I was recently asked the following question about email copywriting:
Hi Ben,
I just wanted to take a minute to compliment you on your email messages. They always sound so personal and never like a list message. What is your secret for doing that so well?
If there’s any “secret”, it’s simply studying what the email copywriting masters do.
Below are my three all-time favorite email marketers.
I save everything they send in their own folders in my email program.
Whenever I’m “stuck” for an idea, I simply browse through their stuff and the answer usually comes within a few minutes.
And if you get on their lists and read what they send, I think you’ll find your emails become FAR more effective (and profitable).
Here they are:
1. Ken McCarthy
Ken’s forgotten more about email marketing than most of us will ever know.
I can’t think of one email of his (even when purely promotional) that I didn’t read all the way through. In fact, it was by reading his emails that I had one of my biggest copywriting breakthroughs.
Here’s an excerpt about email marketing from his interview in my Copywriting Grab Bag book:
…yes, email is free. But, if you just send people crap, or self serving stuff, they will very, very, very quickly decide that your emails are not worth reading. And you and I probably both know guys with massive — supposedly massive — email lists…, “Oh, I got a 100,000 on my list….” How many of those people actually read anything you send them anymore?
And I don’t do a lot of promotions for other people, but when I do, people are always surprised because they’re like, “Wow… your conversion rate is just crazy. It’s exponentially higher than anybody else that promoted this thing. What’s going on?
Well, I don’t waste my customers’ time with nonsense. And so when I do say something, they tend to at least consider it and it’s credibility. So you’re either adding to your credibility with each email or reducing your credibility. It’s almost like an “on/off” switch. You can make your credibility deeper and deeper, so that there it’s incremental. But in terms of losing your credibility, that’s an “off” switch. And once that switch is off, that’s it. You’re not going to turn that back on with another email. It’s over.”
Powerful stuff, eh?
And that one tip alone is possibly the single most valuable email marketing lessons you’ll ever hear.
I hope you enjoy it, internalize it and, of course, use it.
BTW, you can see Ken’s email marketing “in action” (save and study EVERYTHING he sends) by signing up on his list at:
2. Ray Edwards
Sometimes I’m just in awe of Ray’s email writing.
Why?
Because he has the rare ability to get you reading through his emails even when he’s pitching something you couldn’t care less about. And even when a dozen other people are trying to sell you the same thing.
He has the “cut through the clutter” knack down pat.
His brilliance is not only in his “writing”, but also in the structures he uses.
And that’s why I recommend reading and studying Ray’s emails in microscopic detail.
You can check it out yourself by getting on his email list at:
BTW, Ray also has a brilliant teaching about how to cut down on your spam complaints by sending MORE emails.
You can read it at:
And last (but FAR from least)…
3. Matt Furey
In my humble opinion, Matt Furey’s ezine is the “Cosmo” of email marketing.
Just like you can always get the hottest and most effective headline ideas on the cover of “Cosmo” magazine, you can always get the hottest and most effective email ideas in Matt Furey’s daily emails.
Matt’s stuff is so good many people I know (myself included!) have bought a bunch of his products just because of his emails (without even reading the real “sales letters”).
What’s his secret?
I wish I knew!
All I know is he can jab at your hot buttons like nobody else.
And you can learn a LOT about email marketing by studying Matt Furey’s emails and buying his products (yes, buy some of his products, if for no reason than to see great examples of product development).
Anyway, you can get on his list at:
OK, that’s it for today.
There are a lot of other great email marketers out there besides the above.
But these are the three I study most.
I highly recommend you check them out, too.
P.S. Another great email resource is top direct response copywriter, Doug D’Anna.
When you sign up for his “A-List” ezine you get a free report “7 Proven Profit Triggers for Email Copywriters”. This awesome report has had a dramatic impact on my writing.
You can sign up for his A-List at:
