Start a Small Group Program With One Email
One plain email to the people most likely to say yes, one call where you teach what you promised, one Google Doc with the offer. The group starts next week.
By James Schramko · Updated November 2026
You have an email database or a social audience and you want to start a small group program from it. Keep it simple and get the group going before you worry about building much. No site, no cart, no fancy funnel yet.
Monday, write the email below in your own words and send it to the people on your list most likely to want this. That is the whole first step.
The Email
Craft a very simple email, Dean Jackson style, and send it to the most likely prospects. Something like this:
Subject: Get together?
Firstname... Next week, a few of us are getting together to discuss [intensely relevant topic]. I'll be sharing [something they would really like to know].
Would you like to join us?
Hit reply and I'll send you the details.
Regards,
YourName
The topic has to be intensely relevant to them, and the thing you share has to be something they really want to know. That is the hook, and every step after this reminds them of it.
The Reply
When they reply, send the call time and the link, and remind them of the hook topic. Some back-and-forth is desirable if they engage. Each exchange tells you who is really interested.
The Call
On the Zoom call:
- Make it social.
- Thank them for attending.
- Remind them of the hook topic.
- Explain why you run this call: to bring together like-minded people, to share what you know, and to give a glimpse of the work you do inside the group program you are starting next week.
- Tell them you will show them how to become a founding member later in the discussion.
- Teach the thing you promised.
- Field questions.
- Invite them to do this type of call regularly in your program.
- Ask them to tell you if they are interested and want details.
- Send the details after the call.
The Offer Doc
To the people who are in, send a Google Doc sales outline covering:
- The name of the program
- Why it is different from other programs
- How it works
- What they get from it
- When it starts
- Proof of your result
- How much the investment is
- Risk reversal and guarantees
- The call to action: tell you yes
If it is high ticket, add an application at this step. The coaching application call framework covers the qualification-first version of this campaign.
Payment and First Module
Send a payment link. PayPal, Stripe or a wire transfer all work. Then set up your first module. Later you can build a site and a cart.
You can change and adapt any of this. I am just giving you the flow. Swap virtual for in-person, email for DM, a new program for an existing one, a Google Doc for an email close.
Self-Diagnostic
Think back to the last time you tried to launch something. Did you build the site, the cart and the modules before anyone had said yes? How many people had told you they were in before you started building? If the answer is none, this campaign reverses the order: get the yes first, build after.
What To Do This Week
Monday, send the "Get together?" email to your most likely prospects. As replies come in, send each person the call time and link and remind them of the hook. While you wait, write the Google Doc outline, every line in the list above. Set the call for next week, teach what you promised, and send the doc and the payment link the same day to everyone who said they were in.
Quick Reference
- One simple email: "Get together?", the hook topic, something they want to know, hit reply.
- Reply with the call details and the hook.
- On the call: social, thank them, teach what you promised, show them how to become a founding member.
- Google Doc offer to the people who are in. High ticket: add an application.
- Payment link, then the first module. Site and cart later.
This campaign sells a program of your own. To get paid a share of a client's growth, the deal structure is on Get Paid 10 Cents on Every Extra Dollar You Make a Client.
Picking the hook topic and writing the offer doc for your own list is the kind of work I do with Mentor clients.