One-Hit Wally: A Tragic Tale of “Email Copywriting Paralysis”

Got a sad story for you today…

A while back a subscriber (we’ll call him “Wally”) reached out and asked whether I’d recommend my “flavor” of email marketing for his specific brick-and-mortar business.

As it happened, he works in an industry that’s rife with misinformation and con artists—while also serving customers who are poised on the brink of some of life’s most beautiful and treasured moments.

Whaddaya think, sound like a place where entertaining, educational story-based emails might make a few sales here and there?

To me this was a no-brainer—Wally had a golden opportunity to explode his business.

He even had a major advantage: Since his business had been around for several generations, he had thousands of past customers.

Instant email list!

Wally was charged up, bouncing off the walls, couldn’t wait to start putting into practice all the new techniques he was soaking up.

He showed me the “inaugural email” that he sent out to his list, and I could tell he was getting it.

Sure, the email had some rough edges, but Wally’s heart came through.

He sounded HUMAN and RELATABLE.

And he grabbed my attention by dropping some hints about interesting stories to come.

From what I heard, his inbox lit up with excited emails from his customers after the email went out.

Such a great start.

Then… Wally fell off the map, so to speak.

I didn’t hear from him for a few weeks.

He stopped emailing his list.

Finally he reaches out in frustration.

“I’m really struggling,” he says.

“I know I SHOULD be emailing my list, but I just can’t seem to bring myself to actually DO it.

“I’ve started to write a dozen different emails, but they were all terrible and I never finished them.

“I think I need to take a break from this and get our sales up. That way I can hire a new sales person, so I can focus more on this email marketing stuff…”

For now, at least, that’s where Wally’s story ends.

I’m still hopeful that he’ll wake up one day and take another run at this.

He clearly has it in him.

When you’re stuck like this, though, it can be TOUGH to break through.

I’ve been there myself.

Before I turned into an email writing machine, I wasted weeks, months, years, mired in guilt and self-doubt…

What if I send something that my subscribers hate?

What if I’m just boring?

Or what if (like Wally) I write an email that’s actually kinda good—and then I can’t find a way to top it?

I can tell you what’s worked for me to overcome this “email paralysis.”

I’ve developed a small set of sustainable, maintainable habits…

These habits or ways of thinking help me see email ideas everywhere I look.

With these habits in place, writer’s block becomes a non-issue.

You actually find yourself with more ideas for emails than you could ever possibly use.

You’re actually excited to sit down to write.

And… your audience sense that, and before long they’re looking forward to hearing from YOU.

Developing these “email habits” is the focus of the online workshop I’m leading later this month.

In this training, you’ll get the hands-on experience and support you need to feel confident in your ability to write authentic, entertaining, story-based emails that are custom-fit to YOUR audience, YOUR business and YOUR voice.

Registration opens to the public on October 13.

And to make sure I can give each student individual attention, I’m capping enrollment at 21 students.

Contact me prior to 11:59 p.m. Eastern on October 12, 2016 and I’ll add your name to the early invitation list.