable. Like, that one call alone is like, worth my admission into client ascension just because of how relevant it is and just how, like, it stacks on top of each other each and every week.

Yeah, dude, it's so key. Connor's awesome, bro. He's just crushed it in the email marketing space for a while now. He was actually the first coach, first team member, first anyone outside of the core founders to join the client attention team way back almost three years ago. So he's an actual og and it's cool to see that he's still on the team and serving students at a super high level like yourself. But man, yeah, it's just cool to hear, like, how you've entered into the program and just found the coaches that you really vibe with. And like, you're saying, it's not like, here's what I would do if I were in your situation. It's, here's what I literally did in my own business this week, right? Like, that's how I treat my operations calls, dude. It's, here's what I did this week, running an assass, a coaching program and an agency all at the same time managing over 40 people. So, like, when I give hiring advice, it's not like, hey, try this, it might work. It's, dude, like, I just hired three people doing exactly this and one thing to look out for is this massive mistake that I made each of the three times. And here's how to fix it, right? So, like, I'm giving you advice based on, like, things I'm actually implementing. And that was always the premise of client ascension is like, we are only going to teach you on things that we're actively doing ourselves because we don't have the right to teach on anything else. And that's why it works and why we're so confident in it and can, you know, offer guarantee and all these other things. But other question is like, since joining the program, what are some wins or milestones you've achieved? I'm sure, like, when you join whoever your students, I think Jawed is your student success coach. He probably took you through setting Like a wig or a wildly important goal and some other metrics and milestones as well. What does that look like in the couple of months you've been in the program for?

Yeah, so when I joined the program, I had just signed my second client and I was doing like, it's a rev share deal, so it's kind of moving around a bit. But I was doing like 2,200amonth and that carried on for a little while. And I was actually like doing 2200amonth in October at the event. And then after the holiday sprint and all that stuff, I just went from two clients to seven clients. And just this month, last month In January, it's February 1st now. Cash collected 15 and a half thousand just from that push of November, December. And all those things we did in the holiday sprint there, I think our big goal, I don't know if it was 10k or 21k, but it was more so like the number of clients and like the metrics there on the cold emails and whatnot. But that was the big goal. And it came so much faster. It was like it came in spurts too. Like Daniel's quote for like, nothing happens for so long and everything happens all at once. That like, sums up my whole client ascension journey there. It was just like, nothing. And then bam, eight calls in one week and then two to seven clients really fast. And luckily, you know, through the time we're like, oh, I'm not booking calls here. And there might be. Business grew in every other aspect. So when the clients came, I've had no operations problems just for the simple fact that I've seen other people sign five clients and know what they've set up. And so I was able to bring them on super easily. And it really felt like the pendulum didn't swing back and I had to work super hard on operations. It's still focused on lead gen just because everything was so set in stone there.

That's awesome, bro. And huge congrats on that growth. Like you said, nothing happens and everything happens all at once. And the crazy thing is you grew when most businesses shrink. Like December, especially in our space, is when most people are. Are decreasing in revenue. Like, I know client attention even had a slow month in December. It's just like natural in these months for businesses to just slow down. So the fact that you grew is so impressive in its own right. And you pointed out two things that are additional things that we have in the community that don't get talked about a lot. Number one being events and Number two being the holiday sprint. So starting with the event, what was your experience like attending, you know, an in person event for client ascension? That one was in Tampa back in October.

It was awesome. It was like actually game changing. Coming in like only doing. I had two clients, 2200amonth. It felt like I didn't know what to expect. I'd never been to an event like that. And when I got there I did the vip which was like so worth it. Having the extra time there and then showing up to the Grand Cathedral that Thursday night before the first day of the event, just walking in, meeting everybody, you know, being on money, Twitter and everything, it's so like different than you'd think. So like meeting all the guys. The most game changing part was just like how similar all of our stories were, but how different they were as well. And so it's really interesting to see like watching these student spotlight interviews before joining ca. It's oh like everyone's like coming from somewhat the same thing. We all had that Google search how to make money online, then you find Twitter and then you find some people who give value. And so being in person, meeting everyone and just realizing, oh like we're just all on the same path there was super cool. It really kind of solidified everything. Like you're just going the right direction and being in CA lays out that straight line of where you should go.

Yeah dude. The events are a game changer because for us, like limiting beliefs I think are like probably the number one thing that really prevent people from growing in business. And so being able to like be in the presence of other people that are going through it and being able to share stories and have conversations that are not transactional but are rooted in authenticity of like, hey, here's my journey, here's what I'm struggling with. And people being willing to share and give value, that's what makes the community so great. There is no transactional aspect to it. Within the community itself. People are just like, they genuinely like each other. Right? Because we're all so similar. We all come from such a similar background and we're all on that wave of just coming up now. That's the thing I've always loved about it is there's no better than thou figure inclined ascension where it's like everyone looks to one person as that's the guy to be like. It's like we all kind of respect and admire each other and understand that we all have things to learn from each other and that's just such a beautiful thing. And I think that's where a lot of the community engagement comes from is people are just comfortable being in a community like that and participating in it. And so yeah, it was cool to see you at the event and see you connect with other guys and dude, there's some form of like energy that you just leave an event like that with that you can just pour straight back into the business when you get back and, and see the results that you're seeing.

So that's credit a lot of that growth in November, December to like that energy from the event. It was different. It was like just going to the city for the first time. You're like, wow, these are the vibes.

Yeah, dude. It's what it's all about. That's what I always come back to this is we do, what we do is to foster those in person connections and experiences. At the end of the day, if we stop doing an events entirely, like we'll have no shortage of memories from the events we've already done and experiences we've had at the events we've already done. But the reason we work so hard in the day to day at least one of the big motivations is to continue to do events like that because we don't even make money off of those events. So we have to work really hard to make money from the business to then spend on events like that. And so to make those possible, it's like such big motivation to do what we do. And yeah, the other way that you participated in community and doubled down on that sort of stuff was through the holiday sprint. So kind of behind the scenes planning, right? The holiday season is always the slowest and my fear was, hey, like client ascension is going to take a hit. Like students, like I knew the business client ascension would take a hit because it always does. But students would take a hit. And usually when people take a hit, that's their exit. Like they don't ever come back. Some people do because they understand that things happen in phases. But it can be the end to a lot of people's time in business because they took a hit that they didn't expect. So like this year I figured this time around let's really plan for it and equip students for it. And so the holiday sprint was like, what are all the things that you could do in December that you're probably not doing because it's easier not to do? And there's excuses like I'm traveling or it's the holiday season or people are not working as much that we could force these people to do and incentivize them to do by winning a certain prize or competition or whatever. And that was a Holiday Sprint. So we implemented that in December, gave you guys an action item to work on every single day, like sending a DM or re engaging with leads in your CRM or coming up with a holiday discount or a holiday package for one of your offers. So there are so many different action items every day. And for guys like yourself and Zach and Farouk and a couple of the others that actually implemented those consistently every day, man, your guys's businesses took off. So talk a little bit about your experience of participating in the Holiday Sprint.

Yeah, shout out Zach for beating us all three by, like, one point.

That was tough.

That was tough. But, you know, that wasn't even, like, the win there. It was just, like, participating in all the value we got from it. I think at the beginning of the month, right when you posted it, you dropped a link to, like, Ed Mylett's, like, Separation Season. I wrote that on the whiteboard, and that's what pushed me through. And you don't even think that it's going to happen. You don't think that it's going to happen to you. Like, your business is going to slow down. You're going to slow down. But thankfully, because of the Holiday Sprint, everything I was zoned in on and the community, like, going through that sprint, you just feel the whole world slow down in those months. But, like, you and the community are just not. And the guys participating in that Sprint, competing with them, that really pushed things forward and kept, like, all that outside energy from slowing down. Like, in my business, it just kept it up. And then the other thing as well is, like, what it also did was, like, kind of realign my standard in a way for so long that bars, you think you're hitting your point, like, max, like, workload and stuff like that. And then the Holiday Sprint came around. I was like, damn, okay. And it raised the bar. And so now, like, you're thinking you're, like, doing the best you can, and then you have to do a little bit more. And that just raised the standard a bit more. And that's what really fueled a lot of that growth. But, yeah, the biggest thing was, like, in going in, I didn't think it would happen to me. But, like, the first day rolls around, you're like, oh, my gosh, the world slows down during these months, like, a lot. And then just participating in the Sprint, you just don't. You don't feel that.

Yeah. Dude, I'm so happy what you said in the beginning there, which is you won regardless of who really won the competition. And that's what I said is like, hey, this is going to be a competition and whoever scores the most points based on how he did the scoring is going to win like a gift card and a merch bundle and additional months in the program. But if you participate this at a high enough level, you will win no matter what because the things that we are telling you to do are things you should be doing anyways. And if you do them, your business will grow and therefore you win because that's really all you're here for anyways.

Yeah.

And like, we saw that with your business. I know Farooq had record months. I know Zach, of course, who won the competition just by a point, as you mentioned him on one of these about a week ago. And he saw massive growth with his business as a result. So, yeah, sprints are a great reminder of like, or a way to stay accountable than just doing the things that you're supposed to be doing. Another aspect of client ascension that I think is so important and is missing in a lot of other programs is like, community and like, really being able to connect with other students because, like, the coaches are great, the student success coach is great, the content is great, but sometimes you just need accountability and that community and conversation from other guys that are in the trenches there with you. And so this is kind of a new segment I'm starting, but, like, who are maybe one or two students you'd want to shout out on this interview that you've just, you know, established a really good connection with since joining the program and just have a lot of great conversations with.

Yeah, Shout Out Max Sturvant, met him in Tampa at the event as well, does E Comm email marketing. And then we've been doing like Zach as well. We've been doing chats on Fridays just like chopping it up in the huddles. We're trying to use the new the Huddle feature there in Slack and stuff. So every Friday, a couple email marketing guys, John Prince and Mark, those guys, hop in there and we just chop it up a little bit. And yeah, that's something like I didn't expect to be so powerful when I joined is the Slack. And the coolest part about that as well is just like within minutes, you know, if you have an issue, you just throw it out there and then you have 350 opinions that could come your way and you can take like, the advice from there and then just meeting those guys are like, hey, I was there where you're at, like, two months ago and you're on the right path. Or like, this is what I did to, like, get you to that next level kind of thing. It was super, super valuable there. So a lot of the E. Comm guys that I looked up to before joining CA and then now you get up there with them, and it's just okay. We're all, like, doing the same thing, going the right direction, and it really just shortcuts it more than you'd think. Like, for all the people out there who think that you can just, like, watch YouTube and get all that information, like, in the program, in the community, we're so far ahead of a lot of those things. It just happens so fast and everything moves so quick. And to see, like, when something changes, like, literally 24 hours later, things get implemented into this, into the kajabi. Things get implemented in the community. You're just, like, so much faster when you're doing those things. So that was huge.

Yeah, dude. It's cool too, because you're saying the guys who connect with most are, in theory, your competition.

Yeah, agencies.

But that's never been the culture in client ascension. In theory, we all kind of compete in a way, but we've always kept this culture and mindset of, like, there's enough to go around for everyone and more. Right. As long as we're in the right mindset of serving people at the highest level and putting in the work, measuring your inputs, and that's just how it works every single time. And so I love that about you and the rest of the guys that are not, like, gatekeeping information because you might have the same offer or might be going after similar clients. So I think that's amazing. So again, you've been in the program for a couple of months. Everything happened all at once for you through the event, through the holiday sprint, and you're just coming off a record month. What would you say to students that are either just joining the program and kind of looking for a few keys to success, or guys that have been in there for a few months and are still not seeing the traction they want to be seeing?

I mean, it literally just comes down to that one phrase. If I could sum up everything. It's just like, nothing happens for so long and everything happens all at once. But being in the nothing happens for so long phase with a bunch of other people who are feeling the same way, and just knowing that, like, there's 50 other people that didn't quit today and that are still putting in those inputs. And then, you know the day where you're like, I don't want to do this today. And then there's 50 Slack messages. We're like, hey, should I implement this new thing? Should I do an iteration on this? Should I test this? It's like, all right, I should keep going kind of thing so you can't lose that momentum. And I think the only way you lose that momentum is if you stop participating in the slack and the coaching calls. And so it's almost like guardrails as long as you stay. Like, when I joined ca, I was like, okay, CA is like my job. Every day I wake up and it's like, what should I be doing? And, like, staying active in there really kept me focused on what I needed to do. Because even when nothing was happening for so long, I saw people come and go in a way where it was just like they were active and they weren't active because they probably felt a little discouraged. And, you know, even hopping on a couple calls where guys are like, hey, I just don't feel like, you know, shout out Ryan, he hopped on a call with him after a zoom. He's, dude, I just feel like I'm so behind. I'm like, dude, you're like, two weeks in, it's going to feel like I felt like that for three and a half months. And then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, it just happens. And so being around people who have been through that and are going through that was like, super valuable. So I feel like the only way you don't get results is if you don't participate, is if you participate. I think Daniel posted this the other day. It's like, results are like, guaranteed. Just time. Like, time isn't.

I was just going to say, like, I think the important thing to understand about everything happens, nothing happens, and then everything happens all at once is it's not really true that nothing happens. It's like no outputs occur, but inputs are happening left, right, and center right from all directions. So you're grinding during that time, but no results are really there to show for it. And that's the struggle people have is like, justifying why they should continue with the inputs when the results are just not there. So it's just always. It's a cool dynamic of like, everything happened or nothing happens and everything happens all at once. The tough part is staying in the game and continuing to stay consistent with those inputs when it's so hard to just justify not to.

Yeah. And it loops back into, like, what I said earlier, where three and a half months went by where I just didn't gain any. Like client acquisition. But everything else in the business grew, and I saw those things, but I could see how some people wouldn't.