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

Peep Laja. He’s 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’s certification programs along with his world-favorite optimization blog.

Famous Five:

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

Time Stamped Show Notes:

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

3 Key Points:

• As an agency, the amount of time spent working with small and big companies is the same, so it’s better to stick with the big ones.
• Self-paced learning faces more churn than live courses.
• Think big and don’t just settle on what you think you can do—aim higher.

Resources Mentioned:

• The Top Inbox  – The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences
• Organifi – The juice was Nathan’s life saver during his trip in Southeast Asia
• Klipfolio – Track your business performance across all departments for FREE
• Acuity Scheduling – Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
• Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible
• Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he’s driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books
• Freshbooks – Nathan doesn’t 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