Episode Details

If your email list is underperforming, the problem probably isn't your copy. It's your domain reputation, your segmentation, and the fact that you're mailing the wrong people.

Ryan Healy has been in email marketing since 2002 and has sent over a billion emails across brands like Organifi, BIOptimizers, and Agora Financial. He's now co-founder of Upsender, an ESP (email marketing service platform) and list management agency. This episode is a masterclass in how email actually works in 2026.

What you'll learn:

• Why a "million person list" is probably worth nothing, and how to diagnose whether your list is actually viable
• The deliverability fundamentals that determine whether your emails land or disappear, including domain reputation, IP health, and sender scoring
• How to structure split tests properly so you're optimizing toward revenue, not vanity metrics
• Why segmenting down to your most engaged users is the fastest way to rehab a struggling account
• What the brands that are actually scaling on email have in common, and where the ones that plateau are falling short

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About Ryan Healy:

Ryan Healy co-founded Upsender, an ESP and email agency that has worked with roughly 70-80 clients over the past three and a half years, including major players in health, wellness, and financial publishing. He's one of the few people in this industry who has seen email evolve from local server software to AI-driven personalization at scale.

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Connect with him at:

Website: https://upsender.com/ 

Email: ryan@upsender.com

X: https://x.com/HeyHealy 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeyHealy/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heyhealy/ 

Telegram: https://t.me/HeyHealy 

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Key moments:

• 7:00 - When Ryan realized email was a backend revenue engine, not just a channel
• 17:00 - The shared IP vs. dedicated IP breakdown
• 20:00 - Primary inbox strategy and the Troy Erickson method that added 5 raw percentage points in open rate
• 29:00 - The right way to run email split tests in sequence
• 34:00 - Why Ryan built his own ESP and what it does differently
• 41:00 - The exact anatomy of an email list business that scales vs. one that dies

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About The Built To Scale Podcast:

Follow us on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/built-to-scale-agency/ 

For more information about Built To Scale visit: https://www.builttoscale.co/  

If you have any questions, suggestions, or ideas for a future episode, please email podcast@builttoscale.co.