A couple days ago, I wrote a 1,400-word email about what I called Boredom Therapy, and the strange psychological hypothesis known as “free won’t.”
I ended that email by recommending Brian Kurtz’s $12.67 book Overdeliver, because of the crazy-valuable bonuses that Brian gives away for free to buyers of that book.
As usual, as the final part of the email, I had a link, in this case, to Brian’s page where my readers could go take advantage of this great offer.
In response to this 1,400-word email in which I tried to put in a novel idea and a great offer, I got a reply from a new reader:
===
Great. I have read your mail from your engaging story to your closing.
===
“Harumph,” I said to myself. I doubt my new reader meant his comment as an insult, and yet…
I’ve been listening to Dan Heath’s podcast What It’s Like To Be. Dan interviews people from different fields — recent episodes featured a marine biologist, a Christmas tree farmer, a life insurance salesman. Dan’s goal to find out what it’s like to live your life doing these sometimes strange, sometimes mundane jobs.
The podcast typically ends with a series of lightning-round questions. One of these is, “What’s the most insulting thing that can be said about the work of someone in your profession?”
I thought about sales copywriting, which is as close to a profession as I’ve ever had. I realized the worst thing you can hear as a copywriter is, “Wow, this is great copy.”
This goes back to copywriter Gary Halbert, who would give his sales letters to the local barflies to read.
If Gary ever heard, “Wow this is a GREAT sales letter,” he knew he had written a flop. The response he was hoping to hear is, “Damn, where can I buy this???”
Writing a daily email newsletter is not quite like writing a cold traffic sales letter. An email newsletter does try to make sales, but it goes out to a warm audience, to people who know you, trust you, want to hear from you, at least sometimes.
And so the responses I’m hoping for are either Gary’s “Where can I buy this?” (hint: usually a link at the end of the email)… or on the other hand, something that indicates I’ve helped the lights come on in some way, usually manifested by responses like, “This made me think of…”
If my email gave you a new idea, or helped you make a new connection, or brought up some personal memory or experience, I wanna hear about it.
Just don’t write me to say something about the writing itself, even if it seems complimentary, because then I’ll know you either didn’t read this email… or that I failed to write it in a way that had any impact on you.
By the way, I’ve been writing lately about cross-pollination — getting ideas from other industries.
The What It’s Like To Be podcast is actually a good resource for that. Plus, it’s easy and pleasant to consume — short, light, and yet substantive.
That’s not surprising, considering that Dan Heath is the author of several books on effective business communication, including a personal favorite of mine, Made To Stick.
If you want to give Dan’s podcast a try the next time you’re at the gym or going for a walk: