Warning: This email might suck

Why do I say that?

Well…

In 4 days I fly to Croatia for a 6 day festival.

And to say I’ve got a lot of work to do before then is erm… an understatement.

Not only have I got to schedule all my Twitter content and newsletters for while I’m out there (rather than scrawling all my content on Apple Notes like I did in Sicily…)

Not only am I currently writing up a ridiculously detailed case study on how I scaled one of my client’s Ghostwriting business from $0 → $10k in under 3 months (dropping on Thursday - FYI)

And not only do I want to get as much client work ticked off as physically possible before I hop aboard the EasyJet party-bus at London Gatwick on Saturday.

But I’m also neck-deep in writing up a cold traffic funnel for a Facebook Ads campaign one of my clients is running.

And if you haven’t ever written cold copy before…

It is NOT the same as writing an email, landing page (or even a regular sales page where you’ve spent weeks getting to know your audience).

These people are coming at you STONE COLD.

And so there is ZERO room for error.

You’ve literally got a matter of minutes to raise their awareness levels as to why they should buy the product or… you’re DEAD in the water.

Not to mention advertorials (“in-between” sales pages), remarketing campaigns and a whole host of other shit to worry about.

It’s both the most fun but most mentally-taxing copy you’ll ever write.

And because of allllll that (plus my impending 5-day “Senddddd!”), my schedule is currently fucked.

And that’s why I’m giving myself only 14 minutes to write this email.

Why 14 minutes?

Because that’s precisely how long it takes for me to walk from the coffee shop I’ve spent the last 3 hours writing in this morning.

Well… tbh I’m busting for a piss right now so it’ll probably only take me 12 or 13 minutes today.

And as soon as I get back, I’m pressing send on this bad boi. Ruh oh! (Scooby Doo voice)

Sooo…

In the spirit of getting straight to the point, here’s 3 (mildly) interesting points I ended up chatting with one of my clients about yesterday. 

1) There’s 2 ends of the spectrum on “Money X”

First, there’s the creators that spend every waking minute ramming their offers down their audiences throat like a lazy uni student crams milk cartons into the already overflowing bin.

These are the “value haters” (a.k.a. annoying fuckers)

Then there’s creators who spend ALL their time providing value and never pitch a damn thing.

These are the “value creators” (a.k.a brokies)

My opinion?

You wanna fall somewhere in the middle of these two extremes.

Pitch too often and your audience will get sick and tired of your shit (and you also won’t give yourself enough time to come up with offers that are genuinely helpful to people).

Pitch too little and you’ll stay broke and never escape that 9-5 hell hole you’re currently trapped in.

Personally, here’s my approach:

Few weeks of nothing but value - zero pitching whatsoever.

This allows me to build up goodwill with my audience and show them I actually know what the fuck I’m talking about.

I also have more scope to experiment with my content and explore my curiosities (ya know, the reason I got into this game in the first place?)

Plus it means when I do pitch an offer, you know with 100% certainty that it’s going to be a damn good product that blows everything out the water.

My advice to you?

Test things out.

Experiment with different pitching frequencies.

Figure out what works for YOU.

And then double down on that.

Nexttttt…..

2) Reverse engineer your writing

Most creators get an idea and then start splurging ideas out on the page.

The result?

A garbled mess that confuses the reader, doesn’t hit home and leaves you confused as to why no-ones reading your shit.

I do things differently.

Instead of focusing on my idea…

…I think about the ACTION I want the reader to take at the end of my writing (follow, subscribe to this newsletter, buy something, yada yada).

Then I think about the ONE specific EMOTION that will TRIGGER this response (clarity, awe, relief etc).

Finally, I think about the ONE specific EMOTION they’re feeling right NOW.

Then I simply find a story I can use to create this emotional transition.

In short: reverse engineer this shit.

You’ll get better results than shooting in the dark.

Final point….

3) Stop comparing your life to “ideal” creator life. Start comparing it to your alternate reality.

When you join the creator economy, you get sold the fucking dreaammmmm.

2 hour work days.

More money than you can shake a stick at.

Fuck, I’ve even seen people use the angle it will help you meet girls, lol.

But if you’ve been in this space for any appreciable amount of time, you’ve realised it don’t quite work like that (at least not in your first year or two).

And this leads people to get disillusioned AF.

They start comparing their lives now to this “fantasy land” life that was never really a possibility anyway.

I’ve seen it happen time and time again.

I’ve fallen prey to it myself in the past too.

And this is exactly what my client was struggling with too.

So you know what I asked him?

What if we reframe it:

What if instead of comparing your life now to what it could have been, (the pipe-dream), you instead compare it to how your life used to be in your 9-5?

Waking up to an alarm clock ringing in your lug holes.

Miserable git of a boss leering over your shoulders.

The annoying “ding!” of yet another Microsoft Teams message from Sarah in HR pinging up in the right hand corner of your screen.

The result?

Yeeeehaawwwwww his life seemed fucking unreal haha.

So that’s what I’ll leave you with today:

Don’t get disheartened if you’re creator life ain’t perfect yet.

Just ask yourself:

Are you even a little bit closer towards your dream life than you were last week, last month or last year?

Yeah?

Good.

Then keep chugging on ya little beauty.

My life ain’t perfect either - I still got a fuck ton of work to do today.

But it’s a whole lot better than having to sign yet another birthday card for some fucker in the office I’ve spoken to twice in the past year.

Ooooof.

I’ve absolutely motored through this one.

Still 60 seconds before I reach my house and I get to “relieve” myself.

Right.

Hope you enjoyed that whirlwind.

Later shaggers,

Harry