Email Marketing Solutions

Blog

Subscribe to My Newsletter

How To Work With Me

Made Me Click – Edition #8 – Laura Belgray

Clown Feet

I’ll be honest, I had a different email queued up to break down this week.

But I got Laura’s email yesterday and I had to include it.

Before I jump in, I would love your feedback on these breakdowns. Leave a comment down below or hit me up on LinkedIn and let me know.

As a reminder, every week I am going to pick a different email that I read and that “made me click.” I’ll break down the email from the subject line to CTA and share what I think they did really well. 

Hopefully I can share some insights into what makes a really good email and how you can use these insights to improve your click through rates and email conversions. 

If you have an email that “made you click” and you’d like me to break it down, shoot me an email at ben@henkenmarketing.com.

Now let’s get onto the good stuff…

One of the Best Email Copywriters, Period.

If you are an email copywriter, or a copywriter of any specialty and you are not on Laura Belgray’s email list… I don’t know what to say.

You’re missing out.

She’s a great storyteller and is one of the few “newsletters” that I always read.

And she’s got a ton of great resources on her website – https://www.talkingshrimp.com/

Go check it out.

Enough with the plug – let’s take a look at this email 

Subject Line – “Clown Feet”

This subject line is pure curiosity. There’s no benefit here, no subtle psychology.

Just curiosity.

And it works because of who it’s from.

Using Laura’s subject line templates, this falls into the personal story with conflict type.

“WHY DIDN’T YOU TEXT ME?”

So…I have huge feet. Not freakishly, tragically huge, where TLC Network calls to make a show about me (My Giant Foot Life), but surprisingly big considering I'm 5'4" and my shoulders are like, 5 inches apart. I'm a size 40 shoe, or 9.5/10 US. Meanwhile, my favorite neighborhood clothing store years ago was owned by a petite friend with proportionately small feet who mostly ordered for her own size. She’d try to get in one or two pairs for clown feet like mine, but once they were gone, that was it. So I’d almost always be let down when I spied cute new shoes in the store and asked to try them in a 40. "Oh shoot,” my friend would say. “We had a pair but they were gone the day we got them in.” My reply: WHY DIDN'T YOU TEXT ME? If you have something I want or need, let me know!

Laura’s opening here is fantastic.

She makes that immediate connection to her subject line. And then flows right into a story about her friend who owned the neighborhood clothing store.

The story is simple and concise, while also emotional. 

Not cry your eyes out because Laura didn’t get the shoes emotional, but emotional in that we can connect with the idea of missing out on something. Especially when there’s a friend with inside information who could have told you.

Then she makes the turn, right into the main message…

That's called marketing. The problem is, lots of people I know don't like to be "too market-y" or "sales-y." So they don't let you know when they have something good. And they don’t tell you a second, third, and fourth time in case you missed the memo.

This transition is seamless. There’s no forced connection or phony messaging.

If you have something that can benefit someone else, it’s your responsibility to inform them.

Even if that means telling them 2, 3, or 4 times.

The First CTA

Which brings us to why I'm sending out yet another email about B-School. This isn’t the last one, either. Just wait ‘til tomorrow! Emails ahoy. 🌊 (If you DON’T want any more of these, click here to exit the B-School ride.)

I love what Laura does here. 

You have three options:

  1. Click the link to learn more about B-School
  2. Click the second link to stop learning about B-School
  3. Keep reading

And there’s no mystery about what she’s trying to do either. “Emails ahoy”

Giving your subscribers options for how they interact with your emails is always a great idea. Especially if you are focused on a launch or new product.

You may have subscribers who want to stay on your list but don’t want to hear about what you’re currently selling. Or maybe they want to reduce how much they hear from you.

Providing ways for someone to manage their preferences for how and when they hear from you rather than hitting unsubscribe or worse, marking your email as SPAM, is always a great idea.

The inline links here, rather than buttons or stand-along links also help with deliverability. 

Annoy Away

I'm risking annoying you… Because you just might be that person who really wants to be reminded that enrolment CLOSES at 7pm ET TOMORROW. That's the thing about marketing. When it's something you don't want, it's annoying. When it's something you do want, and would miss out on if not for the little nudge, then it's a godsend. The idea is to give the nudge in a way that's not pathetic or desperate, but genuine and, hopefully, entertaining. Yesterday, during hot seat calls for my mastermind, Shrimp Club, a superstar member named Mary told the group how she’d brought in a batch of extra sales for her event by looking at who’d clicked the email link several times and reaching out to them personally.

The slippery slide of copy is in full effect here.

Each line makes you want to read the next. Unless you’re annoyed by the idea of getting a bunch of emails tomorrow. In which case, you would have hopefully clicked the link above this section.

And Laura has a key idea here… “The idea is to give the nudge in a way that’s not pathetic or desperate, but genuine and, hopefully, entertaining. 

I’m going to ignore the number of commas she has in that sentence… and focus on the idea of being entertained.

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned, people don’t really want to be educated or inspired.

There’s a time and a place for that.

But what people really want is to be entertained.

Most people are checking email on their phone. Which means you are competing for attention with TikTok videos of cats and Instagram reels of stupid dances. (Or maybe that’s backwards… cats on Instagram and stupid TikTok dance. I don’t know)

And did you catch the whuge marketing insight that Laura gave you in that last paragraph? Go back and read it again… 

…

…

I’ll wait…

…

…

[Insert mind-blown emoji]

That’s brilliant.

Sex, Ice Cream, or Selling…

She told us, like she was talking about sex or ice cream, “I just f*cking love selling!” Imagine the kind of business you could have (and income you could make) if you felt that way. My friend Marie Forleo, and her program B-School, are what taught me to feel that way — not to mention, how to actually bring in the sales. B-School, combined with my Talking Shrimp bonuses, will help you market and sell your stuff to people who want or need it, in a way that feels like you.

Imagine…

This transition works so well because Laura encourages you, the reader to create an image in your mind of what your business could look like…

And then BAM, she’s got the solution to make that a reality.

If you don’t sell, you don’t have a business. If you love to sell, you can have a dream business. I really do f*cking love selling. I love using my writing skills to do it. Whenever I feel too lazy or self-conscious to give it one more push, I remember I’m denying someone the opportunity to discover and buy something that might make them happier or even change their life. Or, at the very least, fit their giant clown feet. Start B-School with my bonuses now. It closes tomorrow! See my bonuses here (you can also register from this page). xoLaura

Here she closes out with a little of her own busines story and two links to click on.

This is the first time we see stand alone links (another deliverability tip) and I really like how Laura makes each one SUPER clear.

P.S.

A video image of Laura and Marie Forleo followed by this copy: It’s a good time. You’ll find it on my B-School page. Tammy, a Shrimper who just joined B-School, wrote me, “I would have to say the final deciding factor in signing up was listening to the video of you and Marie talking about B-school together. I really believe that both of you care and want your participants to succeed and that it’s not only about the money for both of you.” Facts! (Though I do love money – and I’ll receive some as a thank-you if you sign up through me.)

First, always have a P.S.

Second, always have a P.S.

If you skimmed this entire email and only read the PS, you’ve got a video link of Laura and Marie Forleo, a link to Laura’s B-School page, and a testimonial from a “shrimper” (a member of Laura’s mastermind)

What more could you want? This could be an email in itself.

The Fat Print

THE FAT PRINT I’m an affiliate of B-School. That means I'll get a commission if you sign up through me. I’d still recommend it even if that weren’t the case. I don’t put this in tiny print, because a) that would be sleazy and b) then I couldn’t read it, because my eyesight gets worse by the day and c) I want you to know that I’m hugely proud to promote B-School, and never would if I didn’t believe in it. Now in its 14th year running and revamped from top to bottom, it remains THE gold standard for online business courses. It's entertaining, insightful training that anyone can use to be more successful.

One of the reasons that I love Laura’s emails is that she is truly genuine.

Many affiliates will try to hide the fact that they are getting a cut of whatever product or course they are promoting. 

Here Laura makes it clear as day that she gets a commission if you sign up through her. And by including this part, she’s removing any doubt that she fully believes in this program and its success rate.

This is powerful, genuine, and I love it.

The Evergreen Footer

Laura's evergreen footer for her emails. Includes a link to sign-up if someone has forwarded you this email, a link to the website version of the email, and links to her social media.

Laura includes this in all of her emails.

If you’ve got an email newsletter, is there an easy way for someone to share it with friends and colleagues?

If not, take some inspiration from this set up.

Lessons

>>Be clear, not clever

>>Sell products and services that you really believe in

>>Give subscribers options for how they engage with your emails

>>Include a P.S. whenever possible

Next Steps

  1. Leave a comment below – what did you think of this email? What did you like or dislike?
  2. Share this breakdown with someone you know – know anyone with a DTC ecom store? Share this breakdown with them and they’ll thank you for it.
  3. Follow me on LinkedIn for more content – and connect with me if you are an email marketer, ecommerce business owner, or course creator.
  4. Subscribe to my email list – and get all my email breakdowns as well as my email tips and tricks sent directly to your inbox.

Ben_Henken

, ,

Leave a comment