How Luca Scaled His Klaviyo Email Marketing Agency in 3 Months

What's up guys? Andre Hagel Jr. Here from client Ascension, back with another student spotlight interview here with the man Luca. What's up brother?

Not much, man. How are you?

I'm doing pretty good, bro. We're just getting into like you were saying, off the call, summertime. And so this is kind of the time of year where businesses might slow down or start to go out of office a lot more than usual. But this is a time where we lock in and we speed things up and we really start to flow force the issue. So I'm excited to be here with you here today and just to talk more about your journey through a client ascension for sure.

Awesome.

And so one thing we were talking about off camera as well is like you've been in the program for almost a year now, right? And, and people know Client Ascension is like a six month program and we've had a lot of people that will join for six months. They'll hit their goal, or as we call it, incline ascension, they're wildly important goal or their wig, and then they'll leave the program after six months as if they have, you know, no other problems or questions or issues they'll face in the business. And usually those students, we could kind of do like the opposite of a case study. And with a lot of them, unfortunately, we could go to them later on and talk about how like their businesses started to go downhill after the fact. And so talk about like, why have you stayed in the program for as long as you have, even though it's just a six month program?

Yeah, for sure. So first of all, those first six months when I started the program versus when those six months were up, just everything had drastically changed. Yes, I was putting more time into what I was doing, which is klaviyo email marketing, but just I had so much more direction this time around, which really helped. And the client acquisition was so much better. Client results were better. So no real complaints about that. The reason why I stayed, which is like, I think it's like 12 months now I've been in the program pretty much. I see it almost as an insurance policy in some way because you know, things always change, whether it's about like client acquisition, if you know, with cold email, Google and Outlook get more serious about their sending requirements. Who are you going to ask if your cold email campaign goes terrible in about three days? Right. If I didn't have a bunch of people like in the Client Ascension group where I can just quickly send a message to who are all experts in that sort of field, it would be much more difficult and I don't know where I would kind of be if I didn't have that assistance because, yeah, once again, if you have a question like it's not unrealistic, within an hour you have three people, four people you can always get a hold of who are very good in their field, whether it be Lead gen, the service that you're selling already, which for me is Klaviyo email marketing, which I can connect with a bunch of other people who do the same thing as me. It's very easy to just get access and answers to those questions, which, you know, it may not seem like a lot sometimes, but they do come up and it's a lot better when you can move faster. So it's been, that's been one of the most valuable things for me in like the past year with Climate Ascension. I'd say.

I love it, bro. Yeah. And that's like the definition of a mastermind, right? It's like what a coaching program is really meant for a peer group of other people that are on the same or similar journey as you, surrounded by experts that have either got to the goalposts or even further than that to help you and guide you along the journey you're currently on. And like, I do the same thing, bro. Like I joined Taylor Welch's Mastermind and we're scaling our program and we're trying to figure out how to get more leads into Client Ascension. And the model that Taylor teaches is you need to send people into lower ticket products at first and then have a conversion mechanism after they buy a low ticket product to get them then to buy your flagship program like Client Ascension. And like, that's all new to me. So, like I'm going in there pretty consistently and I even have a call with them later today just to learn more about like the different role. Like, what's the role I need to hire that will take people that buy a low ticket product and get them to join Client Ascension eventually. Right? And like, how do I map that out? How much do I pay? How do I train them? Like, no matter what level you're at in business, there's always the next question you're looking for an answer to or the next problem that you have to solve for. And then even if you've solved for something before, like you said, maybe you crack the code on cold emails when you first joined Client Ascension, but like, that's different now. Like, it changes so, so fast. And if you're in a group with other people that are experiencing and talking about that change on a daily basis. You stay ahead of where everyone else is at and like, that's your competitive edge as an agency owner is just having access to that group. That's so ahead and so on top of things. So. So one question I have for you, Luca, is like, how do you use client ascension today compared to when you first joined the program?

Good question. So when I first joined, I was going through the modules like this. How many are there, Andre?

A lot. There's probably over 200 at this point.

Yeah, so I went through all those or like most of them, I'd say quite a few times. There's a few in there which I can kind of recite off my heart. So those are extremely helpful, especially in the beginning. Now I've kind of learned a lot of the basics in that regard, whether it be, you know, sales, cold emails, just fulfillment, hiring in general, because I've kind of went through everything at least once before. So, yeah, that was mostly at the beginning, more so learning, and now it's just kind of refining and tweaking and when questions pop up, just having a coach in my corner which I can ask for questions. So in real time, what that might look like is, you know, tending calls. So, you know, I like going to, for example, like the lead gen calls. Those are especially helpful because I don't really sell cold email. I mean, I use it to assign clients, but I'm not an expert in that field. So being able to just hop in there on a zoom call, ask my quick questions, get them answered from someone who sells the service themselves and, you know, is an expert in their field has been very, very helpful. So I guess just to kind of sum it up, in the beginning it was more so like learning from the modules, almost like studying for a test in some sort of way. And now it's just like practicing and actually using what I learned in real time. And the results have kind of shown for itself. And yeah, I mean, everything's kind of worked out. I mean, it took a lot of work, but we're in a much better position now than a year ago when I started.

Much better position, for sure. And. And like I was saying even before, like, I feel like I'm in a much better position as well with my business than I was a year ago or two years ago, which is great. But I still know, like, there's problems today and, and tomorrow and, and six months from now that I'm gonna have to continue to solve for. So just to give the Audience, some perspective, like, what are some of the problems you're facing in your business or like the next things that you're solving for to just unlock that next level of growth?

Good question. So in the beginning, I mean, this is kind of switched. At first, it was like signing the first few good clients.

Yeah.

Now those kind of came. Now it's more so hiring, like, the right people, which I'm kind of going through right now and just being kind of like a better manager, a better leader, and getting the most out of the people that I have on board. So, yeah, just current spot right now, looking to bring on another account manager just to take myself even a little bit more outside of the business. And then just maintaining good client results, which we already have. I keep on getting better at the service that we provide, which is great. And I mean, that's pretty much it. Just continuing to get better, sign more brands, and then fulfill a good service. And then if that just takes care of itself, then I'm happy I'm in a pretty good spot.

Yeah, I feel like that's like the constant evolution. Right. It's like at first you come in and you're just trying to get your first client, and then you get some leads or calls on your calendar and you're struggling to close. So you got to fix sales, and then once you fix sales, now you got to fix fulfillment. And once you fix fulfillment, it's like, goes back to Legion. Like, now you need more leads and then better sales. And it's just like this constant cycle of, like, every next level that you're trying to reach just requires you to get better and better at each of those things. You need to get better at Legion because you need to increase the amount of channels you're getting leads from. Right. Like, if you're just doing cold email that can only last so long, you're going to need to figure out how to make sales assets and post on YouTube and do affiliate partnerships. And then with sales, like, you can always be improving your sales process and getting better at sales, and maybe even it's time to hire a sales team, which is a whole nother thing. So, like, there's always the next level of growth and then obviously on the fulfillment side, like, mastering your craft, like, how helpful has it been? I think something that you guys do as email marketers, specifically in client ascension is you have kind of like a small group with the other email marketers, like Michael and some of those guys. And then also Connor is at least who, like, from who I know the Most successful email marketing agency, one of the only ones that I know is consistently been at 100k a month for a while now. And so being able to learn from him every single week on his coaching calls, like, what has that all been like?

Yeah, that's been incredibly valuable because there's a lot of coaches that kind of have done the same thing as you just live it further ahead. Right. So just having them there, it's like being able to talk to them like whenever you want and then having that weekly call, it's just so much more helpful because think of it like if you're trying to do something like on your own, right, someone knows your answers to your questions, like they've been solved before. And like a lot of these coaches have. In my case, like, yeah, you're mentioning Connor. I mean, he sells email marketing too. So being able to ask him questions he knows kind of like the answers to, like some of my questions, whether it be about when to hire and that sort of thing. Because the service is quite similar. Right. And just whoever in Client Ascension, you know, all the coaches are running successful businesses, so it's just quite easy to get, you know, very relevant, I guess help is kind of what I'm saying to any of the questions that you have from anyone, really. Just in my case, yeah, it's helpful attending Connor's calls. If you sell a cold email or whatever, there's a coach in there for that too. And then another thing as well, whatever you're selling, someone probably else sells it inclined Ascension, so you're able to connect with them and bounce ideas off of them. And that's been super helpful as well as I've connected with a lot of other guys who do email marketing. And yeah, just being able to learn 10 times faster with those people alongside them rather than just being on the outside kind of learning alone, you know what I mean? So, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Like I said, going back to like the true definition of a mastermind is like you're constantly having conversations and talking about what's happening day to day with other guys that are doing the same thing. And like, how much faster can you learn and adapt to the market changes when you have access to that information and just people's perspectives. Right. So like, what does that look like you're getting on calls with some of these guys or like you're just exchanging messages and updates on Slack? Like, how do you keep in touch with some of these other email marketers and client essentials?

Yeah, for sure. So obviously the weekly calls, but it's mostly just through like Slack DMs, we can just chat about whatever it is someone has a question they might ask me or if I have a question, I never hesitate to reach out to someone and I've asked a lot of questions. So I'm pretty sure I've asked almost everyone a question at this point. So yeah, if you're inclined Ascension as well, don't hesitate to reach out and ask somebody if someone has the answer to your question that you're looking for. As long as you're within reason, feel free to go ask. And it's just very helpful to have however many people it is in the program, hundreds at this point. Right. So just being able to ask pretty much anyone who's, you know, expert in whatever their field is a question that you're trying to solve. It's just been super helpful. But to answer your question, it's mostly like in Slack, just through the DMs and stuff like that in the program.

Super straightforward and simple. I love it, bro. What's it been like working with your student success coach, Andy? Because I think one of the most valuable things that you need to have in business and especially in a coaching program is like an essentially an accountability partner and an accountability partner that's also like educated on business and also like the different resources and assets that you have access to in a program like Client Ascension. So like, what's that been like working with Andy for the past 12 months as an accountability coach and just like your student success coach?

Yeah, no, I love Andy. He's always full of energy and he's very motivated to kind of help you do better. So as long as you're kind of willing to put in the work that you're kind of taught to do, incline essentially in order to grow whatever that you're doing, whatever your student success coach is, they're definitely going to help you. In my case, it's Andy. And Andy's been fantastic. And I let him know too that he's been a big help for me. So every week he'll check in with me, ask me what I need this week to make sure I'm sorted. And sometimes when I'm busy, it's hard to devote the most of my attention to answering or asking for help. So having someone proactively reach out to you at the start and end of the week has been super helpful because then it's just in front of me. I can ask him anything I need and then he can go and just, you know, help get one of the coaches to answer my questions, whatever the case may be. So that's been super helpful and then also guiding me in terms of what may be best as I'm kind of growing to focus on, for example, like, is it time to hire now? Do I have enough margin to go and do this or start doing whatever it is? So that's just been super helpful all around though, and he's been fantastic. And yeah, just in general he's been super helpful and I let him know that as well if you ask him.

Yeah, that's awesome, bro. Yeah, I appreciate you showering the love and letting him know how helpful he's been. It's always nice to hear. Right. And like what you said, one of the things that stood out is having like the start of week and end of week check ins, right? Because like, if you know it's coming by now, like you've been in the program for 12 months and you know, like you're going to get that message from Andy at the end of the week to just kind of be like, yo, like, what are the updates? Like, what progress did you make? You're thinking about that at the start of the week, like, hey, when Andy reaches out at the end of the week, because I know he's going to like, I better have some updates for him. Yeah, right. Like it just sits in the back of your head is like, I want to not let this guy down or not have anything to show for when he checks in and asks what I was working on this week. So it's one of those things that like, we need in a lot of times like to be self motivated and to have the reminders of like, we need to make progress because there's not really anyone else watching over us and kind of pushing us, especially if we're in business on our own. So I think it's so helpful that like the small thing like the starter weekend and end of week check in messages just go such a long way. How about the. The BHA calls? One of the things that we do pretty uniquely at Client Ascension is business health audits. And that's kind of like a process that has worked really well for myself and Daniel and all the founders at Client Ascension to grow our own businesses. It's just like a business model that we learned from a book and some YouTube videos that we kind of made into our own thing where you set like a wildly important goal and then lag measures and lead measures, like how is getting on those calls and tracking all the data and staying consistent with BHAs helped with your business growth.

Yeah, it's been good. So to kind of put, you know, some more insight in terms of what Entre is talking about. Every month you'll fill out this form and it basically goes over everything that, you know, you kind of should be doing in order to hit your results. So, for example, if you want to grow by X amount, you know that you need to be doing X amount of outreach, X amount of sales, assets or whatever it is in order to hit your goals. So then you can actually quantify that and see if you're falling short or, you know, meeting your requirements in order to hit your goals. So it's been definitely good just to kind of have like an overview in terms of everything that you're doing. Especially for me, which I can be quite scatterbrained at times. So just having a look at that and being able to see like, oh, you know, I actually did pretty decent this month, or I grew by X amount this month, or I didn't grow this month and why, you know, what happened. So it's just having that bird's eye view and having someone else kind of look over it with you. Especially because I'm a solo founder, I don't have anyone else working alongside me. It's good to kind of just bounce ideas off someone else, which would be Andy in my case, and just see, you know, what processes do I need to change for next month if I want to improve. If I had a really good month, you know, what did I do this month that was quite unique? So it just being able to take a step back and kind of see what you did and what actually got your results by tracking everything on a spreadsheet? Yeah, essentially. So, yeah.

And what would you say, Lucas, some of those things that you've tracked in the BHA sheet that have had a consistent impact on your business growth? Like, what are some things you've learned that if you do them consistently or when you do them, your business tends to grow as a result? Have you identified some pretty repeatable things there?

Mainly cold email. I think client testimonial videos have been a great help for me. Yeah, just being. Staying consistent with it. Like, as I mentioned, I've been in the program now for about a year, so I've had a lot of time to kind of get better at cold email and stuff like that. And although it doesn't seem like a long time, stuff does compound even in a year. So, I mean, I think just staying consistent with it has been a big help. And yeah, just if you're consistent over a long enough time horizon, honestly, you'll just get more social proof, you'll get better at what you do and then everything just gets easier. So I guess that's been the main thing. Andre is just staying consistent with everything, the lead gen. And then also on the bha, I'll always fill in, let's say what I need to do for the next month, the main goals, so I can keep track of that and see before the month starts I can write it down and say, okay, these five to ten things or whatever the case may be, if I actually got these done, would I be happy? Is that good progress to make in one month? And then I'll work backwards that way because yeah, like, you know, sometimes if you're not super organized all the time, it's easy for these things to kind of just, you know, go right by you, not keep track of everything. So it's just really helpful to be able to plan, especially with someone who's has experience doing it with other people who are more experienced and I guess have done it before you essentially is what I'm trying to get at.

Yeah, absolutely, bro. And I think it's like doing. It's the consistency for sure. It's just knowing what to do consistently. I think that's the gap that we solve for. People that are first joining the program is like they're ready to work, they just don't know what work to do. And it's like once you figure out the things that like the levers, the pool that do drive growth in your business, then it's just staying consistent. And one thing you keep saying on this call, which I love to hear, is like finding ways to do them even better. Right? Like, just because you learn how to do cold email doesn't mean, you know, you can move on to the next thing. It's like, how can we do it better? How can we improve? And even though that change isn't like overnight, it's a consistent day to day thing. If you can get better every single day, you'll look back after like where you're at a year and just not even recognize where you first started, which is so awesome. One of the questions I have along the same lines of that is like, how have you gotten better as an email marketer and a service provider? Like, how have you gotten better for your clients with the work that you do?

Good question. How have I gotten better? Like, what have I done to like.

Yeah, what have you done? Have you like brought on team members? Have you like invested in different systems in the business? Like, how have you just improved as a service provider? Even like email marketer learning from Connor as to things he's done for.