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My Student Asked How To Launch A SaaS With Zero Audience. Here's The "Easier Yes" Strategy That Can Get You Endless Subscribers For Your Offer... Yesterday we had the weekly consulting call for my Rapid Scale Mastery students... And a really smart question came up from one of my successful students. He runs a multi-seven-figure business and knows advertising inside and out. His question: "How can I launch and grow a SaaS, having in mind that I've never done it before?" "I don't have an audience, I don't have affiliates, I don't want to do organic stuff... what do I do?" We went through a couple scenarios, but here's what I told him... Selling a SaaS or software is like selling any other subscription. And anything subscription is hard to sell unless you approach it the right way. Let me show you what I learned when selling subscriptions... === The Subscription Problem Nobody Talks About Here's what I've found: Most people don't want MORE recurring payments in their credit cards. People have massive resistance to subscribing to anything new. They already have their bills to pay. They pay for phone, insurance, other stuff... If you ask them if they want to pay for something else, every month, the answer is mostly no. I learned this after helping Frank Kern grow his Inner Circle to $800K/month in recurring revenue. Even at $497/month for Frank's audience, it was still really hard to sell. Think about that. Frank Kern. Massive audience. One of the smartest marketers alive. $497/month. Still hard to sell. If it's hard for Frank, what's left for the rest of us, right? === A Different Approach For Scaling Subscription Models Unless you have one of these advantages, direct subscription sales are hard man: Advantage 1: Aggressive Affiliate Program Like HighLevel did. Really sexy compensation plan that got affiliates excited to promote. Advantage 2: Huge Existing Audience Like ClickFunnels had from Russell Brunson's following. Advantage 3: VC Backing with Deep Pockets Willing to lose money for years to acquire users. I had an agency client who was VC-backed. Their CEO literally told me: "I don't care if it takes us two years to break even." They were selling a $20/month subscription and willing to pay up to $400 to acquire each subscriber. That's 20 months to break even. Most bootstrapped entrepreneurs can't afford that math. (Unless, again, you have deep pockets) === The Real Math Behind Subscription Sales In my experience, when you send traffic directly to a subscription model, here's what generally happens: $37/month SaaS: You'll pay $150-250 to acquire each subscriber $97/month community: You'll pay $400-600 to acquire each subscriber $197/month software: You'll pay $800-1,200 to acquire each subscriber You need to wait 4-6 months (or longer) just to break even on each customer. That assumes they don't cancel. So we need to do something different... === The "Easier Yes" Strategy Here's what works better: You put the subscription behind an "easier yes." And the easier yes is always a low-ticket offer. This is exactly what Russell Brunson did with ClickFunnels (besides going all-in on affiliates). He didn't try to sell ClickFunnels directly to cold traffic. Instead, he sold information (DotCom Secrets, Traffic Secrets, workshops, a certification, etc.). The purpose wasn't to make money on these things. You don't make money selling books (unless you're Paulo Coelho or Wilbur Smith). The purpose was that a fraction of those front-end buyers would say yes to ClickFunnels. Some would join the monthly subscription immediately. Others would take the trial offer. He was doubling down on acquisition methods. === My Current Newsletter Example I'm doing the same thing with my newsletter. I don't try to sell my $37/month newsletter to cold traffic. Instead, I sell: - $4.95 Rapid Scale Framework - $27 AI Ads Workshop - $47 Low-Ticket Profits - $12 Rapid Creatives Then I upsell the newsletter to people who just bought something small. Around 10-15% of front-end buyers take the newsletter upsell. But here's the key: I'm mostly profitable/break even on the front-end, so I can afford to wait for the subscription revenue. === The Three-Tier Upsell Strategy Want to take it further? Here's what I'm testing now: - Tier 1: Monthly subscription ($37/month) - Tier 2: Yearly subscription ($297/year - better deal) - Tier 3: Paid trial ($1 for 14 days) I present both the monthly and the yearly on the same page (we did this for Dan Fleyshman and it worked really well). If they say no to that, they see the trial. This increases average order value like crazy. Some people prefer annual billing if they can save some bucks. Others want to try first. You're giving options instead of forcing one choice. === The VC-Backed Client Case Study Remember that VC-backed client paying $400 to get $20/month subscribers? Here's what we did: Before: Direct subscription sales $400 cost per subscriber 20-month payback period After: "Easier Yes" strategy $27 front-end course 12% upsell to subscription $120 cost per subscriber (including front-end costs) 6-month payback period (minus liquidation) We went from 20 months to 6 months payback. Needless to say they were super happy. But do you need to way for 6 months? Hell naw! You can liquidate a lot faster... that was their case, and it worked for them. === Why This Works So Much Better Benefit 1: Faster Liquidation Instead of waiting 6 months to break even, you might break even in 30 days. Benefit 2: Scalable Acquisition You can turn up ad spend without killing cash flow. Benefit 3: Larger Prospect Pool More people will buy a $27 guide than commit to $97/month. Benefit 4: Trust Building They experience your value before committing to subscription. Benefit 5: List Building You're building a list of BUYERS, not just leads. (And you get leads too, which takes me to the next thing...) === The Backend Sequence Strategy Here's where it gets really powerful... Maybe 10% of front-end buyers take your subscription upsell immediately. What about the other 90%? That's where your backend sequence kicks in. I call it a mile-long "Bribe Sequence" You ethically bribe people to join your subscription through: - Exclusive bonuses for subscribers - Limited-time discounts - Additional training modules - Community access previews - Exclusive calls with experts, etc. === Real Implementation Framework Step 1: Create Your "Easier Yes" Offer - Price it $7-47 (impulse buy range) - Make it valuable standalone - Related to your SaaS/subscription - Solve immediate problem Step 2: Build Your Upsell Stack - Immediate upsell to subscription - Multiple pricing options - Trial offer as downsell Step 3: Design Backend Sequence - 30-day email sequence minimum (ideally 90-180 days) - Weekly subscription promotions - Bonus content for subscribers Step 4: Test and Optimize - Track front-end conversion rates - Monitor upsell percentages - Optimize subscription messaging - Improve trial-to-paid conversion === The SaaS-Specific Application For SaaS businesses specifically: Front-End Offers That Work: - Industry-specific guides/toolkits - Templates and frameworks - Mini-courses on your software's use case - Problem-solving worksheets Subscription Positioning: "Now that you have the framework, want the software to implement it?" "Ready to automate what you just learned?" "Want the tool that makes this 10x faster?" We're selling better and faster results, not "just" another subscription. === The Bottom Line Don't try to sell subscriptions directly to cold traffic unless you have deep pockets or massive advantages. Put your subscription behind an "easier yes." Build trust with a low-ticket offer first. Then upsell and follow up to convert subscribers. This approach works whether you're selling: - SaaS software - Online communities - Newsletters - Membership sites - Any recurring revenue model basically Anyway, give it a shot and let me know what you think! And if you want to dive deeper into subscription strategies, offer creation, and advanced funnel optimization, I just opened four new spots in Rapid Scale Mastery. You get weekly strategy calls where we analyze this kind of high-level stuff, plus I'll review your ads, offers, copy, positioning, and funnels personally. You also get access to all my low-ticket offers, the newsletter, and the AI tools I'm building. Go here: https://rapidscaleframework.com/apply These spots usually fill up fast, so don't wait if you're interested. Have a great week! Hernan