A few days ago, I got a question from reader Faith Ndangi. Faith was responding to an email in which I had a little thought bubble – a fantasy sequence in which I imagined being interviewed on CNN, before having my thought bubble pop. To which Faith wrote:
Okay John!
I love this story of you fantasizing being interviewed.
Personal yet you still keep your distance.
Was entertaining and fun too.
I would love to know the tricks and strategies you used to have that effect.
I guess Faith doesn’t like sharing personal details about herself on the Internet. So as a deal, I promised to tell her my “tricks and strategies” if she’d let me use her name and question in a newsletter email.
I also warned her it’s not much of a trick at all, though it is simple, and it is something you can use to make your copy, and really all your writing, much better.
Faith agreed.
So I will tell you my trick — even though it’s not much of a trick. But first…
Have you heard about the new ‘Menstrual Dignity Act’?
Oregon Governor Kate Brown pushed it through recently. It’s a new law that will install tampon machines in boys’ bathrooms in Portland public schools. Each tampon machine will cost $400 and will dispense free tampons to boys.
The Governor says this will increase “menstrual equity” and will reduce the shame and stigma surrounding menstruation.
Opponents furiously disagree. They say this is a waste of public money, an invitation for mischief and bullying, and an attempt to push an LGBTQ agenda and destroy Oregon.
How do you feel?
Are you with the Governor, hopeful that laws like this, after some birthing pains, will bring about a new and better world? Or are you genuinely furious and outraged? Or, like me, are you just shaking your head and chuckling about how stupid people can be and how crazy the world has gotten?
Think about that for a moment. In the meantime, let’s get back on track.
The simple trick/strategy I used in that CNN email was to ask myself, how can I make the reader feel something?
After all, the rest of that email was a bunch of subtle self-promotion and hard teaching. Neither of those really stirs the body.
So I asked myself, how can I make the reader experience and feel something, anything?
In response, my brain popped up with that ridiculous CNN sequence — combining the feelings of vanity, foiled ambition, and familiarity.
It seems to have worked. It stirred something, in Faith’s case at least. And it didn’t matter those feelings weren’t particularly related to anything else I was talking about. In the words of Dan Kennedy:
Great copy agitates, and it doesn’t matter what the agitation is — you just need to agitate.
So that’s really what that whole Menstrual Dignity stuff above was about. Whatever your reaction was, I hope you felt something.
And now that I’ve hopefully agitated you through the feelings of curiosity, pride, or maybe insight, I want to get to the real point of this email.
Two days ago, I made an offer of consulting for the first time.
In spite of “consulting” not being a great offer, I’ve had a surprising number of people take me up on it already.
As a result, my consulting offer is becoming a little sharper, because it’s becoming clear there is demand for an email marketing audit. You know, where I look at your entire email funnel critically, from start to finish, and tell you what I would do to make more sales and get more engagement.
Do you feel this could be valuable for you? Or do you think it might increase dignity and equity, at least when it comes to your bottom line?
If you say yes, you can get started by filling out the form below: