Inbox Insider #19 - June 8, 2025

Welcome to Issue #19 of "Inbox Insiders": Your Email List-Building Backstage Pass

In this issue:

1. By The Numbers: What worked and what didn't
2. Deep Dive: When in doubt...sketch it out
3. Up Next: What I'm working on this week

Welcome to Issue #19

"Inbox Insider" is my Sunday newsletter sharing the behind-the-scenes of what I'm doing to grow my email list to 100,000.

I share what works, what doesn't, and how I'm growing.

Thanks for reading.

Let's dive in:

By The Numbers:

My Email List

• Total Subscribers: 14,205 (last week: 16,238)
• Added last week (net): -2,018 (last week: 0)
• 5* Subscribers (engaged in the last 30 days): 9,611 (last week: 9,216)
• Analysis: I purged some icy-cold subscribers from my list, so it went down by about 2,000 people. Can't help them if they haven't opened an email in 9 months.

My Ad Account - Lead Magnets:

• Ad Spend: $454 (last week: $454)
• Gross Leads from FB: 259 (last week: 284)
• Cost per lead: $1.76 (last week: $1.60)
• Analysis: Easy. Steady. Stable. Didn't think about it.

Instagram (@emailschool): Started Feb 1st

• Total Subscribers: 445 (+2 this week)

​Email School (Email-Focused Membership):

1. Paying Members: 226 (-5 from last week)
2. Monthly Recurring Revenue: $4,117 (-$101/mo from last week)

Other Audiences:

• ​LinkedIn Newsletter: (146 subscribers; +3 this week)
• ​Threads: 24 followers (+0 this week)
• ​YouTube: 652 (+3 this week)

Deep Dive: This is Sketchy

It's summertime, and my wife and I are trying to keep our kids busy.

I remember what I did in the summer: I spent time alone in my room, drawing.

I sketched out war scenes, monsters, and barbarians.

I traced comic books with onion skin paper.

My mom called it "Quiet Time," her one-hour period of daily solace.

I don't think it was punishment. I remember loving it.

VISUAL LEARNING

I've heard it said that "humans can process an image 60,000 times faster than reading information."

Let's try it:

Which did your brain process faster?

The text version or the image?

Exactly.

So, whenever someone asked me about a complicated marketing concept, I grabbed a marker.

One day, I sketched out an entire launch framework with a Sharpie and a piece of printer paper.

Step by step.

Frame by frame.

No more explaining with words. Look at the pictures.

SKETCHY V2

I shared the launch maps with my coaching clients.

They loved it.

They "got it." Many for the first time.

So I made them awesome.

I used an app called SketchWow which is kinda like Lucid Chart with a hand-drawn aesthetic.

My first attempts were terrible.

But I got better.

I sketched out 3 launch frameworks:

• The Laidback Launch (get your first round of customers)
• The Spotlight Launch (a 6-week Jeff Walker-style launch)
• The Secret Knock Launch (an evergreen funnel)

This is where the story gets weird.

I printed them out at FedEx like I was in college.

I bought a $28 laminator from Amazon like I was a mommy blogger.

I set up a "free+shipping" funnel in SamCart.

...and sold over $12,000 of "Launch Maps" (laminated sketches of my launch frameworks).

Here's what they looked like:

​

Pretty cool, right?

SO WHAT?

If you've been reading this newsletter, I've been tinkering with a new offer.

It's called a "Funnel Fast Lane Session."

(You can see the details of it here if you're curious.)

I had 72 people inquire about the offer, but no takers after 2 weeks.

They weren't getting it.

So I fired up SketchWow and drew this yesterday:

I've made five sales in the last 24 hours.

People had trouble visualizing what we'd do together, but the Sketch made it feel real.

"Oh! That makes sense. That's what I want."

Invoices sent.

Invoices paid.

HOW TO USE SKETCHES IN YOUR BUSINESS

You don't have to use SketchWow.

• Use the whiteboard in Zoom or Canva.
• Use the Notes app on your phone.
• Sketch on your iPad.
• Draw on a flip chart.

Doesn't have to be pretty or perfect.

People just need to see it.

What would you sketch?

Glad you asked:

Transformation Trails (aka a "Success Path")

This is the progression I take people through in my 8-week group coaching cohort called The Laidback Launchpad.

Note the milestones and checkpoints along the way.

5-DAY CHALLENGE FRAMEWORK

Whenever I host a 5-day challenge, I show them the "machine" we're building.

VIP DAY WORKFLOW:

I've sold dozens of VIP days and put this image in the Google Doc sales page

And so on...

WHEN IN DOUBT: SKETCH IT OUT

First, draw it on a piece of paper or a whiteboard.

Sometimes I'll put the "steps" on post-it notes so I can visualize the items in a space.

Then, use SketchWow to make it look awesome.

Remember, when your prospects are in doubt...

You need to sketch it out.

Thanks for reading.

~ Cody "Sketchy" Burch

What's Next:

1. I'm hosting a new workshop called "Flashback Funnels" where I share my system for turning old, underused resources into cold hard cash. Click here to register your seat.​
2. I have 3 more 1:1 spots in June to help you launch a new revenue stream in a matter of a few hours. Buyer beware: we'll go extremely quickly. We take your resources and audience and bolt them onto my systems and secret army of CustomGPTs and catapult you forward. Reply with "Catapult," and I'll get you the details.

Thanks for reading this issue of "Inbox Insiders."

See you next week,

~ Cody

​

​

​