7 things people who sell with emails do that you probably don’t (yet)

The secret to selling through email isn’t about data or memorizing tried-and-true patterns of persuasion. It’s more about who you are, and knowing how to position that in a way that really resonates with your reader. Here are 7 secrets to selling through email, for the rest of us:

1. Let go of jargon
   Too many professionals never get any traction on email because they are trapped in the glass jars of their own training. It’s like fireflies – so pretty, but there’s something inherently caged and limiting. To connect with people and move them in your writing, you must learn to speak their language.
2. Meet them where they are
   It’s fantastic to have a mission. Just know that talking about your mission with people who have just opened an email from you like starting directly at the sun. It hurts the eyes, and then they look away. Instead, picture what is going on in your ideal client’s day, heart, and mind. That will get you a lot farther with connecting and moving them.
3. Solve a problem
   Every person who’s selling online is solving a problem that other people are willing to pay to solve. I take my clients through the “are they willing to pay for it?” test before they write a word. It’s simple. Just ask people if what you are writing and talking about is cute/”nice”… or if they’d actually invest to get their hands on it.
4. Get out of your head
   There is a mistaken belief that effective writing comes from your head. It doesn’t. It comes from your heart. You still need to use logic to position your offer and take people through a process of wanting what you offer… but still… more heart, you guys. Get out of your heads.
5. Help them feel something
   Just because it’s email doesn’t mean we can’t feel you. Before you write, think about the problem your audience is having – Finding love? Being in relationship? Paying for their kids’ education? Finding their path? – and just feel it. Strategies are great, but if you can’t empathize with the people you want to serve, you are going to sound like a fast food internet marketer. Ick.
6. Write from the heart
   Warning: I don’t like the word “heart” in anything. I think it’s cheesy and overdone. I’m a terrible person and am fully aware of this fact. No need to tell me so in the comments. But if you asked me, “Stella, where does good writing come from?” and made me point to a part of my body, it would be my heart. Or my crotch, but that is a topic for another blog post (and mostly reserved for my clients who do love, sex, and relationship work).
7. Picture one person
   If you find yourself a bit too intellectual and abstract about your audience, it never hurts to pick the ONE person who would make a great customer for the particular offer you are making, and write to her. My friend Tim told me that when he was learning to write persuasively, he cut out a picture of his ideal client and stuck it by his wall. He assured me it was in no way creepy, so no need to tell me so in the comments.

One of the principles I teach in all my labs is to Learn One Thing. Every time you send an email, look at the response you get (or don’t get) and ask yourself, “now why do I think THAT happened?”

We learn through iteration. Meaning, you actually have to get out there and test email subject lines, calls to action, and how you position your offers, before you can have any real experience about what works, and what doesn’t. So don’t be intimidated – go ahead, hit send, and see what happens next.