Let me start off by saying entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. Generating $1M in revenue in 16 months was far from easy. There were highs and lows, and we faced plenty of challenges along the way. For example, in March 2024, we made $135,000, which was a fantastic month for us. But then, in April 2024, we only made $75,000, a significant drop that left us questioning what went wrong.

My goal in sharing this story is to expose both the good and bad sides of building a business. I want to provide a real, unfiltered look at the journey. This isn’t just about celebrating the wins; it's about acknowledging the setbacks and what we learned from them.

But more importantly, I share my story to inspire and help. My hope is that by being transparent about our journey, at least one founder reading this will find the tools, insights, and inspiration to accomplish what we did—whether in the same timeframe or even faster. If you're reading this and you're facing challenges, know that you’re not alone, and it’s possible to push through and achieve extraordinary things. It takes grit, resilience, and a willingness to learn from both your successes and your failures.

To set the stage, let me start by telling you a little bit about the business so you can better understand how we exactly did this.

WriteSea has two products to date. One product is called “Managed Career Services” and another called “AI Career Services Suite”. The $1M in revenue we generated in 16 months was solely from our Managed Career Services side of the business.

Managed Career Services in a nutshell is when WriteSea takes over and manages the career services operations for any job board. Essentially, we handle all aspects of career services—everything from resume reviews and job search support to interview prep—so that job boards like Indeed, Monster, CareerBuilder, and Wellfound (one of our clients) can offer these services to their users without having to build and manage them in-house.

Job boards today serve as essential marketplaces that help employers (companies) find talented candidates (job seekers) at scale. Traditionally, these platforms generate revenue by charging employers to advertise their job openings. Companies like Indeed, Monster, CareerBuilder, and Wellfound typically receive payments from employers in the form of a set monthly fee or a per-application fee for posting job listings on their platform.

Without job boards, companies would face the difficult and time-consuming task of advertising their job openings directly to potential candidates through email, social media, websites, and other channels. This process would likely be much less efficient, making it harder for employers to find high-quality candidates and for job seekers to find relevant job opportunities.

Now, you’re probably wondering where WriteSea fits into all of this. Well, myself and my Co-Founder & CEO, Brandon Mitchell, both had resume writing companies before coming together to build WriteSea. It wasn’t until Summer of 2022 when we realized that job boards weren’t directly monetizing the candidate (job seekers) side of the marketplace. Meaning job boards would spend millions of dollars per year to acquire new users (job seekers) without making money from the job seeker directly. Remember in today’s current sate job boards only get paid from the employers.

And that’s when the idea of Managed Career Services was born. We utterly believed that job boards could unlock a new stream of revenue by offering career services to all job seekers on their platform. So instead of job boards only generating revenue from employers they would also generate revenue from job seekers.

WriteSea partners with job boards globally to offer career services to their candidates. We achieve this by seamlessly integrating into the job board's platform, providing valuable support directly to job seekers. One of the key services we offer is a FREE resume review for all job seekers using the job board. This integration allows job seekers to get personalized feedback on their resumes, ensuring they present themselves in the best possible light to potential employers—all at no cost.

The free resume review provides real time feedback to job seekers globally on how their resume will be viewed by potential employers on the job board. The resume specifically reviews 5 key points:

• Structure

• Impact & Experience

• Language

• ATS

• Best Fit Jobs

The goal of WriteSea's resume review is to provide in-depth feedback on how candidates can better position themselves as qualified applicants to employers. The feedback is designed to highlight areas for improvement, ensuring that candidates present their skills, experience, and qualifications in the best possible way. The hope is that, after receiving this feedback, candidates will recognize the value of professional assistance in their job search and seek additional support.

As part of this process, WriteSea offers a suite of packages candidates can purchase to work 1:1 with a career coach. These packages provide personalized guidance and support to further enhance their job search efforts. Through partnerships with job boards, WriteSea offers the following services:

• Resume Enhancement

• LinkedIn Profile Development

• Cover Letter Development

• Reverse Recruiting

WriteSea keeps 70-80% of all revenue generated through our job board partnerships.

Now that you understand the business model, let’s walk you through how we closed 30 job board partnerships and converted 2,548 job seekers into paid customers.

How We Secured 30 Job Board Partnerships

We secured 30 job board partnerships through attending industry conferences and cold outreach.

Believe it or not, every industry has an annual conference where a majority of your customers will be in attendance. It’s essential to do your research and figure out which conferences align with your business and your target audience. These conferences are goldmines for networking, partnerships, and learning about the latest trends in your field.

For us, we focus on attending and sponsoring three major recruitment marketplace (fancy language for “job board”) conferences:

• RecBuzz

• TA Tech

• Job Boards Connect

Our Conference Strategy

Attending industry conferences was a key strategy for us as a startup, as it allowed us to meet our ideal customers face-to-face. We recognized early on that in order to gain real traction in the market, simply relying on digital outreach wouldn’t be enough. Meeting people in person, building relationships, and establishing trust were crucial for us to make a meaningful impact. Conferences provided a valuable opportunity to connect with potential customers, partners, and industry influencers in a focused environment.

In addition to attending, we also understood the importance of sponsoring these events to maximize our exposure. Sponsorship not only amplified our presence but also allowed us to engage with the audience in a more meaningful way. By choosing the right sponsorship package, we could access a variety of promotional channels and engage attendees before, during, and after the event. Every conference has its own sponsorship levels, each with distinct pricing, benefits, and offerings. These packages can provide a wide range of opportunities depending on the investment level.

When you sponsor a conference, you unlock several strategic advantages that can help elevate your brand, generate qualified leads, and establish your company as a trusted thought leader in the industry. These benefits typically include:

• Logo Placement: Your company's logo is often featured on event materials, such as banners, signage, and digital content (websites, emails, and presentations).

• Access to Attendees: Many conferences provide sponsors with access to the attendee list, which can be used for networking and lead generation.

• Exclusive Networking Opportunities: Sponsors may be invited to special networking events, dinners, or VIP sessions that are only available to them, providing more direct access to key decision-makers.

• Complimentary Conference Passes: Sponsors often receive complimentary passes for their team to attend the event, which can be used for meeting prospects or learning from other sessions.

• Enhanced Visibility: Sponsors often receive higher visibility on the conference website, event schedule, and in the conference app, allowing attendees to easily find and engage with them.

• Product Demos or Sessions: Some sponsorship packages allow for product demos, workshops, or sessions where sponsors can showcase their expertise and offerings.

• Social Media Mentions: Conferences often promote sponsors on their social media channels, helping to extend reach and engage attendees even before the event begins.

• Custom Content or Ads: Sponsors may have the opportunity to share custom content or advertisements in the event’s program guide or in virtual event spaces.

• Post-Event Content Opportunities: After the conference, sponsors may get access to post-event recordings, session highlights, or reports, offering additional ways to engage and retarget leads.

• Lead Generation Tools: Some conferences provide sponsors with lead capture tools to collect information from booth visitors, attendees at sponsored sessions, or virtual interactions.

As a side note, it’s important to recognize that having team members who are naturally extroverted and can quickly connect with people is a significant advantage at industry conferences. With the limited amount of time you have to meet and engage with attendees, it’s crucial to have people who can build rapport instantly and make the most of every interaction. Having individuals who are comfortable in social situations and skilled at initiating conversations can help you maximize networking opportunities and create lasting impressions.

One of the unique advantages we have as a team is that the majority of our executive team is highly extroverted and able to connect with others easily. This ability to foster relationships quickly has been a key differentiator for us at conferences. It’s one of the reasons we can make such a strong impact in a short amount of time.

In addition to having the right team members, there are several tangible things I’d highly recommend bringing to industry conferences to ensure you’re fully prepared to make the most of the event:

1. Business Cards: While digital connections are more common, having physical business cards on hand is still a valuable way to exchange contact information quickly and professionally.

2. Elevator Pitch: Be ready with a concise and compelling elevator pitch that can quickly communicate your value proposition. You never know when you'll meet someone who could be a key partner or customer, so it’s crucial to be prepared.

3. Promotional Materials: Bring brochures, flyers, or other printed materials that provide more detailed information about your products and services. Make sure they are well-designed and visually appealing to grab attention.

4. Branded Swag: Items like pens, notepads, water bottles, or tote bags with your logo and branding can serve as both a giveaway and a reminder of your company long after the event is over.

5. Lead Capture Tools: Whether it’s a simple app or a more advanced system, having a way to capture leads efficiently is essential. This can include QR codes, lead forms, or even a tablet where people can easily input their contact info.

6. Presentation Deck: Having a well-designed presentation deck ready for impromptu meetings or demo requests can help reinforce your value proposition when discussing your product or service.

7. Clear Goals: It’s crucial to have a set of specific objectives for the event. Whether it’s meeting a certain number of potential leads, attending a specific number of sessions, or securing follow-up meetings, having clear goals will help you stay focused.

8. Social Media Tools: Be prepared to engage with the event's social media platforms by using hashtags, sharing content, or interacting with others online. This can help expand your reach and keep your brand top-of-mind.

9. Promotional Video or Demo: A short, engaging video or live product demo can effectively showcase what you do and how you help solve problems. Having this ready to go will allow you to make a lasting impression in just a few minutes.

10. Follow-Up Strategy: After the conference, having a clear plan for following up with the contacts you made is crucial. Whether it’s through personalized emails, calls, or LinkedIn connections, making the follow-up process as streamlined as possible will ensure your efforts at the event don’t go to waste.

With the right team and the right materials, you’ll be equipped to make the most of any conference, build strong relationships, and drive meaningful results for your business.

Our Cold Outreach Strategy

Rule 1: Email is more scalable than LinkedIn

Email outreach is much more scalable because with the right infrastructure, you can send up to 10,000 emails per day. LinkedIn, on the other hand, has strict limitations. You can only send 20-25 connection requests a day per account, which makes LinkedIn a less efficient initial outreach tool. That’s why we start with email for our cold outreach and, based on how prospects engage with our emails, we connect with them on LinkedIn later.

Rule 2: Email Engagement Drives LinkedIn Outreach

Using email as your first touchpoint allows you to track how your prospects engage with your content. This gives you insight into their level of interest, which you can then use to prioritize your LinkedIn connection requests. Here’s how you can rank engagement, from highest to lowest intent:

1. Prospects reply to your email – This indicates strong interest, if it’s a positive reply of course.

2. Prospects click on a link in your email – This shows they’re interested enough to take action.

3. Prospects open your email – This means they’re somewhat interested, but they haven’t interacted further.

4. Prospects don’t open your email – These leads are the least engaged and should be prioritized last.

By ranking your prospects based on how they engage with your emails, you can strategically send LinkedIn connection requests. LinkedIn allows you to send about 100-150 connection requests per week, so you’ll want to start by connecting with those who have shown the most interest, i.e., those who replied to your email first, clicked on a link second, opened your email third, and those who didn’t open should be your last priority.

Email Infrastructure

To scale your cold email campaigns, you’ll need a strong email infrastructure. Tools like Instantly can help you send 30-50 emails per day per inbox, but if you want to ramp up to mass email outreach at scale (think 10,000 emails per day), you’ll need your own dedicated IP address through platforms like Mailgun or SendGrid. This is essential to avoid being flagged as spam and to ensure your emails land in the inbox.

Prospecting and Messaging: The Key to Success

Once your email infrastructure is set up, the next focus should be on prospecting and messaging. This is where cold outreach truly shines.

1. Identify Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

The first step in prospecting is knowing exactly who your ideal customer is. For us, job boards were the perfect fit. But simply knowing the type of business you want to target isn’t enough. You also need to figure out who in that company is most likely to make the purchase decision. In our case, we targeted executives and sales leaders, such as CEOs, CROs, and VPs of Sales, because our value proposition was clear: we offered an additional revenue stream to their business at no cost.

2. Understand Your Buyer Personas

Once you know your ideal customer, it’s time to dive deeper into the people within those companies. These are your buyer personas. You need to identify who inside the company has the pain points that your product or service can solve.

3. Psychographics: What Drives Your Buyers

Beyond knowing their job title, it’s critical to understand the psychographics of your buyer personas—this includes their goals, challenges, behaviors, and motivations. By understanding what keeps them up at night, you can create messaging that resonates with their specific needs and interests.

Crafting Relevant Messaging: The Formula

The formula to create messaging that speaks directly to your prospects is:

1. Identify your value proposition – What makes your product or service unique and valuable to your ideal customers?

2. Identify your ideal customer – Who exactly are you targeting? This includes both the type of company and the decision-maker within that company.

3. Identify your buyer persona – What are the specific individuals inside the company that you need to engage with?

4. Understand your buyer persona’s psychographics – What are their goals, challenges, and pain points?

5. Create personalized/relevant messaging – Tailor your messaging to speak directly to your prospect's needs, addressing how your solution can help solve their problems.

By following this structured approach to cold outreach—starting with email, prioritizing engagement, leveraging LinkedIn strategically, and crafting personalized, relevant messages—you’ll be able to build meaningful connections with your ideal customers and increase your chances of booking more demos. This multi-channel strategy is what helped us scale and ultimately reach $1M in revenue in just 16 months.

PS. This was part 1 of how I went from $0-$1M in 16 months. If you want part 2 reply to this email “part 2” or if you’re reading this online comment below “part 2”.

FEEDBACK PLEASE?

Whenever you're ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:

🧠 Pick My Brain: If you want personalized advice on how to build a million dollar startup, schedule a 1:1 session with me here.

🔬 Check Out My Podcast: If you want advice on how to find your ideal customer, capture their attention, get them to pay for their product or service, and automate 90% of the process, listen or watch the Spark Your Succcess Podcast.

With Love,

Leander