Why powerful email subject lines aren’t as big a deal as you think

You might get a kick out this.

In copywriting, headlines are regarded as the holy grail.

When you’ve got a good one, it can perform miracles (on your sales).

And when you don’t? Money suddenly becomes scarce.

Naturally, this means your emails need attention grabbing, head turning, “hey look at me” subject lines…

…right?

Not necessarily.

You see, though email copy shares many traits with, say, a sales page… there’s a definite difference to consider.

For one thing, email marketing allows you to build a relationship over time.

So you don’t need to shock your list with a wacky subject line every time you send out an email.

You just need to be entertaining… and beneficial.

Then over time… your list will start to look for your emails.

So really, rather than spending all this time creating masterful headlines… you should make sure your email copy is something your list looks forward to instead.

When you establish this kind of great relationship with your list…

…they’ll GLADLY open their wallets when they’re good and ready.

But if you’re struggling to build that high-profit relationship with your list… just let me know and I can give you a hand with that.

-Ericson

“What in the heck do I write my emails about?”

Don’t know what to write your emails about?

Want a simple way to do it?

I can help.

First, take a good look at your prospect.

Think of all the questions… comments… and concerns… your prospect has in relation to your offer… and list EVERY single one out.

The longer you can make this list, the better.

Okay, got it all down?

Now comes the creative part.

In your email, simply resolve one of the things on that list.

(Just one).

That’s it. That’s all your email needs to do. You’ve just created value.

This doesn’t cover the “entertaining” part of writing great emails.

But just doing this will make your emails 10x easier to write. At the very least, you won’t be at a loss when you sit down to write some emails. You just got to pick a prospect issue… and resolve it.

-Ericson

P.S. If you’d like some help with writing these emails, just let me know. Writing email copy is still extra work for you after all, so you can just let me take that off your plate for you.

How to sell in every email without feeling dirty about it

“I want to make more sales from my emails… but don’t want to bombard my list with so many hard sells.”

A valid concern.

But if you want a thriving business… and want your email marketing to pull its weight…

…you’ve gotta find a way to sell without upsetting your list.

And there is a way.

Luckily, it’s a win/win situation for you AND your list.

Here’s the key:

Always soft sell to your list.

And what I mean by that is write your emails in such a way that you can plug your offer in without it drawing too much attention to itself.

How? Just make sure your emails are…

1. Entertaining, and…
2. Beneficial

(In that order).

It’s easy to find beneficial content online. So you need to add some entertainment value to make your list not only open to reading your emails… but happy to do so as well.

A great way to do this is stories.

People are hardwired to listen to stories. Just share an interesting story that’s relevant to your audience, and then tie it to a benefit your product or service has. That’s all you need to do.

Even better is to use testimonial stories. Not only do you get the benefit of telling a story, but you also get to use social proof to build your credibility. People will naturally think “If they got x results, then why not me?”

Make sense?

If you can get your audience pulled in with stories (and entertain them) with each email, are they really going to mind if you slip in your offer quietly at the end?

Probably not.

-Ericson

P.S. Struggling to get more sales from your emails? Send me a message and I’ll write up some emails your list will love (and buy from).

Why it’s “immoral” not to plug your product into your email copy

Imagine your spleen ruptured.

Your gut writhing in pain.

And you need a doctor, stat.

But what if when you called for an ambulance, instead of saying “we’ve got an ambulance heading your way…”

…they say “you know, there are many ways of preventing ruptured spleens. It all starts with your diet, first you need…”

And then they unload all this “valuable” information on you… but fail to do the one thing they should:

Provide an immediate solution!

That’s what it’s like when you don’t regularly insert your product or service in your emails.

Your audience signed up for your email list because you can provide a solution to their problem.

But if all you’re doing is providing educational content… there’s a good chance you’re not attending to their most urgent and important needs.

(Which your product or service is supposed to do).

After all, don’t you want satisfied customers?

(And not just folks who are window watching without really benefiting?).

You’re doing your trusted list a disservice by not constantly providing them a solution to their biggest, most urgent problem.

Be the one who fixes things.

Offer them a solution… your solution.

Because if you don’t, somebody else will.

-Ericson

P.S. Want to plug your product or service in emails without being salesy or pushy? Send me a message and I’ll write emails your list loves and will want to buy from.

What Thomas Edison Can Teach You About Marketing

You know what sucks about success?

The embarrassing (even shameful) bridge of failures it’s supported with.

Thomas Edison was keenly familiar with this fact. Remember his 1,000 attempts to figure out the lightbulb? Sure, he played it off like he “learned” 1,000 ways not to do something…

…But I’m pretty sure he was pissed that it took so long to figure the damn thing out.

But there’s a crucial marketing lesson here.

What is it? [Read more…]

The numero uno secret to writing magnetic copy (and it’s got nothing to do with headlines)

Quick, stop what you’re doing and listen up:

The worst thing a copywriter can do is jump in head strong with his copy and start writing.

Before he writes a lick of copy, he needs to know one thing: his market. What makes them tick. What makes them angry. And what drives them to action. [Read more…]

How would an old-school direct marketer write email “headlines” today?

Know John Caples?

He’s the legendary copywriter behind the “They Laughed When I Sat at The Piano But When I Started to Play!” ad.

He was at it before they had the luxury of software that tracks success metrics.

So he had to get it right the first time.

But John was sharp.

Using his engineering eye (yup, he was an engineer before putting pen to paper), he analyzed past advertisements and condensed his findings into reliable direct marketing pearls of knowledge. [Read more…]

How to generate more business with your web copy by asking one simple question

Business-laptop-copywritingYour web copy can generate more business.

But it doesn’t… Know why?

Because you’re not asking yourself one simple (but crucial) question.

(And it makes all the difference in how you approach your web copy).

…It’s not:

  • Who is my target market?
  • What are my benefits?
  • What is my unique selling proposition?

Know what it is?

[Read more…]

Headline Writing: Use the 4 U’s to Turn Your Readers into Customers

You’re probably interested in getting: mac-copywriting-4u's

  • More subscriptions
  • More sales
  • And ultimately more money…

…from your ads and blog posts, right?

But only 1 out 5 people bother to read your copy after seeing the headline.

So only 20% of your readers and web-visitors bother to read your ad or blog post.

(And if your headlines aren’t high-quality, you won’t even get that).

But there’s a way to not only improve your headlines, but objectively grade them as well. [Read more…]

Blog Titles: 5 Tips for Writing Utra-clickable Headlines for Your Business Blog

blog title

You sit and look at your fully completed blog post – finally done!

“Not bad,” you think to yourself, and then you look at your blog title. You have no idea if it’s good or not.

But you gloss over the thought and move your mouse pointer, “click.” You’ve published your article and celebrate.

…What’s the issue here?

The blog title. You didn’t rewrite it or even double check it – and that’s a problem.

Why is that? Why don’t we let pro blogger Brian Clark tell you why:

“On average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest. This is the secret to the power of your title, and why it so highly determines the effectiveness of the entire piece.”

…Starting to think twice about skimping on the headline editing now?

Well, no need to worry, because I’ll show you how to not only check your blog title correctly, but bring it to the next level as well. [Read more…]