Field Notes: Issue 6 (Email Abridged)

Field Notes #6 is all about writing better emails that make you sales.

But before I dive in, let me try to sell you on the idea of emails once more, because even though most people say they need an email list, I’m starting to doubt they really understand why they need it, or why they should be sending more emails and not fewer.

Much of what I’m about to say may seem like stuff you already know, but even so, pay attention.

Some good things are worth repeating over and over.

Feed your brain the fundamentals, beyond the point of “enough already,” so they become a part of who you are as a human being.

That’s pretty much a prerequisite to master any skill. I learned that back in my engineering days, and now I practice it as a creator/marketer. I feed myself fundamentals all the time by going through courses I have already finished, reading books I’ve already read, etc.

With that said, here’s an intro about the importance of sending emails and sending a lot of them. Again, I’m sure you already know this, but read them anyway.

Some days ago, I came across an Instagram reel where the comedian Julio Torres talks about how he treats his inbox like a river where emails flow. If he sees an email land while he’s checking his inbox, great. He’d open it and read it. But an email that has already passed? He’s not gonna swim downstream to retrieve it. And that is how he’s now ended up with 13k+ unread emails in his inbox.

In my 8 years of experience sending emails, I’ve come to realize that most people treat their inboxes just as Julio does. If my email is sitting atop all the other emails, my subscribers may open it. Otherwise, who cares?!

Case in point: Some months ago, after sending a bunch of promo emails, I mentioned the offer inside my community. And only after this, a member who is also a subscriber chimed in with, “Oh wow! I had no idea you were selling this! Let me go buy now!“… or something along those lines.

I’m trying to make a bunch of points here.

The first one is that you shouldn’t worry about “annoying” your subscribers by sending too many emails. Most of them are not even paying attention. So, if you want these people to know what you have to offer, you can’t be sending one or two emails. You have to send a LOT of emails, and frequently.

Daily emails? YES! Or as often as you can manage without burning yourself out.

A scary number of emails on the last day of a promo? ABSOLUTELY YES! It’s only scary for you. Most of your subscribers aren’t counting.

And if people do get tired of you marketing your offers, let them go. If they don’t like you enough to stick around when you’re “annoying” them with emails, chances are that they have no intention of buying from you. A shop full of spectators may seem impressive from the outside, but it does nothing for your business. It is better for you to have fewer but more dedicated fans in your shop, err… email list.

Another point I’m trying to make is this: Just because some people are not opening your emails regularly doesn’t mean they don’t want to hear from you. Some people clean their inboxes every couple of months. Bad idea. For one, ESPs (Email Service Providers) do not track open and click rates accurately. If you delete people based on their open or click rate, you may very well be deleting some of your best buyers.

Case in point #2: During my Write Without AI promotion period, one subscriber bought it for $750 the day I announced that enrollment was open. When I checked this subscriber’s history, as one does, it turned out they hardly open my emails!

At least, according to Kit. And yet, there was a buyer who had been on my list for 4+ years now, who paid me $750 just like that….

So, I’m hoping that by now you’re [re]sold on the power of sending email, and sending lots of them.

Now, everything else I’m about to share with you in this issue of Field Notes is about how to make your emails so good that your subscribers will want to stick around, even if they do not open or read your emails every day.

They’ll want to remain a part of your universe simply because they’ve fallen a little bit in love with you through your emails.

And if you can do that?

Trust me, selling will become a lot, LOT easier.

With that, let’s get to this month’s Field Notes, which I’m calling: Emails Abridged.

FYI: I have four bonus videos for you, taken directly from my Write Without AI workshop (current cohort #3): The first two days’ worth of lessons + email assignment reviews (I randomly pick one email from all the submissions and review it daily).