Patrick Riddle is a seasoned entrepreneur and the CEO of Awesomely, an award-winning multi-million-dollar educational publishing company. After getting his start in real estate, he shifted into the info product space and has since helped thousands of students grow their businesses using smart marketing strategies. You can listen to his full conversation on the Beyond a Million Podcast, where he dives deep into the systems, mindset, and marketing tactics that built his success.
In a recent conversation, Patrick shared how he’s built scalable, predictable profits using an email marketing funnel strategy that’s surprisingly simple… but often overlooked.
Why Email Marketing Still Drives All the Profit
Patrick doesn’t mince words about where the real money comes from in his business.
“Email marketing… none of them do email marketing like we did back in the day… email is still the primary channel for monetization for us.”
He doubles down: “I mean that’s where all of our profit in the business comes from. So without it we don’t make any money.”
In a time when most entrepreneurs obsess over social media or paid ads, Patrick builds everything around email. The funnel captures a lead, but the email sequence is where the conversion, and the profit, really happens. Every new subscriber is treated like a long-term asset, not a one-time sale.
His email marketing funnel strategy focuses on consistent communication, relationship-building, and well-timed promotions. It’s not about flashy automation. It’s about genuine connection and disciplined follow-up.
The Smart Funnel Sequence That Multiplies Conversions
Patrick’s funnel isn’t complicated, but it’s designed with precision. As he explains, “We like to sell info and then immediately upsell into some kind of recurring revenue offer. Love to sell into software.”
Here’s how it plays out in practice:
He starts with a low-ticket front-end product (usually around $97) to bring in paying customers. Then he adds what he calls an executive guidebook as the order bump. “What we found is what converts great is just sell them what you’ve already sold them in a different format… we call it an executive guidebook. It’s basically just Cliff Notes of the video training.” Patrick adds, “We go from 97 to 27 as our normal order form bump price, and the take rate is around 65%.”
That’s an insanely high conversion rate for an upsell that simply repackages the same content in a new way. From there, he moves buyers into a recurring revenue offer, usually software that helps them implement what they just learned.
And if they say no? He doesn’t give up. “If someone says no to that software plus bonus offer, then we just take away a bonus, cut the price in half and offer it again.”
This email marketing funnel strategy is all about layering value, each step feels like a natural next move. The beauty is in the psychology: small wins, low risk, and incremental upgrades that build commitment.
Partnering to Scale: The Bolt-On Publishing Model
Beyond his own funnels, Patrick’s found a way to scale faster by partnering with other entrepreneurs. He calls it a “bolt-on publishing” model.
“We create front end offers and bolt those front end offers onto other guru businesses… we’ll funnel those into another company, let them monetize the lead, we’ll get commissions on all the back end sales. We own the customer too.”
It’s a brilliant play: Patrick keeps all the front-end revenue from his offers, while also getting a cut of everything that happens on the back end. “We’ll give them the first 30 days to monetize the lead… After that we can market any other products or services.”
This means his team can “run our traffic at a… higher cost of acquisition” — because they’re earning more from each lead than competitors who only sell one product.
The result? Scalable growth, predictable profits, and partnerships that multiply reach without multiplying work.
Email Is the Engine Behind It All
Patrick’s approach is a masterclass in fundamentals done right. Instead of chasing every new marketing trend, he focuses on what compounds: email relationships, value-driven funnels, and smart partnerships.
His email marketing funnel strategy doesn’t just generate sales, it builds a system that works over time. As Patrick puts it best, “Without email, we don’t make any money.”
Sometimes the smartest growth play isn’t reinventing the wheel. It’s just turning the old one faster, with more precision.
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