Should I focus on selling AI‑generated copywriting systems for cold email content or keep them in the background and sell to traditional copywriting clients, and when doing cold emails is it better to lead with results without mentioning a service?

#157 · When your AI lead gen is too successful...

Should I focus on selling AI‑generated copywriting systems for cold email content or keep them in the background and sell to traditional copywriting clients, and when doing cold emails is it better to lead with results without mentioning a service?

That's an interesting point. I think the whole idea here about not pitching a specific service makes sense, but I don't believe it works in practice. I've tried not doing that and just being a results‑focused person who generates revenue, but I find uptake is a lot better when you can draw the shape of a solution for a client and then say, 'This is how I make money.' It makes it more believable. The good news is you have the ability to test this yourself. You could make a general vague offer that is 100 % results‑based around whatever you want, then compare it with a more specific copywriting offer where you guarantee the same thing, or a specific PPC offer with the same guarantee. I think you could answer this question and satisfy that part of your brain that's itching to know, but it would be more powerful for you to try it yourself. As a five‑year copywriter you probably have some capital saved, so you could try it instantly on your own. Keep those AI systems in the background if you want, but you can also sell to traditional copywriting clients. This is basically the idea behind my business.

copywritingaicold emailoffers

Related answers

youtube ↗Cold Email

How should I position a case‑study‑based guarantee for leads and write effective cold‑email copy when selling, for example, business coaching to medium‑sized business owners?

I’d start by watching my “Sell an AI service in 10 hours” video and repurposing its copy framework. Jump to the 50th minute of that video where I walk through the exact copywriting process I use for AI services. The same structure works for coaches, consultants, and any service‑based business. Follow the steps shown there to craft a compelling cold‑email sequence that leverages your case study and speaks directly to the target audience’s pain points.

copywritingcold emailcase studybusiness coaching

youtube ↗Marketing

I genuinely love AI, so I've been creating content and posting on socials, while also trying to get my agency off the ground. Content takes a lot of time to record and post — should I focus solely on the business and drop content for a while? My content isn't built in public, it's just generic valuable content about AI, not tied to the business, though it could bring clients or leads down the line.

The way I see it, content is a lead-generation strategy. The entire reason I went into content is because my CPMs with cold email were like $8-10, and I wanted them lower — I got my CPMs down to like two or three bucks with content, and my average ticket price also went up when I sold someone through content versus cold email. If I have two routes available and one is just way better in every shape and form, obviously I'm going to go down that path. But it's also worth saying this wasn't immediate — it took me a couple of months. Content requires a fair amount of effort and input, and you don't see results for at least a 3-6 month period, most people see it 6-12 months down the line. That's a lot of work and opportunity cost. If you have something capable of generating shorter-term revenue, like cold email, even with higher CPMs, you should probably do that to get yourself to a reasonable financial point before committing to the riskier, higher-payoff play. It's high risk, high reward, and if you don't have some runway or money in the bank to sustain yourself while you wait for content to pay off, it's probably not optimal.

content marketingcold emailcpmlead generation

youtube ↗Sales

I'm close to landing two retainers (a web agency and a consultant) and need guidance on selling their web design and coaching services, given I already sell my AI services. I'm booking two meetings a day using your advice. What framework or thoughts do you have for selling these services?

First, great job on locking in those retainers and crushing the cold‑email outreach—two meetings a day, five days a week is exactly the kind of consistency that works. To sell web design and coaching, start by watching my video 'Watch Me Start and Sell an AI Service in 10 Hours'; it walks through the exact copywriting and offer‑creation process I use. Then run a niche‑discovery exercise: pick a few niches (e.g., website agencies, video editors, real estate), go into the communities where those niches hang out (Facebook groups, Reddit, School pages), and pull out the actual questions people are asking. Don’t assume—let the community tell you their day‑to‑day struggles. Compile those questions; you’ll see recurring themes like follow‑up, content‑generation systems for clients, and clipping. From those pain points, craft simple, first‑principles solutions—ask yourself, ‘Could I do this?’ and use your copywriting skills to turn them into concrete offers. Source audiences that match those niches, then send targeted emails presenting the offers. Finally, create three offers and split‑test them against slightly different audiences to see which resonates best. That’s the exact framework I recommend for web design and coaching.

web designcoachingsalesretainers

youtube ↗Pricing

Hey Nick, thanks so much for these valuable pieces of content. I'm able to run cold email effectively and generate leads with a reply rate of 5%. Hell yeah, my brother. The only problem I'm facing is to make the business profitable. For instance, if I charge a few dollars for my client, build a system that saves time for them, maybe generates revenue for them, but I'm not able to make enough money as I'm only charging a few bucks from them. Let me know I should plan my AI business to hit $50 to $100,000 a month. Keep doing the great work. Cheers.

You need to charge more, proportional to the value you provide. If you solve a $10,000-per-month money need, you can reasonably charge 30%–50% of that, i.e., $3,000–$5,000 per month. From the business owner's perspective, this is a simple ROI: hiring you should yield about a 3x return, acknowledging some uncertainty between the $3,000 fee and the $10,000 value. You can charge a proportion of the value delivered. Focus on profitability by charging significantly more for your services. On the expense side, avoid accruing unnecessary liabilities. Many who sell cold email or lead generation merely wrap a cold email product with minor added value and then bundle in unnecessary costs like email inboxes, platform fees, and domains. Instead, have the client pay for some of those costs so you're not left liable if you don't deliver results or fulfill guarantees. For example, one consulting client guaranteed a client $10,000 but only sought payment after delivering that amount; due to a long sales cycle, the client didn't receive the $10,000 for four or five months, while the consultant's ongoing email costs were $600–$700 per month, totaling $2,400–$2,800 over that period, yielding a 76% margin after COGS. Don't put yourself in that situation.

pricingvalue-based pricingROI