How Mark Milutin Built Bread Loaf, an eCommerce Email Marketing Agency
Mark Milutin runs Bread Loaf, an eCommerce email marketing and retention agency that, according to the video description, has driven over $1 billion in revenue for clients. He and Michael talk about his years at other agencies, how his first clients came from his network, why he focused on email, how he prices retainers with a commission, and his plans for a healthcare division and a $100 million agency.
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Topics covered
- Working in events, entertainment and big ad agencies before going solo
- How Bread Loaf is structured today
- First clients from his network, including Diff Eyewear
- Why email is farming and ads are hunting
- Upselling only after proving one channel
- Base retainer plus commission pricing
- Bread Loaf Healthcare, affiliate income and long-term goals
Key takeaways
- Learn your skills at other companies, then take the leap.
- Email is like farming and ads are like hunting. Email builds steadily, while ads can be an emotional roller coaster.
- Mark says retention channels make up 30 to 35% of attributed revenue for clients on the low end, and 60 to 70% for clients using email, SMS, push and direct mail.
- Prove results on one channel before you upsell more services.
- Bread Loaf charges a $3,500 monthly base for two campaigns a week, plus a commission on revenue.
- Every client has a life cycle. End on good terms, because clients often come back.
- Relying on referrals is risky. Mark wants more new appointments from people who have never met him.
Show notes
🎬 From events and ad agencies to his own shop
Mark interned in events, including the BET Awards, and was an on-site talent manager for YouTube Live in 2008. He later worked at big ad agencies and became director of ops at Stealth Venture Labs. He also ran an online wine club from 2010 until 2016, when he was burned out and shut it down.
His advice is to master your skills at other companies and then take the leap. He admits he had impostor syndrome for years. For example, he only recently started talking publicly about a $15 million a year Toyota program he worked on.
🕶️ First clients from his network
Bread Loaf's early clients came through people Mark already knew. One was Diff Eyewear. Mark says it grew from around $140,000 to $150,000 a month to over $1 million a month in nine to 12 months, using influencers, ads and email, including Kardashian collaborations. Another was MotoArt, which makes furniture from aircraft parts, and which Bread Loaf moved from WooCommerce to Shopify.
Mark says Bread Loaf still relies heavily on referrals, and he wants a steadier flow of new appointments.
🌾 Why email instead of ads
Mark calls running ads an emotional roller coaster. Email is steadier and grows over time. After bringing on a partner in 2018 or 2019, he rebranded the agency as Bread Loaf and productized its retention service as Retention Labs.
The channels build on each other: email first, then SMS, push notifications through Tapcart, and direct mail. Mark says retention makes up 30 to 35% of attributed revenue for clients on the low end, and 60 to 70% for clients on all four channels.
“email is more like farming running ads is more like hunting”
Mark Milutin, 15:31
📊 Upselling and pricing
Mark only upsells after proving results on one channel. His base retainer is $3,500 a month for two email campaigns a week. On top of that is a commission based on a percentage of revenue, which he aims to bring in an extra $3,000 to $5,000 a month.
He also talks about losing one of his biggest clients after more than four years. He says Bread Loaf grew them from $40,000 to $50,000 a month to $1.5 to $2 million a month, and they eventually trained an in-house team. Mark ended things on good terms and points out that clients often come back.
“let's just kill it for you on one channel to start and then let's talk about what else we can do”
Mark Milutin, 18:03
🏥 Bread Loaf Healthcare and partner income
Mark wants to reach $500,000 to $700,000 a month in the next 18 to 24 months. Part of that plan is Bread Loaf Healthcare, which runs local ads and email for medical practices using GoHighLevel. It has been in beta since October, and Mark thinks it could scale to 200 clients.
Bread Loaf also earns affiliate income from eCommerce tech partners and is a partner with Shopify and Klaviyo. Mark sometimes does small technical fixes for free in exchange for reviews. He describes eCommerce as three pillars, agencies, brands and tech companies, with people moving between them all the time.
“there's a life cycle to every client”
Mark Milutin, 21:24
🚀 Building a $100 million agency
Mark isn't planning to exit any time soon, but he still wants to build a business that could be sold. He was inspired by hearing Neil Patel describe his 800+ person, nine-figure agency on My First Million. His long-term goal is a $100 million a year agency, and he has recorded a video for himself that is set to go live in five years.
Mark offers free retention audits and says he is looking for an operations integrator to help him get there.
About Mark Milutin
Mark Milutin is from Southern California and has run his agency for about eight and a half years. Bread Loaf focuses on retention and lifecycle marketing for DTC brands, which Mark says makes up about 70% of the work. It also has a small paid media team, a CRO team, a Shopify replatforming service and a creative studio. Its productized retention service is called Retention Labs.
Before that, Mark was director of ops at Stealth Venture Labs and worked at big ad agencies and in entertainment production and experiential marketing. He started an online wine club in 2010 and shut it down in 2016.
Episode links
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