How Conor Sunderland Grew His Email Marketing Agency to 30+ Clients
Conor Sunderland went from closing sales for other agencies to running Kensington Media House, a Klaviyo email marketing agency for eCommerce brands with 30+ clients and a team of 16. He and Michael talk about doing free white label work to get case studies, why you should learn the skill before you outsource it, how social proof feeds a flywheel, and how he runs a business while traveling.
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Topics covered
- Working as a sales closer before starting an agency
- Free white label work for the first case studies
- Learning the skill before outsourcing it
- The social proof flywheel
- Personal brand on X and YouTube
- Using your YouTube channel in cold email
- Traveling while running an agency, and goals
Key takeaways
- Working in the industry first means you learn while someone else pays you.
- Free white label work can give you the case studies you need to sign paying clients.
- You don't have to do everything in your business, but you should have done everything at some point.
- Social proof is a flywheel. Results bring case studies, which bring more clients and more results.
- All platforms work for personal brand. Pick the one you enjoy posting on.
- Michael's tip: put a link to your YouTube channel in a P.S. on your cold emails.
- When you travel, stay at least a month and get a full week of work done before you play tourist.
Show notes
📞 From supermarket job to sales closer
Conor got into sales during Black Friday 2020. He paid $2,000, most of the money he had from a summer working in a supermarket, to join a remote sales coaching program. It placed him as a closer with an ads agency. He chose sales because he thought he could be good at it, and it gave him confidence that he could book calls and close them.
His advice is to survive first. You won't make much money in your first year, so use that time to get comfortable in the industry and ask a lot of questions.
🏷️ White label work for case studies
In August 2021, two of the ads agency's clients asked about email marketing. Conor offered to white label it for free in exchange for case studies. Those clients got great results, and the case studies helped him and his business partner land their first paying clients.
Conor later did white label work and referrals with another agency owner, and the two still send each other clients.
“I'll do this for free, get the case studies”
Conor Sunderland, 2:13
🛠️ Learn the skill before you outsource it
Michael says the agency owners he sees fail are often the ones who outsource everything without learning the skill. Conor agrees. He says you don't need to do everything in your business, but you should have done everything at some point, so you can step in when something goes wrong. Over Black Friday he jumped in on overflow tasks himself.
He also sees social proof as a flywheel. Results lead to case studies, which lead to more clients and more results.
“do not focus on cash over your skill set”
Conor Sunderland, 17:30
📣 Personal brand on X and YouTube
Conor's biggest platform is X, as @conortrains. He likes that it feels like a town square, and some clients started out as people he got to know there. His view is that every platform works, so pick the one you enjoy.
Michael shares that adding a P.S. with his YouTube channel to cold emails has made a big difference, and that eCommerce clients with a YouTube channel do much better on cold email. He also suggests remaking videos that did well, and going on podcasts to reach other people's audiences.
“All platforms work. And it's just what do you enjoy posting on?”
Conor Sunderland, 18:29
✈️ Running an agency while traveling
Conor had planned to travel after university before the pandemic stopped him. In 2023 he moved the business to Dubai and spent time in Colombia, Madrid and London. Next up are three months in Argentina.
His rules: stay at least a month, now ideally three, and spend the first week getting a full week of work done before doing tourist things. The business comes first.
🎯 Excellence over size
Conor wants to keep the agency at around 35 clients and grow internally. That means documenting everything, improving client quality and results, and looking after his team. He wants Kensington Media House to be known as one of the best in DTC.
He isn't driven by money. He wears a 35 euro Casio watch, lifts weights, does jiu-jitsu, and wants a simple life with interesting work.
About Conor Sunderland
Conor Sunderland is from the southeast of Ireland and is based in Dubai. He co-founded Kensington Media House, an email and SMS marketing agency for eCommerce brands, in August 2021. It has grown to more than 30 clients and a team of 16.
Before that, Conor was a sales closer for agencies and coaching businesses. He studied economics and politics, taught himself Spanish, and started a podcast in October 2023.
Episode links
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