Callan Prider, an avid Alley-Oop subscriber writes in:
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Hey Karl,
I am loving the emails, it’s a little 5min break most day for me to stop my mind going a million miles an hour and sit down to learn/get an insight into something new.
I have a little question about the sales you often put at the end of the email. Do you more often set out with an end sale in mind and then craft the email to work towards that. OR
Do you create the email based on what you feel the market needs or is wanting to learn more about and then think a certain offer you have might match up with the topic covered in the email.
I guess, which comes first. The chicken or the egg?
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It’s a great question, and I’m sure Callan isn’t the only one unsure of how to be tactical about ‘selling’ what you offer at the end of an email.
The short answer is, I always begin with the end in mind.
So yeah, the chicken comes first. Or does the egg? I dunno which one is the ‘end’ in this analogy, but it’s one of them.
But there is way more to it than just ‘start with the end in mind’, although that’s a nice place to start.
So, since I’m in a giving mood this morning (surprising myself here because I’m running off about 4 hours sleep), here is the exact step-by-step, deconstruction of how I think about writing an email:
Ethically copy as you see fit:
1. What opportunity am I presenting the reader with? (Think your product/services)
2. What does the reader need to know, understand and believe in order to consider your offer?
3. If I were to isolate one of those beliefs, what would it be?
4. Could I distill that into one big idea, and what would that be?
5. How can I share that idea in an interesting way?
6. What would I need to say to introduce this big idea?
7. What subject line would I use to give the reader enough reason to open?
Right there, is the reverse-engineered process that goes through my mind, every time i write an email.
Want an example so you can see how it works in the real-world?
Easy. Let’s use the email Cal responded to as the case-study.
For those who want to go back to it for context, the subject line was:
“The Difference Between Ethical Copying & Stealing”
Ok, here we go:
Q1) What is the opportunity?
A) The only chance to spend 3-days with me at the Coach Immersion Program in Sydney, this year.
Q2) What does the reader need to know/understand/believe?
A) That this immersive, 3-day experience has been trusted by over 100 attendees and has been spoken about as radically transforming the attendees outlook, thinking, and perspective on the world of S&C and business.
Q3) If I were to isolate one of those beliefs, what would it be?
A) There is a way to ethically copy what we do, install in your own context, and benefit from a proven system to help grow your professional career, business or enterprise.
Q4) Could I distil it into one big idea?
A) There is a meaningful difference between ethical copying and stealing, and it all comes down to one thing: When you ethically copy, you have and appreciate the context, process and thinking that went into a product to make it what it is.
Q5) How could I make that idea interesting?
A) Compare and contrast the differences between the two approaches, highlighting the inevitable consequences of not understanding the importance of context when implementing systems in your own business and enterprise.
Q6) What would I need to say to introduce the idea?
A) Mention that a lot of people have said we’re the most copied gym in the world (as a general rule, the bigger the claim, the more interest it creates because readers look for proof and validation of that claim)
Q7) What subject line would I use?
A) “The difference between ethical copying and stealing” (generates curiosity; the reader wants to know what that difference is, and, what the heck is ethical copywriting)
See how all that works?
That’s a complete breakdown and deconstruction of how I go about it.
Now of course, as I’m sure you appreciate, there is way more to it than that, even though that’s pretty in-depth.
There are the questions of:
– How do I come up with a big idea?
– How do I utilise proof?
– How do I leverage reciprocity?
– How do I come up with content to write?
– How often should I write?
– How do I create a structure that is easy to follow?
– How do I write a good lead/intro?
– How do I get started with email marketing?
– What software should I use?
And so much more…
In fact, I’ve already written 5000 words on this topic for the Alley-Oop in an edition I’m calling “The Holy Grail of Email Marketing”.
And…
I’m only half-way through it… so it’s no doubt going to be a jam-packed issue full of marketing gold.
If you’ve ever been intrigued to take full advantage of the power of email, but haven’t known where to start, what to say, or how to say it, then this issue will lay it all out bare for you so it’s easy to follow, and even easier to implement.
This edition has it all, and you can subscribe to the Alley-Oop below before the deadline of the 31st of Jan to make sure you get your hands on it. After that, it gets shipped off to the printers and your chance to get a hold of this edition disappears forever, along with the chance to capitalise on the most underrated marketing channel in the world.
– Karl Goodman
