My “why-what-how” framing trick for writing emails that sell

Email copywriting 101:

There are 3 types of emails you can send to your list.

- Sales-driven
- Content-driven
- Personality-driven

Each one optimizes for a different objective.

If you want to earn a life-changing income from your newsletter…

You need to learn how to write all 3.

Problem is, most coaches, consultants, and creators don’t.

So today, I’m sharing a simple framing trick that makes writing each one of these emails much easier.

Even if you’re not a master wordsmith.

Let’s dive in.

Reading time: 2 minutes and 43 seconds

Understanding the Email Monetization Continuum

Each email type occupies its own position on a spectrum.

I call this the Email Monetization Continuum:

As you can see:

- On the left side, you have Nurture
- On the right side, you have Sales

This represents the tug-of-war all businesses struggle with.

If you focus exclusively on nurturing, you’ll struggle to generate cash.

If you focus exclusively on sales, you’ll burn out your list.

Ultimately, you need to strike a balance between both.

Now let’s explore the specifics of each email type, along with a simple framing trick so they’re easier to write.

1) Sales-driven

Objective:

Sales-driven emails are optimized to generate cash.

They harvest the pent-up goodwill you’ve built with your audience.

How to frame it:

Sales-driven emails answer the question of “WHY?”

As in “Why should I do it?”

Here, you’re making a dedicated argument as to why someone should hire you or buy something from you.

This usually includes:

• Promise of a desired outcome

• Promise of pain avoidance

• Proof (from yourself or others)

• Pricing

• Scarcity

• Urgency

• Etc

Examples:

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2) Personality-driven

Objective:

Personality-driven emails are optimized to create desire for your product or service.

They sit in the middle of the Email Monetization Continuum…

Which means they can deliver an equal amount of nurturing and sales.

If I had to pick just one type of email to send to my list, I’d choose personality-driven emails.

That’s because your personality is a key selling feature to your audience.

Especially if you’re a coach or consultant.

People buy coaches, not coaching.

How to frame it:

Personality-driven emails answer the question of “WHAT?”

As in “What do I do?”

Here, you’re using personal stories & anecdotes as teachable moments for your audience…

But without giving away the “how-to.”

(that’s what they have to pay you for)

These usually include:

• Story

• Lesson

• Pivot

• Call-to-action

Examples:

• He’s sold 2 million books… but his writing is meh (here’s why)

• My “secret weapon” for getting 1:1 coaching clients

• This new “promo” cost $270 million and bombed (here’s why)

3) Content-driven

Objective:

Content-driven emails are optimized to build goodwill.

This can be harvested later with personality or sales-driven emails.

They also demonstrate competency in your area of expertise.

How to frame it:

Content-driven emails answer the question of “HOW?”

As in “How do I do it?”

Here, you’re sharing tactical or actionable content designed to give the reader immediate value.

This usually includes:

• Step-by-step frameworks

• Cheat sheets

• Mistakes

• Myths

• Rules

• Lies

• Etc

Examples:

• 5 types of social media posts to grow & monetize your audience

• 3 deceptively powerful words & phrases in copywriting

• 3 things you need to sell every high-ticket client on

Putting It All Together

My “why-what-how” framing trick for writing emails that sell:

1) Sales-driven (why?)
2) Personality-driven (what?)
3) Content-driven (how?)

That’s it.

Thanks for reading!

See you next time.

Jim Hamilton

P.S:

If you’re still thirsting for more…

I’ve got two cool things for ya:

1) Significant Solopreneur interview

My friend Colby Wegter recently had me on his show to talk about building a business around your life.

Click here to give it a listen on Spotify:

Build Around Your Life (w/ Jim Hamilton) - Ep. 4

2) Leading Comments interview

I’m joining my friends Jeff Matlow and Natasha Walstra tomorrow at 2 PM ET to spill my secrets on how to write emails that sell.

Watch it here on LinkedIn

Next stop… The Tim Ferriss Show 😜