Email stories that give aneurysms

Back in high school, The Aussie Hermit had a mate that took 20 minutes to tell a 3 minute story.

He’d add so much "fluff" to the story that it took "nuclear bomb-defusing levels of focus" just to keep engaged until the end.

Here’s what they’d sound like:

"Hey Luke, crazy story the other day.

So I was driving along Smith Street in Evatt.

You know the street in Evatt that’s off Copeland?

The one that’s next to that oval with the tennis courts?

Not the grass tennis courts. The clay one.

Yeh, the other side of the high school.

So anyway, I’m driving along that road, and I make a left onto Tilley street.

You know the one with the high school?

Yeh, that one.

So I drive down that street and pull into the petrol station.

I needed to fill up because I’d just come back from a long trip down the coast.

Have you ever been down to Durras on the coast?

Yeh, that’s where I stayed. I went fishing in the early mornings.

Caught this great big snapper.

Weather wasn’t great though.

But the fish was beautiful.

So anyway, I pull into the petrol station, park the car and start filling her up.

Then, all of a sudden, this guy runs across the street, walks into the petrol station, and holds up the clerk with a knife!

He yells at the guy behind the counter to put all the cash in his bag.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

So the clerk is nervously shoving the cash into the brown bag while the guy holds this huge knife right up to his throat.

Next minute the robber runs out the door and into a van across the street then speeds off.

Craziest thing I’ve ever seen."

Put a bullet in me now.

As you can see, when one tells a story like that, it becomes quite frustrating.

Also, it’s enough to give one an aneurysm.

Having to wade through all of that "fluff" to understand what is being said is a lot of work.

And when we have to work that hard just to understand a simple story, we tend to tune out.

The same is true for telling stories via email.

When I critique my client’s emails, I tell them "you want to get to the good stuff as soon as possible."

Get rid of all the fluff, because if you leave it in there, not many people are going to have the will or the patience to read through it all.

A simple technique I’ve learned from writing a lot of copy is to simply "lop off the top" of your story or email.

Often, you can literally delete the first 1-5 sentences (or more) and start the story there.

The reason being, when we tell a story the first "setup up" part is typically fluff.

Just look at the example story I wrote above.

It could delete the first 16 lines and start at this part:

"I pull into the petrol station, park the car and start filling her up…"

That’s where the story really starts.

I would say that being able to remove the fluff from your emails is one of the most critical things you can do to make them more engaging, more persuasive and, of course, more profitable.

When I critique my client’s emails, this is probably the thing I point out most.

They can write great stories, and they have great content that ties to those stories - but sometimes they just put a little too much detail in there.

You want to go through your emails and edit out all the stuff that doesn’t move the story forward.

Go through every line and ask yourself…

"Do I really need this in here?"

"Does it move the story forward emotionally?"

"Does removing it take away from understanding the story?"

If the answer is "no" then get rid of it.

As mentioned, having that fluff in there will only cause you to lose more readers and therefore - more sales.

With that being said…

This is just one of 11 email editing techniques I talk about inside The 15 Minute Client program.

Add each one in and you make for far more effective emails.

Along with these techniques, I show you…

—> Where to get hundreds of story/content ideas so you always have something to say…

—> How to write compelling subject lines that get prospects eagerly opening your emails…

—> The "SLC" framework I use for writing all my emails…

—> A free tool you can use to get your emails done in 3-5 minutes per day…

Plus, I also show you how to build your list on autopilot with paid ads.

That way, you have all the tools you need to get clients sending just one email per day.

To know when spots open next, put your name on the waitlist here:

https://The15MinuteClientWaitlist.com

-Luke Charlton
The Hermit Hole, Canberra