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<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-52885 lazy" data-src="https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-01.jpg?fm=pjpg" alt="" width="1600" height="381" srcset="https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-01.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=143&amp;w=600 600w, https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-01.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=244&amp;w=1024 1024w, https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-01.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=183&amp;w=768 768w, https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-01.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=366&amp;w=1536 1536w, https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-01.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=488&amp;w=2048 2048w, https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-01.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=140&amp;w=590 590w, https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-01.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=93&amp;w=390 390w, https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-01.jpg?fm=pjpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /></p>
<p>Sinem Günel’s writing is read by millions each year, and she built a multi-6-figure business by the age of 24 without using ads.</p>
<p>Sinem uses Kit to connect with her readers and sell her course, coaching, and membership products. In 2023, she aimed to grow her email list to 10,000 subscribers.</p>
<p>But when she hit 8,000 subscribers, her growth plateaued.</p>
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<h2>The challenge: Email list not growing past a certain number</h2>
<p>Sinem had always grown her list through her writing on Medium. But when she wrote less to focus on other aspects of her business, the subscriber growth slowed, too.</p>
<blockquote class="blockquote-sm"><p>I felt a little stuck around the 8,000 subscriber mark.</p>
<p>I was also on the lookout for more &#8220;passive&#8221; ways to grow the list.</p></blockquote>
<p>When she heard about the <a href="https://creatornetwork.kit.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Creator Network</a> and <a href="https://kit.com/features/recommendations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Recommendations</a>, she thought it could potentially be the answer to helping her reach her goal of 10,000 subscribers.</p>
<blockquote class="blockquote-sm"><p>I had been thinking of trying paid ads, so Recommendations was a no-brainer to try since I had nothing to lose.</p></blockquote>
<h2>The solution: Setting up Recommendations</h2>
<p>Sinem originally switched to Kit in 2020 because she loved the simplicity.</p>
<blockquote class="blockquote-sm"><p>I love the experience on the backend. I am not a tech person. I don&#8217;t love complicated interfaces. I don&#8217;t love workflows that look too techy, but I felt really comfortable with Kit very early on.</p></blockquote>
<p>So, when she saw how simple it seemed to set up Recommendations, she decided to give it a try.</p>
<blockquote class="blockquote-sm"><p>I was really hoping that Recommendations would help me get past the 10,000 subscriber mark.</p>
<p>And who doesn&#8217;t like the idea of getting something set up within a couple of hours, if even that, and then having revenue come in?</p></blockquote>
<h2>The strategy: Creating a welcome sequence for new subscribers coming from Recommendations</h2>
<p>Once Sinem joined the Creator Network, she emailed and DM’d her creator friends who were also using Kit, and they all recommended each other, forming a kind of pod: a group dedicated to helping each other grow.</p>
<p>After setting up all of her Recommendations in her <a href="https://kit.com/features/forms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opt-in forms</a>, Sinem decided to do one more thing: tweak her welcome sequence.</p>
<p>Every time a new subscriber joins her list, they get a pre-written welcome sequence via a <a href="https://kit.com/features/automations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kit automation</a>. However, Sinem realized that these new subscribers—the ones coming in via the recommendations of other creators—had likely never heard of her before.</p>
<p>Other subscribers typically join her newsletter after they’ve read one of her Medium articles or something she’s posted on social media.</p>
<p>But for these new subscribers coming from Recommendations, her welcome sequence would be their very first introduction to who she was and what she offered.</p>
<blockquote class="blockquote-sm"><p>It was obvious to me that I have to treat my new subscribers who come from Recommendations differently. So I took a look at my normal welcome sequence, copied it over into a new sequence, and tweaked it to make sure I was saying hi to a different audience that was obviously coming from a different place.</p></blockquote>
<p>Every time a new subscriber comes in through Recommendations, they’re automatically associated with a form in your account called “Creator Network”, so Sinem just connected that form to a new automation where everyone associated with the “Creator Network” form would get this new welcome sequence.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-52892 lazy" data-src="https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-02.jpg?fm=pjpg" alt="" width="1600" height="800" srcset="https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-02.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=300&amp;w=600 600w, https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-02.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=512&amp;w=1024 1024w, https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-02.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=384&amp;w=768 768w, https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-02.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=768&amp;w=1536 1536w, https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-02.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=1024&amp;w=2048 2048w, https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-02.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=295&amp;w=590 590w, https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-02.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=195&amp;w=390 390w, https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-02.jpg?fm=pjpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /></p>
<p>She didn’t have to tweak it much but says it felt great to introduce herself to these new subscribers in a way that felt relevant and genuine.</p>
<blockquote class="blockquote-sm"><p>If someone&#8217;s coming in through Recommendations, it&#8217;s my job to ensure they know who I am and what I do so they can quickly decide whether they want to stay subscribed or not.</p>
<p>What I love most is a lot of them replied to my welcome sequence saying, “Hey, <a href="https://fierce-thinker-2136.kit.com/profile" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tim Denning</a> recommended you, so that&#8217;s why I&#8217;m here.” Or “I saw you on <a href="https://zuliewrites.kit.com/profile" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Zulie Rane</a>’s recommendations, and that&#8217;s why I&#8217;m here.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Because of that, Sinem says, Recommendations have fundamentally changed her business.</p>
<blockquote class="blockquote-sm"><p>Recommendations helped me grow my list 30 percent faster over the last three months and helped me gain paying clients via my live launches and evergreen funnels.</p></blockquote>
<p>She also set up <a href="https://kit.com/features/paid-recommendations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paid Recommendations</a>, where one of her recommendation slots goes to a creator paying her for each qualified subscriber she sends their way.</p>
<blockquote class="blockquote-sm"><p>That&#8217;s something that just runs on the backend and that I don&#8217;t lift a finger for, but it just keeps generating revenue month by month.</p></blockquote>
<p>Sinem is on a <a href="https://kit.com/pricing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$125/mo Kit plan</a> and says that the just under $100/month she’s making via Paid Recommendations does a lot to offset her Kit costs.</p>
<blockquote class="blockquote-sm"><p>It&#8217;s actually pretty cool to know that I can easily offset what I pay for Kit with Paid Recommendations.</p></blockquote>
<h2>The Result: 5,000 new subscribers (and thousands in sales)</h2>
<p>Within three months of using Recommendations, Sinem finally surpassed her goal of 10,000 email subscribers.</p>
<blockquote class="blockquote-sm"><p>We’re at nearly 13,000 subscribers now.</p></blockquote>
<p>Then, she did her first live launch since using Recommendations.</p>
<blockquote class="blockquote-sm"><p>I just finished a live launch, and we have tags on to see which subscribers came in through Recommendations and 10% of our buyers are actually subscribers who came in through Recommendations!</p></blockquote>
<p>She says because of that, she’s already made about $6,000 from using Recommendations as a growth channel.</p>
<blockquote class="blockquote-sm"><p>And that&#8217;s just people who&#8217;ve been on the list, who&#8217;ve been pitched. And that&#8217;s just one live launch. We’ve got people buying our evergreen stuff, too, through the funnel. We see that happening month by month, week by week.</p></blockquote>
<p>She’s grateful for the way the Creator Network has grown her list and her business, but she’s also grateful for how it has grown her connections with the creator community.</p>
<blockquote class="blockquote-sm"><p>Recommendations is just the easiest way to support each other. It&#8217;s literally a few clicks, and it’s all set up. You don&#8217;t have to go back and do anything about it ever, and you still help each other tremendously.</p>
<p>I feel like it&#8217;s a win-win-win situation. I make money, I help creators who I love gain more visibility, and I help my audience discover really great content.</p></blockquote>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-52891 lazy" data-src="https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-03.jpg?fm=pjpg" alt="" width="1600" height="824" srcset="https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-03.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=309&amp;w=600 600w, https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-03.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=527&amp;w=1024 1024w, https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-03.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=396&amp;w=768 768w, https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-03.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=791&amp;w=1536 1536w, https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-03.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=1055&amp;w=2048 2048w, https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-03.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=304&amp;w=590 590w, https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-03.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=201&amp;w=390 390w, https://media.kit.com/post/sinem-gunel-03.jpg?fm=pjpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /></p>


Not a huge following? No problem. Learn how small creators are growing their lists 75% with Recommendations

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How this creator grew her list by 30% in 3 months using Kit Recommendations

Want to reach your subscriber and sales goals like Sinem?

Isa Adney

Giveaway email campaigns: the perfect way to add high-quality leads to your email list

Not a huge following? No problem. Learn how small creators are growing their lists 75% with Recommendations