Anthony McCarthy

One million leads. Zero ad spend.

Build the List
You Own.

The practical system Anthony McCarthy used to build more than one million leads without spending a penny on advertising—updated for the AI tools that make it faster than ever.

See What's Inside
Foreword by Matt Bacak

Proceeds from this book go to the Mercy Hospital Foundation, supporting the hospital that saved Caroline’s life.

Front cover of List Building with Artificial Intelligence by Anthony McCarthy
leads built
1,000,000+leads built
spent on ads
€0spent on ads
virtual summits
30virtual summits
summit leads
650,000summit leads
from one event
$278,999from one event

43 years in business. 17 years online. Built from Cork.

Owned vs rented

Stop building on rented land.

Social reach can disappear the moment a platform changes its mind. An email list is portable, measurable and owned—it goes with you, and you can count exactly what it does.

Use social to build the list. Never as the list.

Rented

14,000 Facebook followers

→ 11 people reached

Owned

40,000 email subscribers

→ thousands reached

What the book gives you

Nineteen chapters. One argument.

Build the list. Build it intelligently. Use AI to make it faster, smarter and more personal.

Front cover of List Building with Artificial Intelligence by Anthony McCarthy
Front cover
Back cover with the Matt Bacak quote, what is inside the book, and the contributor list
Back cover
01

The Leads Ladder

Seven conversations, from Lookie Loo to High Ticket Buyer.

Each rung has one job, and knowing the job tells you exactly what to send next.

02

The Three Doors

Branding presence, sales page, opt-in page — plus the AI conversation.

Three ways in, one destination: a subscriber you can reach again tomorrow.

03

The Summit Model

Ask the question that changes everything: who has my customer who is not my competition?

Borrow audiences honestly, and the list compounds faster than any ad account.

04

The AI Tool Map

Practical tools for content, chat, automation, segmentation, joint ventures, SMS and voice.

Tools chosen for what they remove from your day, not for how clever they sound.

The Leads Ladder

Seven conversations, not one audience.

Select a rung to see the job at that stage.

  8. “The number on your dashboard is vanity. The behaviour behind it is the business.”

The Summit Model

The fastest list Anthony ever built.

A summit answers one question: who has my customer who is not my competition? Everybody wins. The audience gets genuine value, the partner gets exposure and revenue, and Anthony builds the list and shares in the sales.

16,000–20,000
leads from the first summit
650,000
leads across 30 events
$278,999
revenue from the best event
10 → 2
team size, after AI

Physical business example

Passive Sills

229 trade professionals attended an event at the factory. Sales rose 35% month on month for the following three months.

Win. Win. Win.

Not just for info marketers

The list doesn't care what you sell.

01

Service businesses

Trust at scale.

02

Retail

Turn the first sale into a relationship.

03

B2B

Stay present during long buying cycles.

04

Physical businesses

Start with the customers who already know you.

Chocolate. Window sills. Phone cases. Spa days. Consulting. The principles are identical.

Anthony McCarthy, author of List Building With Artificial Intelligence

Anthony McCarthy · Cork, Ireland

Anthony's story

Not a guru. An operator.

  • First major sale at 17: £680,000 in industrial resin.
  • 26 years in physical business: resin, tiles, kitchens and international contracts.
  • Biggest physical-world deal: $7.8 million.
  • The property crash wiped out what he had built.
  • He rebuilt online with money borrowed from his father.
  • 17 years later: one million leads, zero ad spend, 30 summits, and clients including Logitech and the European Union.
“I learned what works by doing it long enough to know the difference between what sounds right and what actually moves the number.”

Foreword

“I have publicly named him my successor in list building. I do not say that lightly.”

Matt Bacak

28 years in email marketing

He completed the MIT Sloan AI program in 2024 and says the fundamentals still win: the list remains the asset; AI removes the friction.

Reader picks

Eleven lines that stayed with them.

Each contributor selected one line from the manuscript that stayed with them.

  • AI is the engine. You are the driver. Without the driver, the engine produces noise. With the right driver, it produces a million leads.
    James CallahanDigital and affiliate marketer focused on information products and AI-assisted campaigns.
  • Every other technology I can name changed how you did one thing. AI changes how you do everything.
    Peter SloanDigital marketer using AI to match products with audiences and improve conversion.
  • AI doesn’t fix a bad business. It amplifies whatever you already have. If your product is poor, AI will help you market something poor more efficiently. If your customer service is bad, AI will automate bad customer service at scale. The foundation still matters.
    Tom BodnerEntrepreneur and founder of Real Hot Apps.
  • The question isn’t whether you should build a list. The question is why you haven’t started. Or, if you have, why you’re not treating it like the single most valuable thing in your business.
    Rich FedrizziVeteran, former LAPD officer, aerospace problem-solver and online business coach.
  • The number on your dashboard is vanity. The behaviour behind it is the business. Know the difference and you know what to do next.
    Terry PuckettHusband, father of two and recent retiree exploring new income opportunities.
  • Online, a person lands on a page and you have about 2.8 seconds before they decide whether to stay or bounce. Look it up if you don’t believe me. I call it the 2.8 Second Rule: if the person landing on your page can’t see their own problem on the screen inside three seconds, you’ve lost them.
    David BlueEntrepreneur and founder of The Gracepoint Group, helping businesses find overlooked revenue using AI, automation and marketing.
  • The right tool for the wrong job is still the wrong tool.
    terrementContributor who selected favourite lines from the manuscript.
  • The internet helped people buy. AI helps people feel known.
    Tracy GroteLongtime real-estate appraiser building a second income online and using AI to keep pace.
  • That distinction, between a transaction and a conversation, is the whole game.
    Christine TeoForex affiliate marketer behind TradeVentra, helping people understand the market without noise or hype.
  • W-W-W. Not worldwide web. Win, win, win. A win for the customer, a win for the partner, a win for me. If one of the three loses, I don’t do the deal.
    Vasiliy V. VargaFather of five working across trucking, mechanics, construction and woodworking.
  • Knowledge without execution is just expensive entertainment.
    Melinda BurkhartCoach, healthcare professional and survivor with more than 25 years in healthcare.

The cause

For Caroline.

The Mercy Foundation logo

Anthony's wife Caroline battled Stage 3 cancer. She is three years clear. Proceeds from this book go to the Mercy Hospital Foundation, supporting the hospital that saved Caroline’s life.

The list is the freedom. And the freedom is the time. And the time is the thing you cannot get back.

The no-excuses buyer system

Five bonuses. Five business blockers removed.

This is not a folder of PDFs added to make the offer look bigger. Each bonus removes a specific point where good intentions normally stop.

The book teaches the system. These five tools help the buyer decide, build, publish and keep going.

  1. 01Cover of bonus one, AI Prompt Vault: Remove the blank page, 50 prompts, stated value $297

    Remove the blank page

    AI Prompt Vault

    Blocker removed: “I do not know what to ask AI.”

    18 pages — what’s inside +
    $297

    Inside

    18 pages. 50 ready-to-customise prompts: 10 for email, 8 for offers and positioning, 10 for trust-building content, 8 for funnels, 7 for business growth and 7 for list building.

    What it does

    Start with a real job, run the prompt and turn the first draft into something that sounds like you.

  2. 02Cover of bonus two, Morning Success Workbook: Remove the noise, one page a day, stated value $197

    Remove the noise

    Morning Success Workbook

    Blocker removed: “I have too many ideas and no direction.”

    17 pages — what’s inside +
    $197

    Inside

    17 pages. Five daily decision pages, a Friday wrap-up, a 30-day starter plan and a written commitment.

    What it does

    Ten focused minutes each morning. One direction by Friday.

  3. 03Cover of bonus three, My AI Toolbox: Remove tool confusion, the tools Anthony actually uses, stated value $397

    Remove tool confusion

    My AI Toolbox

    Blocker removed: “I keep collecting software instead of using it.”

    15 pages — what’s inside +
    $397

    Inside

    15 pages. 35 tools Anthony actually uses, with real price bands, limitations, best uses and the five-tool core stack he would keep if everything else disappeared.

    What it does

    Choose one tool per job, learn it properly and stop paying for software that has no work to do.

  4. 04Cover of bonus four, The Opportunity Checklist: Remove the wrong opportunity, score every idea, stated value $197

    Remove the wrong opportunity

    The Opportunity Checklist

    Blocker removed: “Everything sounds good, so I start too many things.”

    27 pages — what’s inside +
    $197

    Inside

    27 pages. Ten scoring questions, ten full scoresheets, a Top 3 comparison and one final-choice page.

    What it does

    Score the idea. Keep the serious contender. Drop the rest.

  5. 05Cover of bonus five, The 90-Day Action Planner: Remove the failure to finish, three phases and twelve weeks, stated value $397

    Remove the failure to finish

    The 90-Day Action Planner

    Blocker removed: “I start, get distracted and lose the quarter.”

    40 pages — what’s inside +
    $397

    Inside

    40 pages. One North Star, three 30-day phases, twelve weekly plans, three monthly reviews, a full 90-day review and the bridge into the next quarter.

    What it does

    Foundation. Traction. Scale. Twelve weeks with one clear direction.

Open them in this order.

  1. 01

    Morning Success Workbook

    Choose the direction.

  2. 02

    Opportunity Checklist

    Test the direction.

  3. 03

    My AI Toolbox

    Choose one tool per job.

  4. 04

    AI Prompt Vault

    Build the first useful asset.

  5. 05

    90-Day Action Planner

    Schedule the work and finish the quarter.

Start Here cover: the 90-minute buyer activation map, five bonuses with a combined stated value of $1,485

90-minute activation map

  1. 0–10 minClear the noise with the Morning Success Workbook.
  2. 10–30 minScore the opportunity.
  3. 30–45 minChoose the smallest useful tool stack.
  4. 45–60 minRun one prompt and create the first draft.
  5. 60–90 minPut the next twelve weeks into the planner.

Ninety minutes will not build the business. It will remove the excuse for not starting.

Combined stated value

$1,485

Included with your book purchase. Not sold separately.

Total stated value: $1,485. Added cost for verified book buyers: $0. Included for verified book buyers when ordering opens.

Chapter nineteen

Don't get it right.
Get it going.

Build the page. Write the email. Launch the opt-in. Start the list.

Read the Framework

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