EP 620: ConversionXL Doing $200k+/Mo With 3 Products, Live Masterclass, Agency, and Self-Serve with CEO Peep Leja

Published: April 5, 2017, 9 a.m.

Peep Laja. He\u2019s the founder of CXL. He was voted as the most influential, conversion rate optimization expert in the world. He helps fast-growing companies grow faster through his services, coaching and CXL Institute\u2019s certification programs along with his world-favorite optimization blog.

Famous Five:

  • Favorite Book? \u2013 Used to be Ready, Fire, Aim
  • What CEO do you follow? \u2013\xa0 No
  • Favorite online tool? \u2014 Google Analytics and Intercom
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?\u2014 No
  • If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? \u2013 Peep wished that he had thought bigger when he was younger

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Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 01:33 \u2013 Nathan introduces Peep to the show
  • 02:18 \u2013 CXL is an optimization company
    • 02:30 \u2013 CXL does conversion optimization
    • 02:40 \u2013 CXL also teaches about conversion optimization and everything a company needs to grow fast
  • 03:13 \u2013 CXL has been an agency model for the longest time
  • 03:31 \u2013 Conversion XL Institute was launched in 2016
    • 03:41 \u2013 It also has a monthly subscription
  • 03:52 \u2013 MRR as an agency
  • 04:11 \u2013 In running an agency, it doesn\u2019t make sense to work with small businesses
  • 04:59 \u2013 CXL has a minimum engagement of 3 months
    • 05:06 \u2013 The size of the client determines their length of stay with CXL
  • 05:17 \u2013 CXL agency currently has an average of 15 clients
  • 05:26 \u2013 Team size is 10
    • 05:32 \u2013 Agency people are mostly based in Estonia
  • 05:38 \u2013 Peep is based in Austin and is mostly working on the institute side
  • 05:54 \u2013 Peep only steps into the agency, if needed
  • 06:08 \u2013 CXL has a blog where most lead generation happens
    • 06:19 \u2013 CXL has 2 full-time writers for the blog
  • 06:35 \u2013 Average MRR
  • 07:10 \u2013 Peep is working on the scaling aspect of the institute
  • 07:32 \u2013 \u201cSelf-paced is not a good model for learning\u201d
  • 07:40 \u2013 Coursera, Udacity and other e-learning platforms struggle with churn
  • 08:16 \u2013 CXL Institute added live courses which are happening in real time
    • 08:30 \u2013 The participation rate is way higher than the self-pace courses
    • 08:38 \u2013 The reasons why the participation rate is higher
  • 09:01 \u2013 Self-pace is priced at $99 a month
    • 09:04 \u2013 Live courses have a one-time fee per course and there are 2 courses per month which are priced from $299 to $499
  • 10:08 \u2013 Average number of students per course
  • 10:41 \u2013 CXL Institute has their predominant list
    • 10:47 \u2013 CXL Institute also uses retargeting
    • 10:56 \u2013 CXL Institute is now starting to explore affiliate marketing
    • 11:09 \u2013 List size
  • 11:24 \u2013 The blog was launched at the end of 2011
    • 11:43 \u2013 The pop-up is the most effective CTA that drives more opt-ins
    • 12:18 \u2013 Peep shares how to make a pop-up for a blog
    • 12:33 \u2013 CXL Institute is using Bounce Exchange
    • 12:50 \u2013 \u201cWe try not to annoy the users\u201d
    • 13:04 \u2013 Bounce Exchange CEO was in Episode 253 of the Top
  • 13:27 \u2013 CXL Institute does a revenue-share model with the instructors
    • 13:34 \u2013 The instructors are marketing their classes on their own, as well
  • 14:18 \u2013 The live course inclusions
    • 15:02 \u2013 It is like a one day workshop
  • 15:30 \u2013 The big companies are the ones who buy the self-paced courses
  • 15:52 \u2013 CXL Institute currently has 1 certification program
    • 16:04 \u2013 CXL Institute is adding 2-3 certifications quarterly
  • 16:30 \u2013 Peep initially thought the self-paced would be for small businesses
  • 17:30 \u2013 Annual signup is 20-25%
  • 18:10 \u2013 CXL Institute is having a conference called CXL Live
    • 18:16 \u2013 A whole resort is booked for the conference
    • 18:30 \u2013 The conference will be at Hyatt Regency Hill Country ,in San Antonio
    • 18:38 \u2013 A ticket includes a 2-night stay and meals
    • 18:50 \u2013 The conference will be on April 5-7
    • 18:55 \u2013 Visit live.conversionxl.com for more details
  • 21:15 \u2013 The Famous Five

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3 Key Points:

  • As an agency, the amount of time spent working with small and big companies is the same, so it\u2019s better to stick with the big ones.
  • Self-paced learning faces more churn than live courses.
  • Think big and don\u2019t just settle on what you think you can do\u2014aim higher.

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Resources Mentioned:

  • The Top Inbox\xa0 \u2013 The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences
  • Organifi \u2013 The juice was Nathan\u2019s life saver during his trip in Southeast Asia
  • Klipfolio \u2013 Track your business performance across all departments for FREE
  • Acuity Scheduling \u2013 Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
  • Host Gator\xa0\u2013 The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible
  • Audible\xa0\u2013 Nathan uses Audible when he\u2019s driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books
  • Freshbooks \u2013 Nathan doesn\u2019t waste time so he uses Freshbooks to send out invoices and collect his money. Get your free month NOW
  • Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives