Back in 2020, I took an email copywriting course by Matt Furey (the Emperor of Email).
After taking this course…
I was HOOKED on email copywriting.
I believe that writing promotional emails for companies is the BEST kind of copywriting to specialize in.
4 reasons:
- Emails are super fun to write
- They pay the most
- Email copywriting is always in red-hot demand
- It only takes a couple minutes to write emails that sell (once you get good at it)
You see, the highly sought-after ability to write emails that sell, is an extremely rare & valuable skill that can transform any copywriter’s income and career.
In this step-by-step email copywriting course…
You’ll learn what an email copywriter is, why you should become one and how to write killer emails that sell like hot dogs at Fenway Park.
What is An Email Copywriter?
An email copywriter is someone who writes promotional emails for companies and brands.
The #1 goal of writing emails for companies is to sell their products and services.
There’s a lot of objectives companies may have…
Like….
Improve open rates, get more webinar sign-ups, click-through rates, etc. but the underlying goal is to make more sales from the emails they send out.
Sales reign supreme.
How Profitable is Email Copywriting?
If you work as an email copywriter at a company, you can expect to get paid $40,000 to $65,000 per year as a junior copywriter (entry-level)… and… around $100,000+ as a senior email copywriter.
However…
If you work for yourself (freelance email copywriter), you can earn MILLIONS.
The only limit to your earning potential comes down to how you run your business – your lead generation systems, your prices, how fast you can write, who you’re writing for, etc. (if you’d like to learn how to grow your freelance copywriting business in 2023, see these 2 posts – How to Become a Successful Freelance Copywriter in 2023 (Ultimate Guide for Beginners) ... 3 Fastest Ways to Grow Your Freelance Copywriting Business in 2023 (Make 6-figures This Year))
Why Should YOU Become an Email Copywriter?
Like I mentioned above, I believe that email copywriting is the most enjoyable and profitable type of copywriting to specialize in.
Here’s a deeper look into my above reasons:
#1 Super fun to write
Email copywriting is the MOST PERSONAL form of communication via the internet (as opposed to sales pages, blog posts, ads, etc.)
To be able to sell through email, you must talk to your readers on a 1:1, conversational level.
You are essentially a friend who shows up to their door and talks to them about what they’re most interested in.
The best emails build relationships.
To build a strong relationship you must be entertaining, interesting, humorous, etc. (everything that goes into building a real relationship).
If you want to see what I’m talkin’ about, subscribe to my daily email tips:
Notice how I write each email as if I’m talking directly to you. How I focus on building the relationship by telling stories, jokes, analogies, sharing personal details about my life and so on.
So, back to my bullet point.
Emails are very fun to write IF you do em correctly.
#2 Emails pay the most
Not per email.
But most companies send hundreds of emails per year (if not thousands).
Emails are the most continuity-friendly type of copywriting service to offer.
And if you’ve tuned into my show, you know that the REAL money is made on the backend (repeat customers).
With email, it’s VERY easy to offer continuity contracts – where clients send you a check each month, on retainer.
Plus:
Because the goal of email copywriting is to multiply your client’s sales, you can charge a LOT of money for them (just as long as your emails make your clients a lot of money in return).
If you want to hit 10k/month this year, email copywriting is the way to go.
#3 Emails are always in red-hot demand
Just about every company under the red moon uses emails to sell their products and services.
And to compete with the competition, they send out a flood of emails every week.
So, there is no shortage of email copywriting clients.
However, there IS a shortage of email copywriters who can sell through the emails they write.
Specialize in writing emails that sell, and you will always be in demand.
You will never have to worry about competition, ChatGPT, AI or anything else stealing your job.
#4 It only takes a couple of minutes to write an email
When I started writing emails in 2020, it took me a looooooong time to write them.
One stinking email would take me 30 minutes or longer to write.
However, this changed fast.
Now, I write DAILY emails in as quick as 7 minutes.
The key to writing faster?
Write more emails than you’re currently writing now.
Writing emails is probably the fastest type of copywriting to write (average length is around 200 words per email).
And when you focus solely on writing emails, instead of all the other types of copy, you’ll get a system down and it’ll become second nature to crank em out.
How Do I Learn Email Copywriting?
In 2020, I broke into copywriting EXTREMELY fast.
50 clients in 3 months… 2 in-house positions… and over 100 freelance clients… within my first year.
But this only happened because of what I did BEFORE trying to get clients.
I spent 3 months learning copywriting.
I read the top books & practiced writing copy every day.
This is the ultimate secret to learning email copywriting:
Learn from the best…
Practice what you learn…
And write emails…
EVERY SINGLE DAY.
There are no shortcuts when starting out.
Put in the work, and you’ll quickly feel confident in your skills and be able to go out and get email copywriting clients.
Believe it or not, I only pay attention to 2 email copywriters…
Ben Settle & Matt Furey.
(I’ve bought both their email copywriting courses. You have to subscribe to Ben’s newsletter to get his).
However, before I splurged into email copywriting, I learned direct response copywriting first.
In my opinion, you’ll want to learn both.
It’s ying and yang.
Because in order to sell through emails (or any media) you need a solid grasp of the fundamentals of selling, marketing, human psychology, etc.
When you can apply the fundamentals of direct response copywriting to your emails, you will explode sales.
Haven’t learned the direct response copywriting fundamentals yet?
You can learn all about them here
How Do I Practice Copywriting Emails?
You can practice writing emails by doing spec work.
Plus…
You can also do copy practice exercises – see my detailed post here –
Simply click the blue text above & follow the step-by-step instructions I give away in these posts and apply them to email.
Learn how to write killer emails today with this step-by-step guide (FREE Email Copywriting Course)
This guide covers how to write emails. It’s not going to cover the tech side – autoresponders and software.
After reading this crash course…
You will have everything you need to start writing killa emails - TODAY.
I’m going to break down how to write an email from start to finish the RIGHT WAY (breaking down each main element).
Alright, enough blabbering, let’s get err down…
1) The "From" Line
This is something gurus rarely talk about.
It’s very easy to overlook.
However, it might be the most important part of writing emails.
Because, if your readers do not recognize who the email is from, they will not read it.
It will get ignored (or sent to the junk folder or marked as spam).
Look…
People only open and read emails from people & companies they like, know and trust.
So…
In order to prevent getting eliminated right off the bat, you must add your name (or your client’s name) as the from sender.
Do NOT use the company’s name.
People like dealing with PEOPLE, not brands.
We form relationships with humans, not faceless companies.
So, the first VERY IMPORTANT step to writing emails that sell, is to have your client put their name as the from sender.
Okey dokey, on we go…
2) Subject Line
The from line keeps you from being deleted on the spot. But the subject line gets you OPENED.
Think of the subject line as your headline.
It’s job is the same…
To grab your reader’s attention and get them into your copy.
Here are 3 of my favorite ways to write email subject lines…
1. Curiosity
This is my favorite.
Curiosity acts as a giant red stop sign to our brain.
If you write curiosity-piquing subject lines, that create an itch your readers just got to scratch, you’ll likely get readers to open your emails.
Writing curiosity piquing subject lines is also among the easiest ways to write subject lines.
Why?
You literally write about ANYTHING.
It just has to be unique and different from what people are accustomed to seeing.
Take these emails I recently sent out as inspiration:
“Copywriting mistakes from The Cheesecake Factory”
(HMMMM? What are these copywriting mistakes?? I’m a copywriter, I don’t want to make mistakes. What the heck do they have to do with The Cheesecake Factory?... I better open this to find out… click.”)
----
“Weakest link in the jungle”
(WHAAAT?! Who is the weakest link in the jungle? What could this possibly mean?... click.”)
----
“Winning the big "stare off"”
(What the heck! What is the big “stare off”? This is unusual… click)
The key to this is…
Write unusual subject lines that are almost incomplete and must be opened in order to find out the rest of the story.
You can find great inspiration for curiosity piquing subject lines by studying emails that use this phenomenon.
And…
Study popular magazine titles (online & offline) that use “clickbait-y” titles.
IMPORTANT:
Do not clickbait your readers. Simply get inspiration from the curiosity appeals they use. ALWAYS pay off your subject line as quickly as possible. If you don’t, you’ll get unsubscribes and spam complaints in droves.
Humans LOVE numbers.
Humans love LISTS.
Humans love EXACT instructions.
Suck your reader’s eyeballs into your email by listing the number of benefits, mistakes to avoid, reasons why to take action, and so on.
Simply start your subject with numbers & words like:
- 3 ways to…
- 5 reasons why…
- 20 mistakes to avoid…
- 10 benefits of…
When in doubt, use a “how-to” subject line.
How-to subject lines offer useful information to your reader.
The best subject lines are those that appeal to your target audience’s self-interest. Load em up with key emotional benefits.
It’s super easy to create these types of killer headlines.
Simply start with the words “how to”, then follow with the desired result.
Template:
How to [achieve desired result]
Remember…
The ONLY goal of your subject line is to grab your reader’s attention and get them to open your email – to read your first sentence.
This leads me to the next part of your email…
3) Intro
I like to keep this very short.
Usually, I start my emails with one sentence (or LESS).
Here are some examples:
“To be honest…”
“I’m shocked.”
“You won’t believe what happened”
“This is crazy”
You want to keep your intro short because you want to suck your readers into your copy (email body).
Think of your emails as a slide.
You want to get them down this slide as quickly as possible so they can get to your CTA and click your link.
So, to get them down faster, you must “grease” this slide.
And one of the best ways to have a slippery slide effect, is to keep your intro extremely short.
4) Tell a Story
The crème de le crème of why Matt Furey is considered the best email copywriter on the planet is because of his storytelling abilities.
Telling stories is one of the most effective & persuasive ways to get your message across.
So…
The best way to write emails (that sell) is to weave stories into them.
I would say 80% of my emails start with a story (99% tell a story at some point).
With sales letters, I follow a more methodical approach to storytelling. However, in emails - I write stories about anything that comes to mind.
Could be something that happened to me while out for a walk. Something I saw on the News. My dog making a funny noise. A conversation I had with a friend. ANYTHING.
Then…
I tie this story into what I sell.
This is the easiest way to write addicting emails that get read and sell your clients’ products and services.
Here are some examples of “out-of-the-blue” stories I’ve written in emails...
----------------------------
See how easy this is?
Don’t overcomplicate it.
Just tell a story about ANYTHING, then relate it to your product/service in some way shape or form.
5) Close
After you’ve told a story, you want to tie it into the product or service you’re selling.
It’s really simple.
You can have a totally unrelated story, but then, segway into your product by tying in a concept from the story, a theme, a thought, or even a single word from the last sentence (see the above images to how I do this).
Then, after you’ve tied in your product or service, you want to include a clickable link that takes readers to your product’s landing page (website).
If you don’t already know how to write CTA’s, here’s the gist…
Give your readers super clear and direct instructions on what to do next (I.E. click your link).
And to motivate them to click your link, add in urgency and scarcity.
You can achieve this by...
- Adding a discount
- Mentioning that there’s only a limited number of products available
- Emphasizing why they should buy now (problems they can relieve, desires they can achieve).
Email Strategy 101
There’s a lot of different strategies when it comes to writing emails.
However, here are some tips:
- Frequency – the more emails you send out (I email DAILY) the more sales your clients’ will make.
- Build the relationship – do not pitch in emails. Instead, focus on building the relationship with the email list you’re writing to. When your readers like, know and trust you (or your client), they will naturally buy as a result.
- Infotainment – because your client likely sends out emails on a regular basis, and to stand out amongst competitors, you should inject infotainment into each email you write. The easiest and most effective way to do this is to tell stories.
- Sell in every email – No. This does not mean you are pitching or pushy. But you should include a link to buy in EVERY EMAIL YOU SEND. Screw “nurture” campaigns. Every email you send out can be the last email they’ll ever read. So, why not include a sales link? If you write emails the way I described in this post, they will not come across as pushy or scammy. They will build relationships. And if your client’s product is legit, it will improve your readers’ lives.
Conclusion
You now have everything you need to become a kickass email copywriter.
However, the day you stop improving is the day you die.
You should strive to improve your email copywriting skills each day, by reviewing this email copywriting course and by practicing and writing emails.
Plus…
You’d be wise as a whale’s tale to subscribe to my DAILY email tips.
Study em. And learn the insider secrets I send you to help you become a top-paid copywriter: