#318: The $9/month membership earning more than $500k/year AND buying Smart Passive Income — Pt. 2 featuring Liz Wilcox

My guest is Liz Wilcox, the creator behind Email Marketing Membership — a $9/month newsletter template subscription she’s kept at the same price for six years, that now generates close to half a million dollars a year. Liz built the whole thing as a single parent with no support system and no reliable internet, working from library parking lots and Lowe’s lots during nap times. She launched in February 2021, kept the price at $9, maintained a 5% churn rate, and grew to over 4,400 paying members. She and her sister run the operation — no upsells, no masterminds, no group coaching. Just the membership. Then in April 2026, she quietly closed a deal to buy Smart Passive Income — the 18-year-old creator education brand Pat Flynn built from scratch. She spent five months operating as SPI’s director of community before anyone outside the deal knew it had happened. This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation. Last week, Pat and Matt told the seller’s story. This week, Liz tells the buyer’s. In this episode, we talk about: Why the $9 price point has worked for six years — and why she’ll never raise it How she grew a half-million-dollar membership without social media, using podcasts and a 50% affiliate program What had to be true before she’d pull the trigger on buying SPI How she’s thinking about merging EMM with the SPI community — and why she doesn’t have the answer yet By the end of this episode, you will understand how a $9 offer can compound into a half-million-dollar business — and what it actually looks like when someone buys a legacy brand and tries to honor it. Liz Wilcox Email Marketing Membership Smart Passive Income Episode 317: Pat Flynn & Matt Gartland — Part 1 Superfans by Pat Flynn Full transcript and show notes *** TIMESTAMPS (00:00) Introduction (01:14) The $9 membership (03:48) The retention rate (07:54) Low stakes for both sides (11:06) The four thousand member math (12:39) AI and the membership (14:55) Who this model isn’t for (16:38) Growing without social media (20:23) Single parent, no backup plan (31:41) Buying Smart Passive Income (34:51) What made the deal happen (43:49) Why she hasn’t cross-promoted yet (48:34) Merging the two memberships *** RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE #317: Selling Smart Passive Income (And What We Can Learn From It) — Pt. 1 featuring Pat Flynn and Matt Gartland *** ASK CREATOR SCIENCE Submit your question here *** WHEN YOU’RE READY 📬 Creator Science Newsletter 🚀 Get CreatorHQ (creator operating system) 🧪 Join The Lab (private membership community) 🧞‍♂️ Get a Personalized Offer *** CONNECT 🐦 Connect on Twitter 📸 Connect on Instagram 💼 Connect on LinkedIn 📹 Subscribe on YouTube *** SPONSORS 💼 View all sponsors Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices