In the last year, I built what is now Chanti Zak Marketing Inc. (I’M AN INC! Fancy, I know) from the ground up. From zero to banking over 6-figures… all thanks to my signature service: quiz funnels.

Stripe tells me my net sales have increased by +1,304.8% which makes me want to blast Sia and have a dance party in my living room because a year ago I was struggling just to pay rent and maintain my grape kombucha habit.

SIDE NOTE: *Chicka chika reeeeeewind* Allow me to interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to break down that 6-figure bomb right there.

Let’s face it, as online entrepreneurs, we’re surrounded by 6-figure success porn with every highly targeted FB ad. But it’s not always as sexy as it sounds. The above figure is revenue before taxes and expenses, not profit. Mmmk, so there are no wooly eyes on my turf but it’s still pretty darn cool and comfortable nonetheless.]

This past year has been such a wild ride. I’ve worked with the dreamiest of dream clients including Joanna Wiebe, John Lee Dumas, Rick Mulready, Jenna Kutcher, Amy Porterfield, Carrie Green, and more.

#humblebragz: one of my quizzes has generated over 50,000 leads, another one brought in $25K in additional revenue in the first 2-weeks after it launched and continues to rake in extra moola on the reg. For my fab client, another was able to help a client grow her email list more in one month than she had in 3 years— and then go on to double the new members in her membership program. Oh, and average cost per lead? Like .70 or less…for realz.

That’s just the first layer of the tennis ball sized jawbreaker of results that quiz funnels have had for the 25+ clients I’ve served in the last 365 days.

It’s been a year of saying YES in spite of my fear. A year of owning what I’m good at and shedding the skin of my own insecurities in order to grow a new one. Only to repeat the process again and again.

It’s been a year of hard work, late nights and 5 am wake ups, self-care and self-loathing, elation and devastation, community and friendships, and feeling like the dumbest person in the room and loving every minute of it.

The Not So Secret Recipe for a Year of Crazy Growth

1. Invest In Relationships

When I was first getting started as a copywriter I struggled to see other (more successful) copywriters as my peers. I was operating all by my lonesome and had no idea where to turn to for support.

The Copywriter Club changed that completely. Copywriters I’ve long looked up to like Joel Klettke, Laura Belgray, and Hillary Weiss were in there openly sharing advice they could easily charge for. It changed everything for me. The collective hive mind of varied experience showed me what was possible.

When Kira Hug and Rob Marsh launched that Copywriter Accelerator program for the first time I was all over it. If it wasn’t for them I probably wouldn’t have zeroed in on quizzes as a niche. They’ve been my steadys for the last year and my gratitude for their expert guidance is everlasting.

2. Speaking of Relationships…The Personal Ones Matter Just as Much

I was recently interviewed for the Mistakes Make Magic podcast (as of today my episode isn’t live yet but should be some time in June). I’ve made a lot of mistakes in business and in life so Catherine and I had no shortage of things to talk about.

During the podcast I opened up about something I don’t talk about often—when I first started out as a copywriter I was in a seriously toxic relationship. I didn’t know any better. I didn’t know what a healthy relationship felt like. And I certainly didn’t recognize my own self-worth ⇐ something that’s so critical to success.

It wasn’t until I got out of that situation and rebuilt my own sense of self that I was able to see the value I brought to the table in business and otherwise. We can pretend that business and life are separate, but in my experience, they’re inextricably linked.

I’m happy to report that I’m in an amazing relationship today, with a partner who lifts me up on the daily and is so patient and helpful.

3. Treat Everything As An Experiment

The truth is building a business is the best personal development course you could ever take. It’s easy to take failures to heart. It’s easy to say no because you’re terrified of messing up. But it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. When you treat everything like it’s one big experiment, it’s a whole lot easier to be lighthearted when your new offer flops.

We put way too much pressure on ourselves to get things right the first time when in reality everything is a work in progress. The process I use to create quiz funnels has changed TONS since I first started. I keep refining it and experimenting with new ideas and it just keeps getting better.

4. Invest In a Cozy Nest

Fun fact #1: Niche is french for nest.

Fun fact #2: I’m terrified of most birds (except hummingbirds).

Fun fact #3: Having a niche doesn’t have to mean you’re stuck in a restrictive mess of twigs and bird poop for the rest of your career.

It can be spacious and fun while still being lucrative. My first foray in niching was the opposite. I decided that I would only work in the natural health and wellness space, which was fine for awhile until I got tired of writing about weight loss hacks and green juice.

Quiz funnels are a niche that allows me to work with any business I know I can help. In the past year, I’ve worked with entrepreneurs in online marketing, health and wellness, e-Commerce, personal coaching, relationships, and more. There’s never a dull moment, and I like it that way.

5. “You can have a lot, but you can’t have it all.”

Of these four things, you can choose three: career, family, health, friends.

… Maybe you can half-ass them and have all four, but personally, I’ve never been able to juggle that.

For every achievement, there is an opportunity cost. Because for everything you say yes to, you have to say no to something else. It’s a pickle commonly referred to as FOMO.

Of the four things above, my major focus for the last year has been…

1. 1. Career

1. 1. Family

1. 1. Health

For the record, my family is way more important to me than my career, but the health and wellbeing of my family is dependant on my having a successful career so that’s where my focus has been.

What that means is I’ve missed weekends with my little boy because I had to crank out client work. I’ve neglected snuggles and Netflix nights with my bae because #deadlines.

But I don’t think career success is dependant on dramatic sacrifices. I believe we can find balance, it just takes some serious savvy and a major mindset shift (Tarzan is my fave example of a copywriter living this truth).

The past few months have felt way more fulfilling because I’ve created clear boundaries that ensure I can still have time for my family, health, and friendships without neglecting my business.

6. Business Personal Development 101: Your Business Can Only Grow as Much as You Do

When I was 10, I sulked around Chapters for an hour as I begged my mom to buy me some cheesy personal development workbook. Of course she caved.

I went home and worked through the entire book. At 10, I had my first Oprah style AHA moment and I ran downstairs in tears telling my parents I wanted to join the Peace Corps (typical Aquarius— side note: someday).

Since then I’ve been a total personal development junkie. I love it all. But what’s been more impactful than all the books, courses, coaches, and every other PD endeavor I’ve ever been on is building a business.

It forces you to embrace your strengths and work on your weak spots. Learning more about myself has been critical to my own success. Asking for help in the areas that I know I don’t excel at has made all the difference.

7. The 20% of Actions That Created 80% of My Results

If you’re a copywriter or online entrepreneur reading this when you’re just starting out, 6-figures might feel totally unattainable. That’s how I felt too so I want to demystify this whole thang and break down the three things that made the biggest difference for me.

• Relationships

Creating genuine friendships with other copywriters and entrepreneurs I look up to has been the number one time and energy investment I’ve made EVER.

• Podcasts

I pitched one business and marketing podcast every single day for 2-weeks which resulted in two interviews critical to my growth. But really, all it takes is one well-received interview on a podcast that your ideal client listens to.

Want to pitch podcasts but not sure where to start? Make it personable, relevant, and all about the value you’re going to offer their audience. If you really want to knock their sox off, send a short video pitch too.

• Referrals

Results = referrals. My biggest source of clients has been referrals from happy clients, which is truly the best compliment.

Wondering how you can get more referrals? Welp, sometimes it’s as simple as asking.

I recently attended a training with John Jantsch, author of Referral Engine, and the main takeaways were:

1. Do referral worthy work.
2. Ask and incentivize. ⇐ I’ve yet to experiment with incentivized referrals but I know lots of service providers and copywriters who use this model successfully.

8. Create a Signature Service and Own It

Having a signature service goes beyond niching. It’s the golden egg that sits in that little nest you’ve created. Like anything worthwhile, it takes time to develop. My signature service started out as just a quiz, but I soon realized that wasn’t enough. My clients needed an entire quiz funnel SYSTEM in order to maximize their results.

So what the H does a quiz funnel system entail?

Well, obviously it includes a badass on-brand quiz including set-up, in addition to a compelling welcome sequence (sometimes a different one for each audience segment), sales emails, Facebook ad copy, landing page copy, and my support for 30 days after they launch in case certain things need tweaking. ⇐ and the value of all of that? Is HUGE.

I mean, on the conservative side, what would a few extra thousand leads with an automated welcome and sales sequence mean for your business? More moola. More connection points. More freedom to do whatever the eff you want and stop worrying so much about sales. Because of that, my siggy service doesn’t come cheap.

How I Plan On Continuing this Badass Biz Growth Trajectory

From struggling freelancer with zero boundaries working for pennies a word to giving my all for a company that didn’t value my work in the slightest, to today where I’m working with super successful inspiring entrepreneurs from all walks of life.

“Once a profound truth has been seen, it cannot be ‘unseen’. There’s no ‘going back’ to the person you were. Even if such a possibility did exist… why would you want to?” — Dave Sim

I wish I could tell you I totally have my sh*t together. I don’t.

What I do know is there’s no going backwards, it’s time to take the next step and teach other business owners, online entrepreneurs, and copywriters how to use quiz funnels as a tool to create crazy growth.

Introducing…

The Grow with Quizzes Beta Program

An 8-Week Program for Marketers, Copywriters, and Business Owners Who Want a System for Qualified Leads on Autopilot

Live training sessions, guest experts, every template you’ll ever need, a strategy session with yours truly, and a full review of your quiz funnel at the end of the 8-weeks. This is not a course, it’s a hands-on training and I’ll be helping you create an evergreen lead generation and sales asset every step of the way.

If you want to…

• • Learn the exact system I used to help my client Jenna Kutcher attract 50,000 new leads (in less than 6 months)

• • Get the secret recipe for a follow-up sequence that has the power to boost your bottom line (without you having to do any extra work) to the tune of $25K in 2 weeks like another one of my clients

• • Segment your audience right off the bat— no annoying surveys or ConfusionSoft necessary

• • Accomplish all of that while getting 10X as many leads from your opt-in freebie

• Become a better copywriter and use the psychology of quizzes to improve your relationships and increase your sales

… Then shazam! The beta round of the Quiz Funnel System starts August 1st and I’m offering the first four takers $500 OFF the total investment. Click here to schedule a free consult and find out if the Grow with Quizzes program is right for you.