$2.4M selling illegal catnip, $6M boozy fruit punch, and $420k selling SFX for filmmakers.

Hey starters - happy Thursday!

This week, we're featuring 4 amazing case studies + tips on how to grow your email list!

#1: Chris made $2.4M selling pre-rolled joints filled with catnip:

Chris Glissman started Meowijuana - a company that sells catnip in the form of weed.

When Chris realized catnip looks and grows just like "grass", he decided to be the first to formally market a product that way in the pet industry.

He started the business with $35k on credit cards and is now making $2.4M/year.

His secret? Amazon - half of their annual online sales come from Amazon, but there are certain things to look out for in order to remain profitable with the channel.

Read the full story here.

EDITORS NOTE: Want to see more founders taking the pet industry by storm? We put a full list together here.

#2: Lisa went from dumpster diving to running a $120K fashion blog:

Lisa Mecham started Creative Fashion Blog - a profitable sewing business and fashion blog. 

After she was too broke to afford baby products, Lisa learned how to sew and built a wildly successful fashion brand.

Lisa started her business with $200 and is now doing $120K/year with one employee. 

Her secret? Pinterest traffic - she creates professional video and graphics for free which drives users to her website.

Check out Lisa's story here.

EDITORS NOTE: Want to learn more about Pinterest? Brittany Finkle told us exactly how she grew to 2M monthly Pinterest impressions.

#3: COVID grew Justin's business to $6M/year:

Remember our interview last year with Justin from BeatBox Beverages?

We followed up with him and their business is doing better than ever (even during COVID times).

When alcohol sales were deemed essential during the pandemic, they saw record numbers and their monthly sales doubled. 

He's now doing $500k/month and has grown their team to 18 employees.

Learn more about Justin's successful party punch business here.

EDITORS NOTE: Want to learn how to start a drinkware business? We put together a step-by-step guide here.

#4: Steven built a $420K business selling special effects packages for filmmakers:

Steven Liszka started BIGFILMS.

Being a filmmaker himself, he understood the struggle of achieving a great looking film, so he validated the idea and took it to market.

What started as a side hustle is now doing $420k/year with zero employees.

His secret? Facebook ads - in less than one year, his revenues jumped from $2K to $35k/month

Steven dives deep into how Facebook ads changed his entire business here.

EDITORS NOTE: Want to learn more about Facebook and social media ads. Go here.

#5: Guide: How to grow your email list and make more 💰 through email marketing:

Did you know a whopping 22% of your email list is wiped out every year?

That's a lot of customers.

We put together a guide that shares all the different ways you can start growing your email list today.

#6: Are you ready to boost your revenue?

I want to give a shoutout to our long-time sponsor Klaviyo.

Using Klaviyo will open up a massive, untapped sales channel and bring you closer to your customers!

I'm a huge fan of the product (I use it for Starter Story and love the segmentation/drip features). I've also been able to collect so many emails using their website form integration - my list growing over 3k/month now 😲

Here are just some of the impressive businesses we've interviewed that use Klaviyo for email marketing and are raving about the product - all great interviews you should check out as well!

• Brumate ($1.1M/mo at 23 years old)
• Sheets & Giggles ($76k/mo in just 6 months)
• Beardbrand ($100k+/mo - 1.5M YouTube subscribers)
• Abs Protein Pancakes ($25k/mo passive income business)
• Xero Shoes ($460k/mo - featured on Shark Tank)
• The Longhairs ($30k/mo)
• Framed Tweets ($25k/mo)

Level up your email marketing with 👉 Klaviyo!

(And thank you for your support 🙏)

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Thanks for reading! See you next week.

- Pat Walls, Founder @ Starter Story

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