How can you write better emails? Do you think your emails are boring? Do you need to be funny? Or should you try and be more interesting? And if so, how?

We're Kennedy and Carrie, and we're sharing the little things you can do to make your email marketing less boring.

Ready? Then buckle up!

SOME EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: 

(0:30) Want to carry on with the conversation? Join our FREE Facebook group. 
(3:05) Make everyday life sound interesting. 
(4:35) Take people on a journey with you. 
(10:27) Stay relevant to your audience. 
(13:37) Deliver value (and selling is value!) 
(17:37) Send emails using your name (not your company's). 
(18:41) Show up regularly and don't shy away from expressing opinions. 
(22:37) Tell stories (and start from the action). 
(26:16) Join The Email Hero Blueprint.
(26:33) Subject line of the week.

Make everyday life sound interesting

People fall into the trap of thinking they have nothing interesting to say in their emails because they don’t have dramatic stories or big transformations to share. But even the most interesting people (those we listen to on podcasts or watch speaking live on stage) aren't interesting all the time.

They also have normal lives where they scroll mindlessly through Instagram and watch Netflix shows. Everyone does mundane, boring things. The key is to talk about things in interesting ways. A tip we can give you is to collect the interesting stories that happen to you in a document (or on your phone) so you can share them in your emails or social media.

Take people on a journey with you

One of the biggest misconceptions people have about making their emails less boring is thinking you need to be funny, witty, and irreverent. That might be how Kennedy writes, for example, but that's because it's a style that comes naturally to him – one that he enjoys. He may send emails for conversion, but he writes for himself first, in a style that keeps him engaged. And, in turn, that makes his emails more interesting to his readers too. It’s a cycle that helps the email creator as well as the audience. But you don't have to be funny or likable to be interesting!

People enjoy going on a journey with you – they like seeing how you get your results, step by step. When you invite people in, you make yourself fascinating in their eyes. As marketers, we tend to put too much stock in the polish and not enough in the progress. But people like seeing the progress!

You don’t have to be super polished or celebrity-attractive – just show up as you, again and again. By nature, you become this fascinating and successful character without even having to try to be funny. Don’t pretend to be anyone else because people want to see you as yourself. And if you’re worried someone may not like you, ‘bless and release them’. Let them unsubscribe, and the right people will come.

Stay relevant to your audience

One of the best ways of making your email marketing less boring is to talk about something that matters to your audience. What mutual interests do you have? Talk about those topics, and you won’t come across as boring. For example, email your list about the problem you solve for them. Because you know that's interesting to them.

Always be relevant. People joined your email list for a reason, so don’t suddenly switch gears and start talking about something else. If you become irrelevant to them, you’ll be boring.

We talked to one of our clients recently (Isabelle Lesschaeve) and her frustration before she worked out what to do with her email marketing was that people on her list couldn't reach their full potential. She wasn't able to help them. Her primary reason for emailing her list wasn’t to make more money but to serve her audience better and maximise their experience.

This is a great example of why “Your why has to be bigger than your why bother”. Most of us aren’t motivated by making money in itself – we are driven by what money facilitates and enables. So what's the reason why you're sending emails to your list every day? And for readers, what's the reason for opening your emails? It could be that they always learn something or feel entertained. But give them a reason.

Deliver value (and selling is value!)

We’re always being told that we need to deliver value in our content. But the content we share isn't free. Emails aren't free – there’s currency being exchanged. People are paying with their email address, their attention, their clicks, and their time. And when we start recognising that, how we write in our emails becomes a higher priority for us.

Even when you don’t pay your email marketing platform for each address you host, whenever you send an email, there’s a good chance someone may unsubscribe. Each subscriber on your list costs you money because you've invested in growing your list. So when you send an email, make sure you deliver value and also receive value.

People join your email list to educate themselves and solve problems but also so they don’t feel alone – they want to feel like there’s hope. So it’s about feelings and thoughts too. What feelings can you give people? Can you allow them to escape from a feeling? Or to feel that they can do something?

Don’t just give value for value's sake. In our emails (and all our communication), we direct and maintain people’s attention to what we want them to pay attention to. We don’t distract them with lots of different things. So make sure the value you give is well-directed. And when you offer people something to buy, that needs to be valuable too. Always signpost people to the best possible solution to their problem. Sales aren't a one-way street that only benefits you – you're also changing people and perspectives by giving them the power to solve a problem. And that's value!

Send emails using your name (not your company's)

Another super simple thing you can do to make your emails less boring is to not make them look like they come from a big company. We often don't even open the emails that come from big corporations. But we open emails from human beings – people with names we like and find useful.

The thing that gets emails opened is the sender's name – not the subject line. If you get an email with no subject line from someone in your family or from your best friend, you'll open it. You see their name, and your emotional reaction is to open the email. So think about someone’s emotional reaction when they see your name in their email inbox. Remember that people see your name before they see the subject line. So don't be the person who misleads readers in your emails. If people feel dread when they see your name, it won't matter how good your subject lines are. They simply won't open your emails!

Show up regularly and don't shy away from expressing opinions

Don’t be the person who only shows up when you want or need something from people. If their hackles go up when they see your name, they're not going to open your emails. They’ll be sceptical – no matter how good the email or the offer is. So show up regularly and with value.

Another good way of making your emails less boring is to stand for something – express your opinions. Tell people what you like or don't like – it gives you more dimension and depth. It makes you a more interesting person. And if you think expressing your opinions is going to irritate people, remember that controversy is everywhere. Anything and everything can get an emotional reaction out of people. If you’re afraid you may offend someone, you probably will! But you'll do that no matter what. So email about whatever you want – share your opinions.

Tell stories (and start from the action)

Another tip to be more interesting in your emails is to tell stories and ‘start from the action'. This means writing your story first, then deleting the first couple of paragraphs, and making sure the story starts from the interesting bit in the middle.

Let's think about this example. When you go to the circus to watch an act, you want them to show you their best bits. You don’t want to sit there while they stretch and warm up! It’s the same with action movies and stories –  we want action. When something’s in motion, we pay attention. It’s human nature.

Emails with stories are more interesting than those with facts and features because we emote with stories in a way we don't with facts. You can't have feelings around a list of instructions! But you can feel something when someone tells you a story. So start from the action, forget about the warm-up, and get straight into the meaty bit, especially as you’re competing for your audience’s attention and time.

Join The Email Hero Blueprint

If you want the shortcuts to do all this and have the campaigns to send out to your email list, make sure you check our flagship programme, The Email Hero Blueprint. Go check it out!

Subject line of the week

This week’s subject line is “I’m so dirty”. Why did it work? Because people want to know what Kennedy meant! They can tell he's using a double entendre or an innuendo, but he’s talking about something else. So they open the email to find out. Try it!

Useful Episode Resources

Related episodes

EVERYTHING You Need To Know About Email Marketing And Storytelling To Write Emails That Sell Like Crazy.

Email Marketing Success: How Isabelle Lesschaeve Made An Extra $10,000 With Our Paparazzi Flash Sale Campaign.

Tap Into The Mind-Blowing Power Of Familiarity Exposure Psychology In Your Emails To Boost Sales In Your Business.

FREE list to improve your email marketing

If you want to write better emails, come up with better content, and move your readers to click and buy, here's how. Here's a list of our Top 10 most highly recommended books that will improve all areas of your email marketing (including some underground treasures that we happened upon, which have been game-changing for us). Grab your FREE list here.

Join the FREE Facebook group

Do you want to chat about how you can maximise the value of your email list and make more money from every subscriber? There's a way! Every business is different, so come and hang out in our FREE Facebook group, the Email Marketing Show Community for Course Creators and Coaches. You'll find a lot of training and resources, and you can talk about what you're up to.

Try ResponseSuite for $1

This content is sponsored by ResponseSuite.com, the survey quiz and application form tool that we created specifically for small businesses like you to integrate with your marketing systems to segment your subscribers and make more sales. Try it out for 14 days for just $1.

Join The Email Hero Blueprint 

Want more? Let's say you're a course creator, membership site owner, coach, author, or expert and want to learn about the ethical psychology-based email marketing that turns 60-80% more of your newsletter subscribers into customers (within 60 days). If that's you, then The Email Hero Blueprint is for you.

This is hands down the most predictable, plug-and-play way to double your earnings per email subscriber. It allows you to generate a consistent sales flow without launching another product, service, or offer. Best news yet? You won't have to rely on copywriting, slimy persuasion, NLP, or ‘better' subject lines.

Want to connect with Carrie?

You can find Carrie on her website or at Fully Leveraged Business. 

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