About

Hey, I’m Barry Sereb, and I believe today is the best time to start a successful business. 

We live in an age where there are fewer barriers to entry, we can pursue more resources than ever before, and pursuing a new source of income can be done in our spare time, whether at home or sitting in a cafe with a beautiful view. 

All of the above excites me, so I spent over ten years crafting email campaigns. 

It was far from easy. Creating great email campaigns also requires knowledge of automation, growth marketing, data analysis, website development, coding, running ad campaigns, social media management, content writing, graphic design, lead nurturing, and A/B split testing.

My first newsletter was The Marketing Minute, which I wrote while pursuing my Public Policy and Financial Management degree at York University. I needed more money to pay for my degree and needed more skills for an entry-level 9-5 office job. 

So, off I went to start my own promotional product business. Fame and fortune favour the bold, right?

The Marketing Minute was my entire prospecting campaign. Every person I met was hit with this line, “Well, it was nice meeting you. In reality, I’m just a kid trying to make my way through University. But I run a newsletter about my marketing journeys and everything I learned, hoping it will help others. The email goes out once every two weeks… maybe it is something you will like?” 

Keep in mind, that this was back when emails had to be coded, images had to be drawn, and analytics were not a thing. Therefore, writing an email took me an entire week!

The main goal was to have a touchpoint that made my contacts think of me. My biggest fear was putting all my effort into the business only to have it forgotten. This would have been a major failure, crushing me physically and mentally. 

Second, I wanted the newsletter to serve as an introduction to new people I met. In other words, it was a snapshot of where the business had been and what was around the next corner. Since most prospects were other entrepreneurs, sharing these adventures can help save others time and money.

Third, I used the Marketing Minute to warm leads with subtle calls to action. 

At its height, The Marketing Minute newsletter was deployed to 50 subscribers. 

Yes! 50 subscribers was cause for a massive celebration! 

In fact, when I was at a networking event, making my way around the venue, I heard a booming voice yell out, “Hey! Marketing Minute!” 

Foolishly, I looked at my Timex, thinking, “2:45 pm is the marketing minute?”

It took me an extra 45 seconds to realize one of my subscribers was coming over to me for a friendly hello. 

This was my magical, aha moment! My subscriber, who took the effort to say hello to me and even give me a nickname based on my newsletter, made me feel triumphant!

Pursuing that feeling has led me to today, where I have had the pleasure of drafting emails for companies such as Snapchat, YouTube, Pet Valu, Uber, Amazon, JEEP, Citizen Watch Co, Frederique Constant, Wal Mart, and many more. I have also helped manage email lists with over 45,000 subscribers.  

The projects I worked on generated over 11 million impressions, and my email campaigns generated an average of $38 ROI for every $1 spent. I even went SUPER hardcore and entered law school to better grasp the ideas behind consent, cookies, data transparency and privacy legislation around the world, such as CASL, the GDPR, and CAN-SPAM. 

So, what does this have to do with you? Simple: Building an email list is the BEST way to automate sales. In other words, it is the BEST business to pursue since you do the hard work now to create revenue for years. 

When I’m not working on emails, I nerd over awesome watches, join one of my hiking groups for an outdoor adventure, scale mountains on my mountain bike (well okay, I live in Toronto, the mountains I scale are more like hills), spend time at the gym, catch up with family, or write down one of my big ideas with a vintage Parker 51 fountain pen and a cup of hot chocolate.  

– Barry Sereb