"Yours are the only emails I actually open and read" - a regular reply in my inbox since 2009...and I'll bet in yours, too, once you subscribe and learn by pure, lazy osmosis to become the most compelling writer around. That said, no promises on improving your moral character.
You can’t sell by fingernail
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Hey Reader, In first grade, I used to play with this classmate named Melinda. She was kind of a drag. I didn’t have the word for it then, but I remember her as flaccid. The playdate always had to be at her house, because she wouldn't be parted from her enormous Barbie collection (including the Dream House, the Malibu versions, multiple Kens, the works) — or from her coloring books. Barbies weren't my thing. Too girly. I liked Weebles. Play-Doh. Mr. Potato Head. Toys that stood up to abuses like knocking, squishing, and pounding, or rearranging of facial features, and revolved less around outfits and dating. She'd say, “Wanna color, then?” The first time she proposed this, I was a big yes. I loved to draw — even in princess-themed coloring books. Then I discovered that we weren't allowed (by Melinda herself) to actually color in them. No markers, colored pencils, crayons, or Craypas permitted. Instead, Melinda’s version of “coloring” was gently scratching inside the lines of the illustrations with one's fingernail. Emphasis on gently. A simulation of coloring, no leaving of any marks. That way, she could keep her coloring books pristine and “color” them over and over, each time for the first time. And with zero outside-the-lines mistakes. I’m not going to say emails I’ve seen lately make me think of Melinda. She actually came up during a meditation, among many other thoughts. (When Steven and I learned TM, I was glad to discover that thoughts don’t mean you’re doing it wrong. Because I wouldn’t be capable of doing it right.) But remembering Melinda’s weird no-color coloring technique did make me think of some people’s emails. Both in my inbox and in submissions for my private email makeovers — a hot bonus I offered for Shrimpers who snapped up Inbox Hero during my last webinar — I see the kind of email that tells a story and then “sells” with a disconnected, limp “If you’re curious about working together, sign up for a discovery call here.” That’s the coloring-by-fingernail version of selling. Blameless, invisible. Not daring to make a mark. (And, I’m pretty sure, not making a sale, either.) If this is you and you already have Email Cash Cow, GO WATCH IT. And if this is you and you don’t have Email Cash Cow, GET IT. It’s the cure for “People love my emails but they don’t buy.” You can grab it for 50% off here until Friday at midnight ET. Use code: FINGERNAIL50 And FFS, please use it. Then go make your mark in every email. xoLaura Love Shrimp Mail? Forward this to a friend so they can get in on the action and sign up below.
Thank you for reading and sharing, |
Laura Belgray (Talking Shrimp)
"Yours are the only emails I actually open and read" - a regular reply in my inbox since 2009...and I'll bet in yours, too, once you subscribe and learn by pure, lazy osmosis to become the most compelling writer around. That said, no promises on improving your moral character.
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