From paralyzed to writing 5 emails in 1 sitting

334 words transformed her from “paralyzed” trying to write emails to “knocking out 5 email drafts in one sitting.”

(Here’s the full story.)

What did I tell her in those 334 words?

What was the unlock?

Well, here’s more of what she wrote in the first email:

Email is, by far, the biggest source of paralysis for me.

I struggle to take ALL my desire to serve, and be value adding, and bring something meaningful to people and translate it into an email. Ask me to do anything physical to serve (Setting the table, watching kiddos, being a listening ear, creating something unique, or simply a moment, for someone to feel seen and known: I can do that. I love doing that.) 

Ask me to do that in an email, and I just feel stuck. And I want to avoid being spammy.... or esoteric and irrelevant.... so I don't do anything.

But you're not spammy. Or esoteric/irrelevant. 

So my million dollar question: Where do I even start? 

I know that's a huge question, with a ton behind it, and I'm planning to show up for your next Q&A. But since you so graciously always invite responses, I thought I'd at least drop one here. 

Grateful to know you Greg and thanks for all you share! 

And here was (most of) my reply:

___, wonderful to hear from you!

You ask a good question. It's most people's stumbling block to getting started with regular emails.

If I were to "ghostwrite" an email for you right now, it would go something like this:

Hi everyone, _____ here.

I'm the woman behind the scenes at _____, and I'm emailing you today to ask your forgiveness, and help.

You see...

Email is, by far, the biggest source of paralysis for me in this business.

I struggle to take ALL my desire to serve, and be value adding, and bring something meaningful to people and translate it into an email. 

Ask me to do anything physical to serve (Setting the table, watching kiddos, being a listening ear, creating something unique, or simply a moment, for someone to feel seen and known), I can do that. I love doing that.

Ask me to do that in an email, and I just feel stuck. 

And I want to avoid being spammy.... or esoteric and irrelevant.... so I don't do anything.

But I know there are ways I could help you, serve you, with the occasional written word.

_____ exists because I believe that _____, and I want to help you _____.

So my million-dollar question: With email, where do I even start?

• What do you wonder about or need help with in the context of _____?
  

• What resources do you wish existed?
  

I know that's a huge question, with a ton behind it, but I'm planning to show up for you here on a more regular basis.

I truly do appreciate you, and promise to share my appreciation and gratitude in more concrete ways moving forward.

Grateful for you being here!

_____

Get it?

That’s the trick.

That’s the switch you need to flip.

And the secret to flipping it is simple, but counterintuitive.

It may sound @ss-backwards from everything else I’ve ever told you about business…

But when you begin to write- write for you, not them.

Write for you.

Think of writing as a conversation with yourself.

It’s different than letting thoughts circle through your head, and seems less crazy than talking to yourself out loud.

It helps you observe your own thoughts and beliefs.

And study them.

And clarify them.

Once you are clear on your own thoughts and beliefs, it’s fun and easy to share them with others.

Always write for yourself first, and it will help you do your best work writing for others.

Basically, you need to find your voice.

Once you do, you’ll discover it’s difficult not to share it.

From there, stack on things like storytelling technique, copywriting, persuasion…

And you’ll end up with an email marketing list where people thank you for sending them emails.

(And you’ll be able to do things like this.)

Anyways, I hope this helps.

If you’ve been stuck, write me an email about your struggle, BUT THEN don’t send it to me.

Just edit it like I demonstrated above, and send it to your list instead.

See you tomorrow,

Greg