Trash Talkin’ Grandpa’s Email Course “Secret”

Ever play chess?

I used to play against my grandpa almost every time I visited him.

He liked to “talk trash” while we played.

“Are you sure you want to do that?”

“Is that really the best you’ve got?”

“As long as you’re just *giving* your rook away…”

Really screwed with my 12-year-old head while he was mopping the board with me. I always came back for more, though.

The “secret” that separates the “men from the boys” in chess is the same quality that makes for a high-converting email course.

Mediocre chess players like me look at the pieces on the board and focus on the next move.

Champion chess players are always thinking 10-15 moves ahead. They’re visualizing a series of steps they want to walk their opponent through to set up that game-ending checkmate.

The #1 mistake I see with email courses is failing to think several moves ahead to the end goal—making a sale.

This is what happens when you pick a topic for your email course that you KNOW your audience will be interested in…

But you don’t stop to consider how you will connect that topic to the product you’re offering down the line.

When you do this, you’re likely to wind up with a “Bridge to Nowhere” course.

So…

Before you start writing emails…

Before you even settle on a theme for your course…

You have to see with crystal clarity how you will lay out your email course to set up your product as the natural next step.

You want the transition from free content to product pitch to flow naturally—no jarring disconnects or logical leaps required.

The trick to doing this is to spend a little quality time getting to know your product.

The more you know about your product, including the benefits your customers get from using it, and the reasons they might choose NOT to buy it…

The easier it will be to connect the dots for your customer and show them how your product will get them exactly what they want.

And when your customer sees that?

Well, “checkmate.”

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