Except it doesn’t.
Because the literal moment you go to write, it’s like somebody ties your keyboard’s shoelaces together. The email trips and falls.
For example, back in the Dark Ages when they were still building the Great Wall of China, I had this student.
He said he has tons of ideas BEFORE sitting down to write, but he always kinda freezes up when it’s time to put his thoughts where his keyboard is.
One day he was working on an email series and had no idea how he wanted to start out the email. He started frantically searching through his inbox for other examples, but every time he went to model one of these emails… Well, it felt forced.
He started getting so frustrated that he had to get up and go for a walk.
Then he wanted to grab a snack.
Then he thought, “Well, maybe I just need to read a few things for some ideas.”
And 2 hours later, STILL nothing was written.
Except, this wasn’t “one day”. It was every day. It happened all the time.
If I were Woody Allen, here is how I’d capture him on camera:
The moment right before he sits down to write.
He’s bursting with ideas. Jotting down all these notes and looking like the Beautiful Mind.
Then, the writing.
Well, complete lack of writing that ends up happening.
All the ideas just disappear and turn into these bland, tasteless versions of emails and copy.
So that first email never gets sent.
The Paypal notifications never roll in.
And the journey of a thousand sales remains a motivational poster on the wall.
But it doesn’t have to.
For instance, there was nothing inherently wrong with this guy. It’s just that his technique was flawed.
He was trying to think and write (and even edit) at the same time, which is as ridiculous as napping while you walk to the office.
Those aren’t activities you can do simultaneously.
Instead, I taught him the 7 Step Thought Process I use whenever I sit down to write a sales email. It’s what allows me to go from “thought” to “email” in as little as 15 minutes (usually it’s closer to 30 min tbh).
Problem solved.
The very week I showed him this process, he wrote not one but two emails which went on to become some of the best performing sales emails in his company’s history.
The kind of emails that make him look like a genius to all his colleagues...
Yes, you’ve heard this story before.
If you’ve been on this email list for more than a month, you’ve probably seen his testimonial and a screenshot of his results. I’m proud of him, and I feature him ubiquitously, as I do all my Email Prodigy students.
The point is this:
Like everything else in life, this skill is learnable.
And I teach it in Email Prodigy (http://trial-eureka.teachable.com/p/email-prodigy ).
Yes, it requires technique.
Writing sales emails is a craft, and like all crafts there is a method to the madness.
Yes, it requires practice.
I can write emails in as little as 15 minutes, because I’ve put in that practice. When you first learn the technique, you probably won’t be able to do it as quickly as I do. Typically it takes students 30 emails before they can whip out a sales email in 15-30 minutes.
Yes, it requires creativity.
In Module 1, there is a demo where students throw me a random idea and a random product, and I turn it into a sales email on the spot. Creativity on demand.
Usually at this point people are blown away. They think I’m some sort of genius and they’d never be able to do something like that.
And inwardly, I laugh. Because in Module 3’s workshop, there is an exercise where they have to do the same thing themselves.
Lo and behold, so far every student has successfully pulled it off.
Sure, it takes them a bit longer to come up with ideas,
Sure, the ideas need some nudging from me here and there to mould them to a sales narrative.
But they do it, and it’s cathartic when they realise what they’ve just done.
Anyway, whether you buy Email Prodigy or not, I want you to walk away from today’s email with this insight:
When you see someone crushing it with their email marketing, don’t put them on a pedestal. If they can do it, you can do it too.
The real question is:
Do you want it badly enough to put in the work?
Because this I can tell you:
I’ve never had a single student who thought they could do this when they watched the demo in Module 1.
And I’ve also never had a single student who failed to actually do it themselves by the end of Module 3’s workshop.
That’s progress. And if THAT is something you are interested in, I encourage you to sign up for Email Prodigy:
http://trial-eureka.teachable.com/p/email-prodigy
.
PS: This post is Day 3 of the Pivot Experiment. I’m taking the same story and spinning it into a completely different sales email every day this week, so you can learn by example how to link your stories to what you’re selling. Invite a friend to watch along with you. 🙂
