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Hey

I have been suffering from a cold and fever for the last two weeks (yeah, I love winters). Normally, this cough or fever happens when a season changes, but this time it is taking so long to cure.

I have consulted with two doctors so far, let’s see how it goes.

Well, did I say doctors? I mean today I am talking about a doctor, who became a productivity nerd so the connection is coincident.

Yeah you guessed it correctly, today’s creator is, none other than "the world's most-followed productivity expert"

Ali Abdaal

Creators Spotlight:

Ali Abdal was born in 1994 in Pakistan, my neighbouring country. Later, he did his study in medicine at Cambridge, UK.

Initially, he was a junior doctor later he transitioned into a full-time YouTuber. He started talking about productivity, study techniques, and lifestyle vlogs.

His channel has millions of subscribers. Ali co-founded 6med for medical exam prep and created the Part-Time YouTuber Academy.

He left his full-time job as a doctor in 2020 and started as a full-time creator.

He hosts podcasts and wrote "Feel-Good Productivity," to promote how to make work enjoyable.

How he leveraged Email Marketing

Ali Abdaal was popular because he used to talk about things like using notions and all, but day by day when Ali Abdaal turned to be a “creator” he was forced to create content. I feel the main reason for his start is not there anymore.

List growth

Ali Abdaal hasn’t focused too much on lead magnets, as other creators have stressed. But he has some, like the notion template and Excel sheets.

He did a giveaway to celebrate his channel growing to 4 million subscribers, which got him 80,000 more people on his list.

He also shared his time management Excel sheet.

But his real email list growth happened with his YouTube video

This is his video where he announced his marriage and moved to Hong Kong. 800K people watched this so even if 10% of people check his newsletter then the number is 80K 🤯 

So this is how powerful his YouTube is.

And this is the way he started teaching YouTube growth.

Newsletter

He sent his first edition in April 2018 under the name of ‘Sunday Snippets’ but on July 18, 2024, he rebranded this as Lifenotes.

Download Ali Abdaal book notes

Segmentation

Currently, Ali has 4 things to offer you.

A. Part-Time YouTuber Accelerator - $5995

B. Part-Time YouTuber Academy - $995

C. Feel Good Productivity book - $15

D. Productivity Lab - $997

So if you show interest and opt to hear about his YouTube course will get emails about the course. Not the entire audience (say no to broadcast emails, please)

He made $528,000 through one Kit automation they’d set up for Black Friday and Cyber Monday to sell the Part-Time YouTuber Academy course.

And you know what? Every time he sends an email he makes $5K 🤯

Value-first content

Ali Abdaal always talks about productivity. And help you to work better and with ease.

Especially in 2024-25 people are lacking in their productivity, and a hell lot of things are making us unproductive, frustrated and overwhelmed.

We need to learn the basics like a kid, just because we are too overwhelmed that we forget the basics.

Ali knows this quite well and he kept talking and teaching most efficiently.

Thoughts and feedback

I have never done this but I have some feedback on his Email Copy

Quick Note: Previously he was using Hubspot mail now he switched to Kit (formerly convertkit, one of the most popular ESP)

Look at the Email Copy. Problems?

1. Hey “friends” when you read it what do you think? It is not written to you, isn’t it?

   Ali writes it as his diary but I feel if he could use {{first name} (didn’t add the second curly bracket, intentionally) it would help him make it more personalized.

2. The copy is difficult to read. Yeah, I understand he wants to make more money with sponsored content but it is too much for a reader.

3. Pattern: Whenever I read his emails I miss a pattern, he breaks it. So I never read his email till the end, I know there are other people like me.

Key Takeaways

After doing the deep dive, here are 3 key takeaways

1. Be the niche and use the email channel to sell better and more easily

2. Always add value first

3. Your email list is an asset, keep growing it with more and more value

Well, that’s it, my friend. I am writing this with a runny nose. Gotta rest and recharge, do you think I should eat more Dark Choco?

Well, I will see you next week, till then Bye bye!

Did your friend refer you? Well, he/she is such a sweet person.

Here you can subscribe and read more boss 😄👇