She’s a doozie of a post today.

I’m going to share with you three subject lines that got high open rates and the psychology behind why they worked.

Here’s why you should care:

One client, a fitness boot camp, saw their average open rate go from 14% to 25% when I took over.  On a 3K subscriber list, that’s 300+ additional peeps reading your offers – without any new marketing.

No time to waste then…

1. Is Your Health Preventing You From Losing Fat?

I’ve used this one twice now and both times it was money.  Whenever you can put contrasting ideas together it provokes a lot of curiosity.  And curiosity is one of the marketer’s most jealously guarded tools.

(If you look carefully, you’ll notice ALL of my examples today have an element of curiosity to them.)

Back to contrast for a second.  Jay Abraham likes to say, “Paradoxes excite interest.”

In this case I certainly mean ‘lack of health’.  But at a glance the phrase still does its job.

How could health prevent you from losing fat?

Read on…

2. Try this unusual health tip

Again, curiosity: what’s so unusual about it?  Also, anytime you can say ‘try this’ or hint at a tip of some kind, by implication there’s actionable content inside.

It’s therefore perceived to be valuable.

Once you have a proven winner, rip off or recycle that sucker with gluttonous zeal, as I did this one.

“Try this unusual healing method” is a variation which also pulled an above average open rate for the client.

3. PRIVATE PHOTO: How to feel beautiful, right now

This one is admittedly tactical.

And stealthy.

People are voyeurs.  And we naturally yearn to be on the inside.  That’s one reason tabloids sell so well even though they’re light on substance.

Anything with the words *private* or *personal* will generally outperform most openers.

So will adding *do not share* or *for your eyes only*.

I wouldn’t use these types of subject lines very often.  And make sure whatever the hook is, it’s paid off early in the body of the email.  Don’t leave ‘em hanging, wondering where that dang private pic is.  That’ll erode trust.  Other things being equal, sprinkling in a tactic here and there spices things up and keeps the interest high.

Alright, a lot of meat here.

Go back and read this one a second time to let it sink in.

There’s a lesson to be found between the lines.

Did you catch it?

What am I doing here?  I’m sharing valuable content, to be sure.  But while doing so, am I demonstrating my expertise?  Yes siree Bob.  And by using client examples I’m invoking proof of my wordsmithing prowess.  Unconsciously, you’ve accepted (a) that I have clients I do this for (which makes me credible) and (b) that they’ve gotten results, notably the instant, profit-boosting hit of more eyeballs on their emails.

I know, very “meta”.

The lesson inside the lesson.

Model what I’ve done here, Grasshopper.

Happy Enticing,

Conor “Sensei” Kelly

a.k.a  The Muscle @ Marketing Muscle

P.S.  I’m looking for one more case study to add to the collection.  If you’d like me to do all this marketing stuff for you, reply with “Case Study” in the comments, and I’ll get you the details. 🙂

Let’s do a little Q&A action today.

Ok, first question…

QUESTION: Hey Conor, what’s the ideal length for an email?

CONOR: Short answer…as long as it needs to be.  Personally, I aim to keep them around 300 words or less – most days.  Look, folks are busy.  And a lot of them are reading your emails on their phone.  By keeping things short and tantalizingly sweet, you train them to open your emails because they’re not expecting some big commitment.

That said I’m not against using 500-600 words if the message is good and it serves to do so.

I just wouldn’t do it very often.

I also want to make a distinction between articles vs. emails.  I find many business owners are confused about this.  Articles are content.  The idea of email is to ask your customer to engage with you in some way, whether it’s to reply, book an appointment, or click through to a longer piece of content that serves your marketing strategy.

Alright, next question…

QUESTION: Conor, any tips on using cold emails for B2B prospects?

CONOR:  A few years ago I booked close to sixty talks at various companies by cold messaging HR people on LinkedIN.  I was offering a free talk on health (which I’d then use to promote my services).  HR people have a mandate to do a certain number of those, which I knew.  And ‘free’… well, the price was right.

That’s the simplest way I know to do it: straight benefit.

Still, you have to play the numbers.

Most people won’t respond.

I recently rebooted this practice for my business – and again, it worked.  My revised 2.0 strategy for attracting cold prospects is twofold: (1) be utterly transparent, and (2) if you can, be funny.

Both of those things defy expectations.  And you want to stand out.  A smile is a good reaction!  Many people are too formal, especially when talking to high-level business execs, like they somehow lost their sense of humor when they became successful.

Your potential customers are human.  Don’t be afraid to be human with them.

Final question…

QUESTION: I don’t have an email list, any tips for getting started?

CONOR: When I started, I told everyone I knew I’m doing a free newsletter with fitness tips and did they want to be on the list.

Start with people you know.

Then, I collected emails at each of my talks, usually 20-30 at a time.  That, together with leads coming through my website helped me build my list to 2,500 in less than three years.

NOTE: If you’re a local business that sees customers every day, the fastest way is to get them to join your list.  We provide you the exact scripts you give your employees to get people to say ‘yes’.  Plus, we handle the tech involved in setting up your Aweber account and entering the data.  See the P.S.

Well, that does it for today.

Stay tuned for next time when I break down the power of subject lines and pull back the curtains to reveal what works to get your emails opened!

It’ll be a fun time in the Olde Towne, indeed.

Happy Prospecting,

Conor Kelly

a.k.a  The Muscle @Marketing Muscle

P.S.  I have great news for those who have been asking.  I recently freed up time in my schedule to take on one more local business.  If you’d be interested, book your stress-free brainstorm call here:

http://calendly.com/conorkel/emailincome

I just got back from my daily walk.

As I was walking, a squirrel accosted me.  What I mean is it skittered over – while I was in full stride – planted itself in front of me, sat up on its hind legs, and stared me down.

I’ve never seen a squirrel behave so brazenly.

So I stopped.

I said hi.

(It seemed like the thing to do.)

My furry friend then cautiously crept forward, even touching my shoe.

I knew he was looking for food.

I said “sorry bud, don’t have any,” and went on about my merry way.

What struck me about this close encounter of the rodent kind is that he was the fattest squirrel I’d ever seen.  And why not?  He’s clearly not afraid to ask for his meal.

It reminded me of Zig Ziglar’s famous quote:

“Timid salespeople have skinny children.”

The point is to ASK for what you want.

The email marketing equivalent is having a clear and highly visible call-to-action for your reader to follow.

When someone reads your emails, do they know what you want them to DO?

If there’s even the slightest bit of confusion about this, you won’t get many sales/leads/appointments.

Squirrel-food for thought…

For more on how you can have done-for-you emails that deliver you new customers each week on auto-pilot, book your stress-free brainstorm call and get your fat-squirrel-nut-lovin’ here:

http://calendly.com/conorkel/emailincome

(There’s a call-to-action in action.)

Happy Asking,

Conor Kelly
“The Muscle” @ Marketing Muscle

Let me share a brief story.

This story is 100% true and illustrates a rule of good copy.  Fail to do this, and dollars will leak from your emails like sand from a bucket with a hole in the bottom.  Do this, and it will instantly make your emails more persuasive.

The other day, as we were headed to school, my 6-year old daughter Olivia was giving her old man all kinds of grief.  She didn’t want to wear tights under her jeans.  She didn’t want to put her winter boots on.

I tried gentle cajoling, “ok, please just put your boots on.”

I tried explaining it’s the coldest day of the year (-12) and she’ll freeze.

Finally, we were getting late.  So I said, “I don’t want to do this but you leave me no choice.  You have until the count of three to put those boots on or they’ll be no T.V. tonight.  One…two…”

Three.

Still no boots.  BOOM. Officially sanctioned.

Fast forward to pick up.  After some pleasant exchange she queries, “what are we gonna watch tonight?”

I reply, “nothing, remember?”

At home she asks for a sheet of paper.  She begins to write.  Every now and then she stops to ask me how to spell a word.  Here then, is her first plea bargain attempt:

Hilarious.

And written just the way she talks, “like, c’mon Dad, ugh!!”

I tell her it’s cute and funny — great start.  But here’s the problem: it’s all about how SHE feels.

What about how I feel?

Try putting yourself in my position, I say.

Show me you understand and you’re sorry — but only if you mean it.

She watches and listens intently, eyes narrowed, then picks up her pen with a fresh piece of paper.  Again she goes to work.  She gets some spelling help on the big words but the sentiment is all hers.  Here’s attempt #2:

Much better.

(Notice the well-placed call-to-action of the yes and no boxes.)

Anyway, here’s the point…

Being cute, funny, or clever in your emails doesn’t hurt (indeed I’m using a smattering of all three right now).

But people are motivated by self-interest.

What are your market’s most fervent fears and desires?

Why should they care about what you have to say?

For more persuasive emails, then, speak to what matters to them.  And note that this has little to do the features of your service or product, and everything to do with the outcomes you create, or the problems you solve for your customers.  One of Stephen Covey’s seven habits of effective people is seek first to understand, then to be understood.

Go back and reread my second paragraph.

You’ll see how I framed my story to appeal to the reader’s self-interest.

Unfortunately, many of the newsletters I get leave it up to their subscribers to bridge that gap.

Don’t let yours be one of them.

At bedtime, Olivia said: “I learned a valuable lesson today.”

Hehe.

Hope you did too…

Happy Persuading,

Conor Kelly

P.S. I’m looking for one more case study to add to the collection.  If you’d like me to do all this “marketing stuff” for you, just reply “Case Study” in the comments, and I’ll get you all the details. 🙂