What’s The Ideal Length of a Good Email Copy?

What should be the ideal length when writing an email copy?

I’ll answer that in this email, but let me tell you this short story first.

There was this doctor who committed a grave error and ended up almost killing her patient.

The reason?

Confusion with her two patients: Mrs. Morris and Mrs. Morrison.

It was terrible. The doctor already cut her groin, punctured her artery, and inserted a long tube to her heart — only to found out that she’s operating on a wrong patient.

Luckily, the patient survived.

Heck, she was even happy because at least they were able to confirm out that her heart is fine.

Hah.

Anyway, here’s what I brought it up:

Confusion can be deadly.

And getting confused in marketing? Oh, it can kill your business slowly or in an instant.

Let’s take email copywriting for example.

When it comes to writing emails, a lot of people are unsure whether they should write short or long emails.

Some gwurus say that short emails work best since people have now the attention span of a goldfish.

While some sheksperts say that long emails still perform better — especially when you’re trying to sell something.

Me?

I take to heart what A-list copywriter, Joe Sugarman said.

According to him, back in the days when copywriters were mostly men, they have this old adage when it comes to length of copy:

“Copy is like a woman’s skirt. It should be long enough to cover the essentials but short enough to make it interesting.”

Now, I’m not being sexist here, I’m just trying to prove a point.

You see, the length is irrelevant.

If your email copy is interesting and it’s relevant to your readers, then they will keep reading it.

But if it’s the ‘same-old, same-old’ regurgitated emails like what gwurus and sheksperts are always doing each time they launch their product, then you’ll easily lose readership.

Me?

I always try my best to keep my emails short.

I’m busy. My readers are busy.

And we’d both appreciate it if I can say everything I want to say in the shortest time possible while still keeping things interesting.

200 to 300 words is a good number. But again, don’t let that limit you.

Instead, always aim to make your emails fun to read — and you’ll never have to worry about the length once again.

If you want to see some demonstration of how to write short but interesting email copy, then you should grab your copy of my brand new book: Email Copywriting Handbook.

Grab your copy today!

 

For More High-Level Tips About Email Marketing & Email Copywriting, Grab Your Free Copy of My New Book: EMAIL COPYWRITING HANDBOOK

Go here: http://bit.ly/RomEmailCopyBook

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How To Add Value Without Giving Away Too Much Content

“If I give you something of value that you perceived to be valuable, you’re going to feel an obligation to return back to me something of equal value in return.”

This quote I pulled somewhere talks about the gist of the Rule of Reciprocity that came from Robert Cialdini’s best-selling book, Influence: The Power of Persuasion

Influence

But in my humble (but accurate) opinion, this Rule caused a lot of troubles and miseries…

…Especially in the lives of business owners.

Well, for the record, I’m not blaming Cialdini.

The fault lies in the way we understood and apply this so-called ‘universal rule.’

You see, the Rule of Reciprocity says that people feel obligated, even forced, to give back to you whatever you give to them.

Business owners took it to the extreme by saying that your customer will only buy from you if you offer them something valuable first.

So you created loads of free super valuable content — a free eBook, free 1:1 coaching, free online course, free meal.

You give 99% of what you know to compel people to buy from you.

And so far, it seems working.

Your potential clients are happy and they won’t stop thanking you.

But when it’s time to launch your product, what happens?

Crickets.

Those people who consumed all your free resources are nowhere to be found.

Heck, some of them will even get angry at you for trying to sell them something.

And there are others who will ask, “Well, you already give us a lot of information. Why should we buy from you?”

It’s freaking heartbreaking.

Don’t worry though, because there’s another way to market business without giving away the farm along with the kids.

This might sound strange, but you can actually add value without giving away too much content.

Here’s how to do it:

 

#1: TALK MORE ABOUT THEIR PROBLEMS

Whenever you talk about your ideal client’s problems, they tend to listen.

And even if you don’t give them the solution inside your content, they will still listen.

Why?

Because it’s super relevant to them.

You’re talking about a topic that is really close to their heart.

And they won’t mind you talking about it over and over again.

Have you ever had that one friend who won’t stop talking about his or her problems?

It’s funny but you’ll notice that people don’t get tired when they are telling you about their problem.

Do this in your content and people will continue listening to you.

 

#2: BE VERY VAGUE ABOUT THE SOLUTION

Here’s the thing: The solution is you.

So if they want to get their problem solved, then they need to buy your product or hire your services.

The key here is to be so clear about the problem, but very vague when talking about the solution.

Don’t share the dirty details of how you will solve their problem if they come to you.

Think about it: When you come to a doctor, you don’t expect that they’ll give you the solution right away.

No. What they do is to talk about your symptoms first — your problems — then, they give you the solution.

If it’s medicine, you need to buy it.

If it’s an operation, you need to pay for it.

See the pattern here?

Talk more about the problem. But they need to pay to get the solution.

 

#3. BE AN OBNOXIOUS TEASE

Teasing your solution is one of the best ways to make people buy from you.

How do you do it?

By giving them a bit some juicy information, but withholding a key piece that they need to implement the information.

Here’s an example:

Say you’re selling a weightless product for women.

You can talk about the importance of drinking a lot of water to lose weight.

But don’t just drink water.

They need to drink the right amount as well as the right kind.

Because if they drink too much or too little, they’ll gain weight.

And if they drink the wrong kind of water, they’ll gain weight as well.

Then, proceed to tell them…

“I talk about this in detail in my weightless product. Get it here.”

See what I did there?

You talk about their problem — losing weight.

You’re very vague about the solution — drink the right amount and right kind of water.

Then, you tease them about your product.

And that’s how you add value without giving away all your free stuff!

 

Conclusion

You don’t have to give away everything just to make people buy from you.

There are hundreds of tools and tactics that you can use to ‘persuade’ your potential buyers to try your product or hire your services.

The 3 steps I shared with you is enough to get you started.

 

For More High-Level Tips About Email Marketing & Email Copywriting, Grab Your Free Copy of My New Book: EMAIL COPYWRITING HANDBOOK

Go here: http://bit.ly/RomEmailCopyBook

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Creepy Marie Kondo’s Secret To ‘Tidying Up’ Losers In Your Business

Ever heard of Marie Kondo’s Tidying Up series on Netflix?

Yeah?

I’m not going to talk about that. Lol! 😂

Because I actually saw a parody of it where the spoof Marie Condo’s goal is not to tidy up your things, but to tidy up people in your life.

Sounds more interesting, eh?

Anyway, here’s how it goes:

There’s this guy who asked Marie Condo’s help to tidy up his office. However, instead of working on his messy files and table, Condo ‘cleaned up’ the toxic people in this guy’s life.

Yeah. She killed them. Condo killed the guy’s boss, his officemates, and everyone who doesn’t spark joy in his life.

Finally, the guy had enough and said, “Stop! It’s my fault. I don’t want to tidy up my office anymore.”

Then the creepy Condo replied, “So you don’t spark joy to yourself?”

“Noooooooooooo!!!!”

It’s a kinda sick parody right?

But TBH, I think that’s exactly what you need to do to some people in your email list.

No, don’t kill them. Silly!

But get rid of them as fast as you can.

Here’s a short list of people you need to ‘let go’ from your email list:

 The pesky Freeloaders

 The annoying Freebie-seekers

 Those who don’t like receiving emails from you

 Those who don’t like to receive any emails with a sales pitch

 The snowflakes who are easily offended by everything you say

 And a lot more!

Trust me, you don’t want anything to do with these people.

So get rid of them.

Send more emails and sell in every email — exactly what they don’t want you doing.

And watch in triumph as these people crawl back to their hole — never to disturb you again.

Congratulations! You just ‘Marie Kondo’ them! 😅

 

For More High-Level Tips About Email Marketing & Email Copywriting, Grab Your Free Copy of My New Book: EMAIL COPYWRITING HANDBOOK

Go here: http://bit.ly/RomEmailCopyBook

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The ‘Soda Spirits’ of Online Marketing

Got a rather bizarre story for you today.

Last week, someone told me of this strange account of how a truck driver delivering soda products stopped by a big beautiful house in the woods. It was a party and a lot of people were celebrating when he arrived. After unloading all the sodas, the driver went his merry way.

Early the next day, his manager phoned him and ask why he didn’t deliver the soda to its intended destination.

“But I did! I delivered it to the customer.” The driver said.

“No. You didn’t. The client is really pissed. Fix this or lose your job!”

So the driver immediately hopped on his truck and went back to the place where he delivered the soda.

To his horror, the big beautiful house was gone.

All that’s left are empty bottles of soda he delivered last night.

And the locals believe that he was ‘duped’ and ‘played’ by the spirits and entities from the forest. (We call it ‘engkanto’ in Tagalog language)

Crazy, right?

Anyway, here’s the point:

I don’t know if that story is true, Lol! 🤣

…But I always see it happening in real life right now — particularly in the online business space.

Like the kid in the Sixth Sense movie who sees dead people, I see gurus and experts ‘appearing’ and ’disappearing’ all the time.

They appear when they need your money… Err… When they want to ‘help’ you with their product.

And disappear once the launch is over.

Like the ‘soda spirits’ from the forest, they are only present when they need you.

But once they get what they want, you won’t be able to find them anywhere.

So once you saw them, run as fast as you can.

 

For More High-Level Tips About Email Marketing & Email Copywriting, Grab Your Free Copy of My New Book: EMAIL COPYWRITING HANDBOOK

Go here: http://bit.ly/RomEmailCopyBook

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Are You Afraid of Unsubscribes?

I know a lot of business owners who are afraid to send daily emails to their list.

And the main reason is they’re afraid of unsubscribes.

After all, it’s scary to see dozens of people leaving your email list, right?

Me? I think it’s only a matter of perspective.

I would unsubscribe from anyone who doesn’t add value to me.

But if I’m getting value, and I’m being entertained, and I’m learning a lot, then why would I unsubscribe?

Because here’s the truth:

If you send daily emails but you’re not giving value, and you’re not making the life of your readers a little bit fun, and they are not learning from you — expect that a lot of them will unsubscribe.

But if you do those things and you send daily emails — expect that a lot of them will STILL unsubscribe.

Why?

Because that’s how you weed out those who are not your audience

And in the process, identify those who will be your loyal customers in the future.

Besides, what’s the logic in keeping people who don’t want to hear from you?

What would you get from holding on to people who don’t see any value in what you’re trying to teach them?

IMHO, I’d rather have 100 people on my list who are raving fans because of what I’m doing for them…

…Than having 10,000 people who don’t really get value from me. (And even gets upset because I’m trying to help them with my emails. Lol!)

Again, it’s a matter of perspective.

For More High-Level Tips About Email Marketing & Email Copywriting, Grab Your Free Copy of My New Book: EMAIL COPYWRITING HANDBOOK

Go here: http://bit.ly/RomEmailCopyBook

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7 Email Marketing Mistakes I Hope You’re Not Doing

As a self-confessed email junkie, I have this weird habit of signing up on different email lists.

I do this to observe how other business owners are writing their emails.

After reading thousands of emails from different marketers, I noticed some major mistakes that they usually do.

Hopefully, you’re not doing these things

There are dozens I can think of, but here’s my top 7:

🚫 Not sending emails as frequently as they should

🚫 Always adding value — but ‘rarely’ selling

🚫 Only emailing when they’re about to launch a new product, treating their subscribers as ‘cash cows’ (I super hate this!)

🚫 Being too formal

🚫 Being too obnoxious and vulgar

🚫 Tricking subscribers using ‘Fake Scarcity’

🚫 Embarrassing people who don’t buy their products

Those 7 mistakes really annoy the crap out of me.

More:

There’s another sinister email copywriting mistake that you might be doing.

And that is, talking ‘gibberish’

Or talking in a way that your market doesn’t understand.

Let me illustrate.

A few days ago, my wife and I saw a group of goats on the roadside. We’re still waiting for our vehicle to arrive so we decided to have some fun. My wife started bleating like a ‘goat’ and to our surprise, a goat bleated in response. We tried it for a couple of times and every time my wife ‘bleat’ the goat will also bleat.

I tried to bleat like a goat, too. But I did a terrible job so the goat saw through my pretense and he didn’t bleat.

I think he has no concept of gender equality. 🤣

Anyway, what’s the point?

You need to speak the language of your Target Market.

You need to get off your high horse and speak to them like how they’re talking amongst themselves.

In fact, just fixing this one mistake can mean more profit to your business.

And just like how the goat responded to my wife’s bleat, your subscribers will have a hard time ignoring you.

…In fact, they won’t be able to resist but to respond and give their money to you.

 

For More High-Level Tips About Email Marketing & Email Copywriting, Grab Your Free Copy of My New Book: EMAIL COPYWRITING HANDBOOK

Go here: http://bit.ly/RomEmailCopyBook

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Why You Don’t Need a Funnel to Make a Sale

A lot of business owners today are yapping about funnels.

For them, it’s the ‘holy grail’ of online marketing.

They say… *insert mocking voice*

“If you don’t have a funnel, no one will buy from you!”

To which I happily disagree.

Here’s the thing…

Funnels are useful, I give you that.

I have a friend who made 7-figure funnel for his clients.

So I know it works!

But what irks me are people thinking they can’t sell shyt if they don’t have a funnel.

That’s why all they think about are…

“Is my tripwire effective?”

“Is my downsell good enough?”

“Did I choose the right upsell?”

“Should I add another video?”

Yada yada yada.

Hey, hold your jets!

Funnel is just a tool. An instrument to automate the process of selling your products.

But don’t forget the two most important combo when building your business.

 Problem and Solution.

 Starving Crowd and the Burger.

 Your market and your Product.

Even if Russell Brunson builds your funnel, but if you don’t have a validated offer, your funnel will still suck. (Or it won’t! Lol!)

Because there’s no saving a product that no one wants.

The reverse is also true…

If you have a product that your market really needs — and willing to pay for — even if you just send emails to your list to sell it, you’d still make boatloads of money.

So don’t let yourself be burdened with the ‘yoke of funnel-slavery.’

Work on validating your offer first.

Try to sell your product to people who you think might need it.

If you find enough people who are willing to pull out their wallet to buy it, then congratulations

Go and funnel your business to your heart’s content!

 

For More High-Level Tips About Email Marketing & Email Copywriting, Grab Your Free Copy of My New Book: EMAIL COPYWRITING HANDBOOK

Go here: http://bit.ly/RomEmailCopyBook

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Why You Don’t Need To Add Value Before Asking For A Sale

Giving value first BEFORE asking for a sale?

Naah, it sucks!

I don’t know who started this ‘marketing principle.’

But it seems like a total rip off from Robert Cialdini’s book, “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.”

TBH, I think that mindset is flawed.

Let me explain why.

In his book, Cialdini taught about the ‘Law of Reciprocity.’

It is believed that when you give something to a person, they’ll have no choice but to feel personally, psychologically, and even ethically obligated to return the favor to you.

That’s why a lot of business owners think that if they provide enough value to their audience, they will be ‘obligated’ to return the favor… and buy their online course.

So they offer free eBooks, a mini-course, a free consultation, yada yada yada.

When it comes to emails… Marketing gurus teach that you should never sell on the first email. Or the 2nd. Or the 4th.

Make sure you give value first. Then on the 5th, 6th or 7th, you can sell. But don’t do it in a ‘salesy’ way.

Will it work? Perhaps.

Your audience might even love you for doing this.

But love and admiration don’t necessarily translate to sales and more customers.

If anything else, you’re just making yourself vulnerable to freeloaders and freebie-seekers.

How will you know?

They love you when you’re giving them value for free, but once you sell them anything, they turn into vicious gremlins.

So, should you give value first BEFORE you can sell?

Nope.

If a pharmacy will educate you first before selling you medicine, a lot of people will die due to diarrhea.

So here’s my rule of thumb: If you have the solution for your market’s pain, then tell them about it.

Let them know that you can help them with their problem.

But you must never be obnoxious in doing this.

Provide them with great information, while leaving something out.

That’s how you can capture their attention and make them want your product.

 

For More High-Level Tips About Email Marketing & Email Copywriting, Grab Your Free Copy of My New Book: EMAIL COPYWRITING HANDBOOK

Go here: http://bit.ly/RomEmailCopyBook

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He ‘Urinated’ On A Dead Man’s Grave

A few weeks ago, I ‘encountered’ something really funny.

I posted this thought-provoking marketing question inside an FB group…

“If you’re selling hamburgers, what’s the one thing you need to have to make a lot of sales?”

And we have fun answering it.

Some say, “You need to have the best burger!”

Or, “You need to have confidence in yourself.”

While others hit the nail in the head, “You need buns. Onions. Cheese… Weed”

(Apparently, a guy loves putting weed in his burger. Pretty hardcore!)

Anyway, It was really fun until out of nowhere came this guy.

He seemed upset with the question.

So I asked him why.

He said that he didn’t like that my question was alluding to Gary Halbert’s teaching.

(By the way, Gary Halbert was one of the best copywriters who ever lived)

According to our ‘party-pooper’, it’s the 21st century and the ‘chestnut insights’ of Gary Halbert don’t work anymore.

…I watched as this dude basically peed on Gary Halbert’s grave!

You see, I believe that there are timeless marketing principles.

It doesn’t matter if its 50 years ago, 100 or even 2,000.

The basic principle of business and marketing is still the same:

“Find your market’s problem and provide a solution.”

If you want to succeed in selling burgers, all you need is to find a ‘starving crowd’ who’ll buy your burger in fear that they’ll die by starvation.

It’s the same thing with emails.

People who try email marketing and didn’t get any results will foolishly conclude that it’s ‘dead.’

I say, “No. You just don’t know how to use it properly.”

If email marketing is the car, then marketing principles are fuel.

You need both for it to work and get you results.
Yeah?

The ‘Yellow Jacket Approach’ To Jacking Up More Sales

Someone asked me…

“How do I convince my customers that I’m the ‘real deal’ without giving too much information for free?”

There’s a lot of ways to do it.

But personally, I prefer the ‘Yellow Jacket’ approach by Darren Cross.

Darren Cross was an obsess CEO in the hit Marvel comic movie, Ant-Man. Because of his obsession with Ant-Man, he was able to create a suit that allows the person wearing it to downsize to the size of an ant. He called it the ‘Yellow Jacket.’

After creating it, he didn’t waste time…

He promptly sold his technology to arms dealers, mobsters, and terrorists around the world.

(Way to go destroying the world with ’ant-sized criminals’ huh, Darren?)

Ok, so how does it answer the question?

2 things: Demonstration + Teasing

Darren showed them a ’shrinking suit’ then teased them by saying that it will only work using a ’secret serum’

If you want to prove to your customers that you’re the real deal, then do it the ‘Yellow Jacket’ approach.

Show them what you can do, but don’t tell them how you do it.

Tease them with your knowledge and ability, while staying ‘vague’ about the exact process you have.

In marketing lingo, ‘Give them the ‘What’ and ‘Why,’ but never the ‘How.’

Make them curious.

Make them go crazy thinking how you pull it off.

And before you know it, people are lining up to buy your product…

…all because you create a need to ’scratch that itch.’