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Hey there!

Thanks for reading Humans Sending Emails.

The emails are easy to read.

The content is digestible.

And the advice is never gimmicky.

Like what you've read? Forward to a friend.

Was this forwarded to you? Get next week's edition here.

Now buckle up, we've got a long one today!

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THE LESSON

Most helpful advice on the internet is incomplete.

And I'll admit...

Even the stuff I share is incomplete at times.

What the hell am I talking about?

I mean that most advice shared online doesn't tell the full story.

There's usually context missing in some way.

It's not always as simple as "do these 3 things and you'll 10x your account" or whatever.

Today is my attempt to show you a win and teach a lesson — with all the right context.

(So you can do it too)

Ready?

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THE WIN

Since June, I've made $7,467 from my email list.

(Btw — this is not a flex. It's proof for the lesson I'm about to share)

Here's the breakdown of that:

• A funnel-building cohort: $4,179
• Selling affiliate products: $1,988
• Selling my own products: $1,300

From June until today, my list size has ranged from 1,160 to 1,475 people.

Now before I move on to the lesson, I want to pause and thank you.

YOU are on my list and you may be someone who has trusted me with your hard earned money.

I'm here to help you win and I'm unbelievably grateful for you :)

Now let's dig into this a bit because I truly want you to be an inbox champion.

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THE LESSONS ( w/ CONTEXT )

As I thought about how to present this, I wanted to be sure that I gave you the fullest picture possible.

Because selling with email marketing is not just about sexy hooks or using the right tactics.

And believe it or not, I don't just want to make a buck off of you.

I really want to help you sell more with email marketing and build the solo business of your dreams.

So this morning, I came up with "The Fab 5."

(super unique name, right?)

To sell more with email marketing, you'll need:

• A Great Product
• Clear Messaging
• A "Good Reason"
• Storytelling Skills
• And...TRUST

This is how I've done it this year.

Let's break down each one of these and hopefully deliver a more complete picture of what it means to win with email marketing.

(without the fancy funnels and complicated automations)

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•••

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START WITH A GREAT PRODUCT

No amount of marketing can fix a bad product.

At least not in the long run.

One of the biggest reasons I've been successful selling to my email list this year is because the products are fantastic.

I've made $1,988 on affiliate sales of the AI Audience Accelerator.

It's one of the most helpful courses I've seen in a long, long time (1,300+ other people agree).

It's not even my product...but I believe in it.

On another note, my 2nd cohort sold out in 2 weeks and $4,179 of that revenue came directly from my email list.

This cohort sold out twice in a row and was crazy helpful for the people in it so I'm extremely confident in that product.

See...

The first step of all of this is to have a great product.

One YOU believe wholeheartedly in.

If you don't believe it's the greatest offer on the planet, very few folks will buy it.

(Been there, done it)

But listen up...

You can be a great storyteller,

have the clearest messaging,

and have an engaged audience.

BUT if your product ain't the right fit?

You'll be hearing crickets, my friend.

** There must be REAL demand for your product. Which is why you must know your ideal client inside and out.**

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•••

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CREATE CLEAR MESSAGING

IF you have a great product, it is vital that you learn how to talk about it clearly in a way that matters to your readers.

So, understand your ideal client...

Make a product that they need and want...

Then tell them why it matters to them.

WHAT problem does it solve for them?

WHAT pain does it alleviate?

WHAT does it help them achieve?

WHO does it help them become?

WHY should they even care?

I've seen great messaging bomb because the product sucked.

I've also seen great products collect dust because the messaging was no good.

My biggest piece of advice when it comes to messaging?

Don't overcomplicate it. Better to be clear and simple than clever and confusing.

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•••

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GIVE A "GOOD REASON" TO BUY NOW

This one might've had you scratching your head at first. But let me explain.

People don't mind opening up their wallets. (Some would argue that we enjoy it)

But we need to be given a good reason to do so.

Sometimes this is through great messaging...

Sometimes you create a bit of FOMO...

And sometimes its through genuine urgency or scarcity.

As Justin Welsh once said in a tweet I can't find anymore:

"People don't buy 'nice-to-have' products. You must make it a 'must-have' product."

(Don't quote me, but that's the gist of 😊)

So however you can do it, make your product a "must-have."

In my case, I usually have some urgency or scarcity at play to motivate people to take action.

If you just put an offer out there and say, "Here it is! Go buy it when you feel like it!"...very few people will take you up on that.

We won't buy...we'll procrastinate.

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•••

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DEVELOP YOUR STORYTELLING SKILLS

My email selling started to go up when I learned to tell more stories.

Like...tremendously.

Now before you fixate on storytelling like everyone else on the internet...

remember that I believed in the products I was selling.

AND I'd spent a considerable amount of time on the messaging of those products.

See, storytelling is just a means to engage and relate with your audience.

If you feel a bit overwhelmed because you think you're not a great storyteller...

I'm not either. (At least I don't think I am)

Let me put your mind at ease...

EVERYTHING can be turned into a story.

• Your own struggles
• Everyday occurences
• Client case studies
• Hard lessons learned
• Made up fantastical stories
• How things work
• Popular literature (tv, movies, books, etc)
• Historical biographies

And so much more.

I hope this frees you up and gets you excited.

See, your goal as a storyteller isn't to be a great writer.

Your goal is to GET attention and KEEP it.

To build anticipation and keep your readers engaged.

You could have a great product and clear messaging...and a product can STILL collect dust.

All because nobody paid attention to you.

Storytelling is your greatest weapon in the fight for attention in the inbox.

When I sold affiliate for the AI course, I told stories about how I worked on that project and how we did certain things.

When I sold my cohort, I told client stories and made up fantastical stories about genies.

Don't just tell readers about this thing or that thing, invite them into a story about it.

Tell a story → Make a point → Segue into an offer → Call to action

•••

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EARN TRUST

If you've been on my list for any amount of time (or followed me on Twitter), you've seen me talk at nauseam about trust.

A lot.

The truth is, people don't buy from people they don't trust.

So logically speaking...

Before you can sell something in email, your subscribers must trust you.

You can do this a handful of ways:

• Show proof that you're not making this s*** up
• Be really helpful and deliver quick wins
• Show off thought leadership
• Show your face in video
• Back up your claims

See, lots of gurus and experts will tell you "how to do something" related to business or marketing.

But most of them don't tell you how they've built up YEARS worth of trust with their audience.

Let's take Justin Welsh again for example.

He has 427k followers on Twitter and 170k email list.

His content is awesome and super helpful...but take it all with a grain of salt.

Not taking anything away from him at all, but he's spent years building up lots of trust with his audience.

When you have that much trust associated with your name, you can do things a little different.

I tell you this because it's a crucial element to being able to sell on autopilot.

I don't have the kind of trust with my name that Justin Welsh does, but I've worked damn hard the past year to build a reputation of honesty, generosity, and helpfulness.

But behind the storytelling and urgency in my emails, and the great products I'm sharing...

There's a certain level of trust people have in me that I'm here to help them.

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•••

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THE TAKEAWAY

Whew, that was a lot!

You'll likely want to pin this one somewhere and circle back to it.

But I did this intentionally.

Most quick-hitter info is kinda incomplete.

Today, I wanted to be as thorough as possible because you deserve it.

(Also I apologize if the writing seems a bit more unpolished than usual.)

So here's a quick recap of all the pieces of the puzzle:

1. You need a great product
2. You need clear messaging
3. You need to create a good reason to buy
4. You need storytelling skills
5. You need to earn trust

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My friend, these things may not happen overnight. They didn't for me.

But I promise you...if you can check these 5 boxes, you'll be in damn good shape.

And the best part?

You don't need fancy funnels or complicated automations.

You can just start selling.

I'm rooting for you!

See you next week,

Jeff

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PS

Did I miss some context today? Send me a reply and let me know. Always open to seeing gaps I've missed!

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•••

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