Day 6: Lol, No You Don’t

Welcome back to Business Vacation 🍹

The email series where I show you how to set up your business to sell without you in 15 days.

Yesterday, we wrote your welcome email.

Today we’re going to talk about how the hell you’re going to get that email opened.

Because that’s where the sales live.

Inside the email.

You can write the best email in the world. The kind of email that makes people laugh, cry, click, buy, rethink their life choices, and immediately decide you are the only person on the internet who understands them.

Buuuttt, if they don’t open it... I mean, how you gonna make the sale?

So let’s talk subject lines.

The subject line of any email serves one function:

To get people to open the email.

It is not there to sum up the email.

This isn’t a corporate email to your boss.

This is business.

And subject lines are first impressions.

Everything we see and hear gets filtered through an initial impression.

Make a killer impression with your subject line and it’ll tip the scales in your favour.

Make a boring, obvious, “here is exactly what this email is about” impression and their brain goes:

I understand.

Pass.

So, how do you make a killer impression?

Delight & surprise.

Which, to be fair, does sound like I’m about to turn in Martha Stewart hosting a summer shindig at Martha's Vineyard. A place I recently learnt is not owned by Martha Stewart at all.

When I say surprise, I also don’t mean jump scare.

It shouldn't make them spit coffee all over their laptop because shock! And scandal!

It just needs to contain an element of the unexpected.

Because surprise happens when the brain’s little guessing machine fails.

Your brain thinks:

I know what’s coming next.

And then the subject line goes:

Lol, no you don’t.

That tiny little break in the pattern is what gets attention.

And there are three ways to do it.

One. A fresh take.

This is where you say the thing in a way they haven’t heard 900 times before.

Not:

Why your lead magnet isn't working

But:

This sucks the big one

Same topic.

More interesting door.

Two. Fun wordplay.

This is where you play with the words so the line has a little wink in it.

Not:

Feeling stuck with your Facebook ads?

But:

WTFacebook?!

Is it ridiculous? A little.

Does the brain notice it? Yes. She'll kick her feet and giggle in delight.

Three. Unexpected word combinations.

This is where you put two ideas together that don’t usually sit next to each other.

Handmade sales

Funnel flop.

Strategy soup.

Website wallpaper.

The words don’t have to be wild for the sake of being wild.

They just need to interrupt the expected pattern enough for the brain to go:

Wait.

What?

And open.

That’s the whole game.

Ask this question:

Can my brain guess what’s going to come next?

If no, use it.

If yes, tweak it.

Add a fresh take, wordplay, or an unexpected word combination. And before you think I support going full clickbait. No. There is one tiny little rule.

The subject line still needs to pay off inside the email.

You can create curiosity and use surprises and make someone think, “Wait, what?”

But you cannot trick them.

Because tricking people into opening your email is how you train them to stop trusting you.

And once people stop trusting your emails, good luck selling them anything that requires actual belief, buy-in, or money.

So the formula is not:

Random chaos subject line —> completely unrelated email —> everyone hates you.

It’s:

Surprising subject line —> satisfying payoff —> people keep opening.

That’s how you build an email list that actually wants to hear from you.

Your turn.

Look at the next email in your welcome sequence and ask:

Can my reader’s brain guess what’s coming next from the subject line?

If yes, tweak it.

Because “how to get your emails clicked and opened” is fine

But fine does not get people excited to open.

And if they don’t open, they don’t read.

And if they don’t read, they don’t click.

And if they don’t click, they don’t buy.

Want my help doing this properly?

Want my help setting up your Business Vacation Build?

This is my done-for-you sales path project for business owners who have an offer they’re ready to sell, but need the path between first interest and purchase to work harder.

I’m opening 10 private spots.

We’ll map, write, and rebuild the path your offer needs so people can understand what you sell, want it, trust it, and take the next step without you manually dragging every sale over the line.

If you already know this is what you need, book a Business Vacation Strategy Call here >>>​

Tomorrow, we’re talking about the email people actually want to read.

Because getting the open is one thing.

Keeping them reading is where the real trouble starts.

Til Soon,

Elizabeth