Wanna make money from your emails? Mastering email marketing is more essential than ever, whether you’re an entrepreneur, solopreneur, service provider, freelancer, author, or any type of personal brand. Here are 21 email marketing tips to write great subject lines, tell gripping stories, boost open rates, and make more sales from newsletter emails and marketing emails to your subscriber list in 2026. Put on stretch pants and settle in. This is a meaty one. Or, if you’re short on patience today, you can skip right to the goods with this table of contents:

7 Reasons Email is Great For LAZY Creative Types

9 Reasons Email Is So Powerful For Your Business

21 Tips For Emails People Actually Open, Read, And Buy From

Click to download my free downloadable guide, Non-Sucky Subject Lines

First, a note on email open rates:

When it came out, everyone freaked out about the privacy feature in IOS 15 and onward that makes it impossible to measure email open rates accurately. If open rates are skewed, does that mean you should no longer focus on getting your emails opened? Of course not. Just because you don’t have a reliable metric for who’s opening your emails doesn’t mean that getting subscribers to open isn’t still job #1 of email marketing. If they don’t open, they don’t read. If they don’t read, they don’t click, buy, or get any value that makes them love and remember you. Getting your emails opened is mostly a matter of writing great subject lines. Here’s a guide to help you write subject lines that get your emails opened, even if you can’t completely see who’s opening them.

And next, a note on “newsletters” vs. email marketing:

In the past year or two, the newsletter has made a comeback — I’d guess due to the popularity of Substack, which is super easy to use and handy for authors, journalists, and other writers who aren’t necessarily trying to run an “online business” but want to monetize their writing.

There’s a good deal here that won’t apply to a Substack newsletter or anything on a platform that’s not set up for list segmentation, automation, and other tech-y bells and whistles. But whatever platform you’re writing on, I still believe you’ll make more of a lasting, fruitful, and lucrative connection with your audience if you follow my tips to keep your tone intimate and 1:1.

Now then…

When did you get your first email account? Do you remember?

I got mine in 1994. AOL, of course.

Installed the browser with one of those free floppy disks that piled up everywhere alongside Chinese takeout menus.

I can still hear that first, jarring but thrilling “You’ve got mail!”

I’ve been checking my email obsessively ever since.

I say I’m going to check it less. I take the notifications off my phone. But then I keep checking it anyway.

If you’re anywhere near close in age to me, your email habits were formed long before email marketing was even a thing.

I’m addicted to email and so are you.

If you say you’re not, keep reading anyway. Because the rest of us are still drooling, email-hungry zombies, and if you have a business, email is the way to be in our lives.

I know — there are people out there shouting,
Instagram Reels are the only way to get noticed!
Facebook groups are back, and the only way to get noticed!
Consistent, organic engagement on TikTok is the only way to get noticed!!
Threads is where it’s at, that’s where to get noticed! 
No wait, it’s all about Bluesky now. The engagement is off the charts!
Y’know, I’m finding Linkedin is a great place to get noticed!

You’ve probably heard all these things and tried a few.

And then, when you don’t get the flood of followers and fans and buyers and high-spending stalkers you were promised, you discover something else:

The algorithm!

The algorithm hates you. Don’t take that personally, it hates us all.

It’s engineered to make you feel like a loser until you spend on promoted posts.

It keeps your best stuff from being seen while other people’s meaningless garbage shows up in your feed over and over. (Looking at you, ugly Rumi quote on a sunset background.)

You might be scratching your head right now because you’ve also heard people shout:

“EMAIL IS DEAD!”

Nobody uses it, nobody reads it, it’s all about texting and slack and Facebook messenger.

Really?

Answer honestly: when’s the last time you went a full 24 hours without checking your email?

Even when you said you were off email, you probably sneaked a peek.

Just for a sec-y sec!

…And saw something new from your biggest biz crush/ mentor/ stalkee that you had to open because it was directly to you and it was urgent.

Well, OK. You knew it was to that person’s whole list. But the subject line was so enticing, and their content is always so entertaining and personable, you couldn’t help yourself.

And before you knew it, you were clicking a link in that email and signing up for, or maybe even buying, something.

Because when you use email right, that’s where it goes.

Email isn’t just alive and twerking, it’s YOUR most powerful tool to create sales and influence in 2026 and into the future.

{Cue echo: FUTURE…future…fuuuutuurre}

THAT’S EVEN IF:

• You have a weenie list. (Wanna see mine? Get your magnifying glass.*)
• You think no one wants to hear from you all that much.
• You go through spurts of being a creative superstar, and then get creatively blocked for months.
• You’re ONE LAZY MOFO.

I check all those boxes. *OK, my list isn’t *that* tiny, I’ve grown it significantly since I first posted this opus, using these email-list-building techniques.
But it’s still weenie compared to those of my industry peers, and even so…

A series of emails, or sometimes just one single email to my list, has:

• Brought in affiliate commissions of over $100,000 $150,000 $200,000 for one (highly competitive) program launch
• Driven scores of people over to my blog posts to like, share and comment (when they’d barely get a peep on social)
• Sold out a high-ticket workshop in Italy – three four times
• Sold out my high-ticket group program, Shrimp Club, twice three seven times and counting (without a single sales call)
• Made my piece for Money Magazine the most shared article of the day when it came out – and kept it on the homepage for days
• Turned total strangers into “all-in” buyers of everything I offer, from other people’s programs to my own $950/hour $1450/hour services (now retired from the menu).
• Kept me a top-of-mind expert and brand for over a decade in my field, while other hot talents around me rise and then fizzle out in the blink of an eye
• Helped make my first book, Tough Titties, a national bestseller (learn my ways here)
• Brought in over $1M in a year in sales (between Shrimp Club, the Hero series, and affiliate promotions), allowing me to make my first million in a year at the spring-chicken age of 50! #latebloomersunite

• Brought in over $11k from a single $49 product – without any ads or pre-promotion. Just one email. 

That’s me, checking sales in my inbox, from the one email when I first ventured into selling something of my own in 2017. Why didn’t anyone tell me email marketing was so effective? Why didn’t anyone ever mention how fun it is to see sales that came in while you were asleep? Oh wait, everyone said that. I get it now.

That was back when I introduced my first product, 60-Minute Makeovers Copywriting Mini-Course. (Later updated and beefed up to a $99 product.) Since then, galvanized by the possibilities of selling to an engaged email list, I’ve launched more products: Inbox Hero, Story Hero, Launch Hero, bringing in $170k in my first “Lazy Launch” of Inbox Hero and up to $250k per launch after that. Added to the Hero series in 2024: Book Launch Hero!

All this is without any ads. Or webinars. Or live challenges. I’m lazy, remember? Imagine what I’d do if I weren’t. (Update: a friend convinced me to try pitching from a webinar, and it worked nicely. But I still prefer an all-email launch!)

If you want to see my emails that worked best (including the one that sold the $49 product) so you can steal my subject line style, grab this…

Non-Sucky Subject Lines
My 33 Most-Opened Emails,
Plus 4 That Tanked…
**With TEMPLATES To Make Your Own!**

Download The Non-Sucky Subject Lines.

So why is email so great for lazy, inconsistent creative types like me (and, I bet, you)? 7 reasons.

(#5 is my favorite.)

1 – Email doesn’t require fancy graphics. (In fact, they’re not recommended!)

According to Kit — the provider I recommend — a plain text email gets better open and click-through rates than any fancy-shmancy layout.

Think about it: plain text is what we use with our friends. So that’s the style we get excited to see. Plus, we don’t want to open emails that take time to load. And yes, as of around 2023, the “newsletter” has made a comeback — but I still swear by the personal touch of plain text.

The fanciest I get in my emails is a logo, some bold sub-headers, an image here and there, and the rare gif.

(E-commerce sites and bigger businesses are a different story. I expect pretty images and a slick layout in those.)

2 – You can make email “rinse and repeat.”

An autoresponder series to new subscribers — also called a newbie sequence, a welcome sequence or an onboarding sequence — is the email gods’ gift to laziness. It means, you can set up a series of brilliantly-written, smartly plotted emails to go out…

in the right order…

automatically…

…to every single person who opts in to your list. Each person gets the royal treatment from you from the get-go, without you lifting a finger once you’ve put it together.

With the right email service provider, a newbie sequence is so simple to put together that it’s a downright CRIME AGAINST LAZINESS not to.

More on that later, but if you want help setting up your welcome sequence, I’ve got just the thing:

3 – You can recycle your best stuff

So you struck genius with one particular email and feel like you’ll never be that smart again?

Stick that very email into your welcome sequence (more on these soon) so that new people get it, too. Why should they miss out just because they were late to your email party?

4 – It doesn’t have to be epic.

An email doesn’t have to be long, it doesn’t have to be a big idea.

Even when you can’t think of anything to write that seems worthy of a blog post, there’s always something to say in an email. One single tip. One question. One quick story to leave them thinking. That’s all you need in order to send out a broadcast and keep yourself present in their inboxes and lives.

Remember: Nobody ever unsubscribed because your email was too short.

5- You get to be you.

(Yeah, that’s me. Check the pants.)

Isn’t that what every lazy entrepreneur really wants, underneath it all?

To get paid for being you, and for talking about what you want to talk about? To earn money doing things you’d do for fun?

I’d write to my friends for fun. I always have. I might not feel like writing a well-structured thought piece, but I always feel like dashing off a note to say hey, or to complain about the noise upstairs.

For years, I’ve said, “I wish I could get paid to write emails.”

It finally hit me: Oh, wait. I do.

Thing is, I wasn’t putting real energy into emails as an engine of my business. I thought I had to wait until I had a new blog post to write to my list.

I thought there were two kinds of emails: the kind I wanted to write — random life stuff — and the kind that makes money. I didn’t realize they could be one and the same.

6- Email doesn’t punish you for slacking off.

Don’t get me wrong: if you ghost your list for weeks or months on end, they can punish you — by unsubscribing.

(I once sent a text to the wrong number and got back an all-caps “WHO THA F IS THIS I DON’T KNOW U SON.” That’s what your audience will do if you go away for too long. Especially if you don’t have a strong relationship with them.)

However! All you have to do is stop posting on Instagram for a week or two, and you’ll see a huge dropoff in likes. The algorithm will punish you by showing your post to fewer people, less frequently.

Email, on the other hand, doesn’t get all judgy on you.

Even if you’ve slacked off for a couple of weeks, your email shows up in your subscriber’s inbox in the order in which it was received.

7- It’s so effing cheap.

Being lazy doesn’t mean you’re cheap, but the qualities of lazy and cheap tend to be kissing cousins.

Maybe because lazy people want to save their money for lazy luxuries, like taking Uber all the way to Salisbury, Connecticut instead of two trains and a taxi. (I did that recently. Worth every penny.)

2024 reports show that email marketing STILL provides an average 3600%-to-4200% return on investment. In other words, for every dollar you spend on email marketing, you earn up to 42 dollars in return. ¹

So stop fretting that you didn’t get in on crypto when it was cheap as rock salt, and get in on the high ROI of email instead.

Why is email so powerful for marketing?

Lazy or not, email is everything. Here are 9 reasons why email is unbeatable for getting your customer’s attention and building a lasting, loyal, and profitable relationship.

1 – Email is where they’re raising their hand to hear from you.

If you’re in someone’s inbox, it means you were invited in. This person signed up to hear from you. Yes, it was probably because they had to hand over their email for something free. But if you’re still getting in there, it means they’ve made a decision to let you stay. You’ve survived the unsubscribe. This person has consciously said, “Yes, I want to hear from you.”

And once they’ve clicked open your email, you’ve got their attention. That is, if you’re doing it right.

2 – Email gets you into bed with your audience — LITERALLY.

Yes, literally. Because 58% of adults check email in bed.² They check it first thing in the morning and just before they go to sleep. Your message is getting under their duvet and right into their sleepy subconscious.

3 – …And that’s not the only place it goes.

According to a 2022 statistic, 59% of adults check email on the toilet.³ We won’t get into the mechanics of why, but that’s some first-class access you’ve got to someone’s attention.

(Of course, you and I both know it’s more than the number reported. Another report suggests that most people who said they don’t check email on the crapper are…well, full of it.⁴)

4 – Email is your smackdown to jerky social media algorithms.

Ever try posting something on Instagram or your Facebook business page and gotten zero likes? It’s not because your post sucks. It’s because nobody’s seeing it. Organic reach on these platforms has changed, and not in your favor.

If people don’t engage with your post, no one sees it. But if no one sees it, no one will engage. Email doesn’t torture you with this Catch 22.

In fact:

Email reaches 79% of the people you send it to (this is the global average for inbox deliverability, which is way lower than yours should be if you follow best practices).⁵ On the other hand, Instagram’s average organic reach has dropped to about 4%!!! ] and Facebook’s to 2.6%!! ]max⁶. Ugh.

I can vouch for these meager stats. Even back when FB was the place to reach my people, when I’d post a new blog link on my Facebook page, I’d get a pitiful number of FB likes on a really good day. Now? Forget it. And Instagram? The engagement has gone way down.

It’s disheartening, even though I know it’s because people don’t see it. I’m always grateful I have email to get my stuff in front of people who want it.

{Flips hair}

5 – Email is distraction-free.

No dings. No boops. No squirrels.

Especially on mobile, which is where 55% percent of emails get opened, ⁷all your reader is looking at is the email.

Nothing else appears in that window. No new post from someone else, no dots of someone typing, no new comment – just the email YOU SENT.

That’s a huge bonus when your audience has a short attention span. And if they’re alive in the 21st century? They. Have. A short. Attention span. So, stacked up against any other social platform, email wins.

6 – Email is intimate. Like undies.

Email is one-to-one. If you write your emails correctly they’ll feel like an intimate, me-to-you or us-to-you message each time. The other platforms, on the other hand, are one-to-many.

Here’s how you can visualize the difference:

Think of social platforms like Instagram as a big, noisy club. You can shout to a group of people and maybe they’ll hear you, but they’re still looking around at who’s hot, who’s dancing, who’s barely wearing any clothes, and who’s paying attention to THEM. They wander off and dance with other people. That’s what you do in a club. It’s not a place for a heart-to-heart.

So what does that make email?

Email is you and your subscriber, sitting together in your subscriber’s living room. All their attention is on you. And they feel special that you came over to their place. They might even serve you some cheese.

In their undies.

7 – Email can be custom.

Bespoke, if you want to get fancy.

It lets you send your email about dogs only to dog people, your email about cats only to the cat people, and your email selling ferret costumes to…well, weirdoes. Make that, the weirdoes who haven’t already bought a ferret costume from you.

It lets you accommodate people who say, “I’m not interested in puff pastry classes, but I do want to hear from you when you’re teaching sauces and marinades.”

Tip: use a provider that lets people easily opt out of specific email topics. I switched Talking Shrimp to Convertkit because it offered that feature. It means way higher open rates and fewer unsubscribes when I’m promoting something.

8 – Email gives you more information about your people. (Without creepy spy drones.)

You can see who clicked on what. Who’s interested? You can mail to just that group. Who didn’t open the email? You can send it to them again. Or send them a new one. This is called “segmenting.”

Segmenting is powerful. When I send emails to a self-selected segment (a group of people who’ve clicked a link to indicate that they’re interested), I see an average 41% spike in opens.

9 – Email lets you stand out just by being human.

Most businesses, big and small, aren’t clued in to this idea. They think they have to be buttoned-up and businessy to be professional.

Fact is, a dose of personality — and even human error — is way more compelling.

The bedding company Brooklinen knows this. Back in 2017, they sent out this oopsie of an email just before a Thanksgiving, which my husband forwarded to me with a note, “Oops. Mark made a boo boo.”

…Except, at closer inspection, it wasn’t really a boo boo.

I doubt there was even a “Mark the Digital Marketing Intern.”

It was a smart trick to get us excited (oooh, someone messed up) and, of course, to click on the sale — like someone had accidentally left the bank vault open.

Brooklinen never answered any of my emails about results of this email, probably because they don’t want to let us behind the curtain. But I have no doubt it was one of their highest-converting ever.

Whatever you think about the sneakiness of this, it’s a great example of something that would only work in email. Not on Facebook, not on Instagram, not in an ad.

Email. Email is everything.

Of course, it’s not all email that wins the day.

Most email ends up in the great dumpster fire of unopens, deletes, and unsubscribes.

After all:

We get a buttload of it.

As of 2022 there are 333.2 billion emails sent daily. That’s expected to go up to 361.6 billion by the end of 2024.⁸

The average office worker gets 121 emails, but people like us — let’s call us “entreprenerds” — often get more. Because we’re subscribed to ALL. THE. LISTS.

Most of that email gets ignored and piles up in the junk bin and unread pile.

Why? Because most email is boring. Salesy. Dry. Cookie-cutter. It’s white noise, it’s ignorable, it’s deletable. It’s written according to our notions of “this is what an email is supposed to be.” It’s stiff and corporate. Or, it’s old-school salesy-sleazy.

But not yours.

Let’s make sure yours doesn’t suffer that junk-bin fate, with these 21 steps. I present:

21 Ways To Write Emails That Get Opened, Read, And Clicked Like Crazy

…so people love you and buy from you like you’re a gelato stand in the flames of Hell

Note: most of these suggestions are designed for personality-based businesses. This is email marketing for freelancers, consultants, bloggers, life coaches, business coaches, wellness experts, service providers, and other solopreneur types.

Some of this works for bigger businesses and even e-commerce businesses, as well, but those are often more visually based.

In the end, you have to think what kind of email you’d want to get from someone like you. And go with that. Now then, those tips:

1 – Make your email feel like an EFAB (Email From A Bestie)

Think about the way you shuffle through your snail mail. Junk…junk…junk…ooh, something from a friend!…junk…junk…

You chuck the catalogs and coupons and credit card offers, and get excited about that one piece (so rare) that’s hand-written, with a return address you know and an honest-to-goodness stamp.

That’s the same thing we do with our inbox. Junk, junk, junk — ooh, someting from a friend!

If your emails feel like they’re coming from a bestie (rather than a business), more people will be excited to open them.

Most of these next steps will help with achieving that feeling of EFAB — Email From A Bestie.

2 – Write to ONE PERSON.

Your subscribers are reading your emails by themselves, not in a group. And it takes them out of it if you say,

Hey everyone, hope you’re all having a great Friday. I’ve been thinking of you people all day, dying to let you know about this.

Instead, you want to talk to your subscriber like she’s the only one on your list:

Hey Matilda, hope you’re having a great Friday! I’ve been thinking of you all day, dying to let you know about this:

To help with this, when you sit down to write, don’t picture a mass of people, and don’t picture a business.

Even if you’re business-to-business, your email won’t be read by a business. It’ll be read by a person. Remember that.

Do picture one person. Picture them opening your email and reading it. I say, pick a best friend you’d write to anyway, but pretend that person has the needs of your customer.

And then go all EFAB on ‘em.

3 – Know your “coat of arms.”

You’ve seen a coat of arms, or family crest before. It’s an old-timey thing: a design, originally on a shield, that used a few significant symbols of a family’s history.

A lot of schools have them. My high school had one. It was all-girls. Our mascot was the Beaver. Behold, our crest, with a sweet stack of beavers.

There’s also a book and — I think — an oil lamp? Symbols of hard work and intelligence. Go Beavers!

The point is, what are your recurring themes?

What are you obsessed with, what would you pay money to do or eat all day? Pets, spouse, kids, the things you’d post about the most on social media – those are your personal trademarks.  The ideas and things you’d go to battle for. Your coat of arms.

On my coat of arms, you’d see my husband, Steven, New York City, Bravo reality shows, watermelon chunks, spaghetti, and a hand cupped to an ear (because I love eavesdropping).

I return to these topics again and again in my emails.

Your recurring themes will be the things and ideas your email subscribers come to identify with you, which is what makes them feel close to you. (And want to work with you and buy from you.)

Know those themes — go ahead, jot down 4 of them now — and keep coming back to them in your emails.

4 – Get tease-y with your subject lines. (The curiosity gap.)

Some people call it a curiosity gap. Some, an open loop.

The idea is, evoke curiosity. Use a subject line that leaves us guessing in some way. There’s information missing, and it’s irresistible to our puzzle-solving human brains.

That’s why you don’t want to give away the whole story in the subject line.

For example, here’s a line with zero curiosity gap or tease factor:

SUBJ: Bananas have the most potassium.

With a line like that, we’ll agree, yes, bananas do have the most potassium. But we won’t open that email.

Here’s one that’s trying to evoke curiosity, but not quite nailing it:

SUBJ: Why bananas have the most potassium.

We don’t care why, because they just do. Still no curiosity.

Instead, how about:

SUBJ: What’s cheap, delicious, and stops leg cramps?

With a line like that, there’s a curiosity gap. Even if we think we know the answer, and we’re saying, “Oooh, I know, I know! It’s bananas,” we’ll still open to see if we’re right.

Most of my most-opened subject lines use a curiosity gap. I am always an email tease.

Some examples:

• Is there something I can take for this?
• The thing that might’ve almost happened to me
• There goes [FIRST NAME]’s weekend

Want to see my most-opened subject lines? For the top 33 and help making your own, grab this…

Non-Sucky Subject Lines
My 33 Most-Opened Emails,
Plus 4 That Tanked…
**With TEMPLATES To Make Your Own!**

Download The Non-Sucky Subject Lines

5 – Don’t use title case in the subject line.

That’s a tipoff that it’s a newsletter, not a personal email.  Example:

SUBJ: This Problem You Have Is Keeping Me Up At Night

Even if the line is intriguing, the capital letters at the start of each word (a format called “title case”) screams “I’m a newsletter!”  We still might open it, but we’re not as disarmed as we would be if it were typed like this:

SUBJ: This problem you have is keeping me up at night

That feels like it’s from someone we know. Remember, even if we KNOW it’s an email blast, we like the illusion that it’s just to us. See this wink-y response from a subscriber:

Translation: “I know this email about your trip is to your whole list, but it let me suspend disbelief and pretend it was just to ME. I read the whole thing, and then followed your call to action.”

Bingo. That’s just the kind of response we want.

Now, you’ll see marketers you know who go against this tip and many others. (You can, too. They’re suggestions, not federal laws.) But keep in mind that those people might have leeway because they’ve long established themselves in your inbox.

For instance, my friend Ash Ambirge is well-known for her great marketing emails.

She always uses title case. Because she can. We’ll still open it because it’s from her.

Same with Luvvie Ajayi.

6- Play around with punctuation in your subject line.

What would you write to a friend? You might not put a period on the end. You might not even capitalize the first word.

SUBJ: This is so you.

Vs

SUBJ: this is so you

There’s nothing wrong with a complete sentence, but an unpunctuated subject line gives the sense of informality. It feels casually dashed off, which makes it personal.

If your audience is older or your relationship with them is more formal, then go ahead and stay formal. But remember that just because you’re in a more traditional, possibly stuffy industry doesn’t mean you can’t break the rules and stand out. I ignore all my emails from my bank. If they were suddenly a little more personable and casual, I’d probably notice and open out of curiosity.

Plus, more and more, even old fuddy-duddy Gen-X-ers are leaving out the punctuation in texting, which is the most intimate platform of ‘em all.

So, to give your emails the feel of a text, here’s a tip (in text form to remind you how most of us write those):

7 – Axe the brackets around your company name.

A lot of newsletters use these.

Here’s an example:

SUBJ: How to get more clients [Superduper Marketing Inc]

Don’t know about you, but I find myself skipping over those in my inbox, because my mind automatically categorizes them as “not a personal note just to me.”

It is OK to use the brackets on occasion for extra info you want them to pay special attention to:

SUBJ: The big bonus I promised you [Open now – time-sensitive!]

But do that only when it’s crucial to the specific message.

8 – Use an informal salutation – or none.

A formal greeting signals “we’re not friends.”

Examples:

• Greetings, valued customer.
  This reads as business-y at best. Really, it feels like an invading alien. “Greetings, earthlings.”
• Hello, Matilda,
  This feels cold and formal (read it out loud, you’ll feel snobby and aloof).
• Dear Matilda,
  This isn’t terrible but it feels a little old-fashioned and formal for a regular email.

After all, you wouldn’t write that to a friend you speak with all the time. In a birthday card, maybe. But not in an everyday email.

I recommend something informal like,

• Hey Matilda,
• Hi Matilda,
• Matilda!

A nameless greeting can work, too. It’s what we’d write to a friend:

• Hey –
• Hey there –
• Yo –
• Oh, hey –
• What’s up!

Or you can skip the greeting altogether, which I do on occasion, especially when a story starts with someone speaking or in the middle of the action, which feels weird to have a “Hey there, [NAME]” in front of.

Now that newsletters on platforms like Substack are hot, you’ll see a lot more messages that don’t use a first name, because they can’t, and no salutation, because that’s the style.

9 – Make the preview text exciting, not redundant or businessy

[2024 update: Apple Mail now offers an AI summary of the preview text if you choose that setting. But so far, if you don’t intentionally switch to that setting, the actual preview text is still the default. Which means this advice still applies.]

First, don’t make the first line of your preview text the same as your subject line, like this:

And don’t leave the preview text in default if the top of your email contains the usual housekeeping verbiage.
“[BUSINESS NAME] Newsletter, copyright [YEAR], all rights reserved. Click here to view this message in browser” etc.

Here’s one that landed in my inbox. I did not open it.

By default, the preview text will usually be the first lines of your email. But if you want it to be something else, any good email service provider should let you customize the preview text.

Here’s what you can do with this:

Suppose you have an email with a very newsletter-y line at the top*…

Instead of that line being the preview copy, which looks like this…

You can make the preview show only the meaty part, like this…

Remember, we already know the email isn’t just to us. But we still like to feel like it’s a personal email when we open it. Any boring “housekeeping” items in the preview signal to your reader that this is junk, they can skip it.

And if you’ve made this “boring preview text” mistake before, don’t feel bad. It’s not a cardinal sin that’ll have people racing for the unsubscribe link. But why not give your email every advantage you can?

Note that practically everyone has useless preview text sometimes (or always). I’ve blurred out the ones who wouldn’t appreciate being a “don’t,” but some are online biggies. And one is me! I didn’t know I could fix it.

Fix this, and you’ll have an edge over even the top marketers in your space.

*”Genius School” is not an actual thing, at least not that I know of. I made it up for the sample email. But if you’d like me to create a Genius School and want to pay a ton to attend, hit me up. If you’re already on my list, you have a direct line to me. You are, right? If you’re reading this, then that means you want to write better emails — and if you want to write better emails, you should be reading mine. Did I mention? I’m kinda known for them.

10 – Use plain text, not a designed “newsletter” template

A designed, polished newsletter template with more images than copy is great for fashion and other retail businesses that rely on visual appeal.

But otherwise, you might be relieved to know that a plain text format will probably perform better for you. It has higher deliverability rates and feels more like an EFAB (again, that’s Email From A Bestie)

You can always stick in images. In fact, you should! And that leads me to:

11 – Stick in occasional images and make them clickable.

Get this: our brains process images 60 thousand times faster than text.⁹

So to stop those skimming eyes and make things fun, I sometimes give readers a clickable image in addition to text links.

12 – Send yourself a test email, and view it on your phone.

Want to see how your email looks to the majority of subscribers? (Yeah you do.)

Then check it the way they will: on mobile. That’s where most of us check email throughout the day.

You’ll discover all kinds of things that look different from the way they do on desktop.

• The preview text is laid out differently.
• Less of the subject line shows up — often, cutting off your most important words.
• Passages that looked like short, readable 2-liners on your desktop look like War and Peace on the relatively tiny phone window.

…And so on.

You’ll be glad you checked.

13 – Put plenty of “you” into the email.

This time, I’m not talking about your personality. Though we want plenty of that, too. I’m talking about the word “YOU.” Also, the person’s name. Those words act like smelling salts to your reader.

In fact, emails with personalized subject lines get an average 26% higher open rate.¹⁰

Here are a couple of places I used personalization (yes, my test emails go to “Matilda.”)

FIRST NAME IN SUBJECT LINE

FIRST NAME + “YOU” IN SUBJECT LINE

FIRST NAME IN BODY OF EMAIL

Ever notice how you’re drawn to people in real life who use your name a lot? (And maybe touch your arm?)

Doing that in an email has the same effect. It’s flirty, personable, intimate. Even when they know on a rational level that you sent it to thousands of people, it makes your reader feel special.
Get creative. (Some ingenious ideas they won’t see coming here.)

NOTE: Don’t do this with every single subject line. It gets tiresome. Your subscriber becomes blind to it. Space it out.

14 – Have a welcome sequence.

Imagine you see an ad or post offering an irresistible freebie.

It’s from a marketer you don’t know, but you want that free tip sheet. So you pop in your email and download the thing. You don’t even notice who it’s from. You’re too excited to find out the 5 Secrets To Achieving World Domination In Under A Month.

A week later, you get a promotional email from some random marketer. It’s the one whose thingy you downloaded, but you’ve already forgotten them. You think, “I didn’t sign up for this person’s emails.” And you immediately hit unsubscribe.

(It’s like if someone asks for your number, then sends you a booty text a month later. WHO DIS?)

But you don’t want that to happen to your emails! You worked hard on that lead magnet to get the person’s email. You want to keep the subscriber. Right?

The best way to do that is to have a welcome sequence. It’s also called an opt-in sequence, a nurture sequence, a newbie sequence, an onboarding sequence, a courtship drip. (No one calls it a courtship drip.)

And it’s a stellar way to build know, like and trust with your new subscriber.

What it is:

A welcome sequence is a specific email automation that starts as soon as someone signs up for your list.

It reminds them that you’re the one who sent them the freebie, helps them get to know you, and delivers them extra value so they don’t forget you. And, hopefully, it gets them to take the next step and buy from you!

If you’re not using a welcome sequence when people sign up, you’re leaving money on the table and subscribers on the floor.

You’ll also get extra high open rates for your welcome sequence, which improves your overall deliverability.

Here’s a partial snapshot of my welcome sequence

Check out those tasty open and click-through rates:

Get this: Welcome, or newbie, emails generate 8 times more revenue than the average promotional email.¹¹

NOTE: I’ve noticed that the welcome sequence is wildly underused. Which means it’s a handy edge for you!

Even many copywriting experts whose emails I sign up for don’t show up in my inbox for weeks after that first “confirm your subscription” email. WHO DIS?

My Talking Shrimp welcome sequence changes all the time. I’ll walk you through every email in it, plus what you should put in yours, in my welcome sequence workshop.

15 – Scrub your damn list.

I know. Ouch.

But this is something I wish I’d done ages before I finally did. For years, was paying for subscribers who didn’t open my emails. I mean, come on, I sign up for membership sites I don’t enter, magazines I don’t look at, a neglected Audible subscription and who (or Hulu) knows how many other wasteful recurring charges.

It’s nice to cut at least a few bucks from the monthly statement, which is what happened when I first pruned my list down to the next less expensive level in Convertkit. Hey, I’ll fill it back up.

But this goes beyond saving a few shekels.

I didn’t realize that because those people were lowering my open rate, they affected my deliverability rate. Which lowered my open rate more.

That’s happening to you if you’ve got a bunch of people on your list who don’t open. So send out that email to the cold subscribers and see if they want to stick around. Some will, and they’ll even start opening the emails again.

So you do some damage to one number: the size of your list. In return, you get to see your open rates spike right away.

When I first did this, my top regular broadcast numbers jumped from 40% max to 55%. 

(One got 64% including resend to unopens – more on that next.)

Keep that in mind when you look at my open rates in this guide, which reflects the old, bloated-with-cold-subscribers list:

Non-Sucky Subject Lines
33 Most-Opened Winners + Templates
To Help You Write High-Converting Emails

Download The Non-Sucky Subject Lines

You know what? The smaller list just felt like I’d gotten a good haircut. A sassy bob.

Now, I automate my list scrubbing, by sending a re-engagement sequence to anyone who hasn’t opened an email after 60 days.

16 – Resend to unopens.

Want to increase your open rate with a few clicks? Here’s how:

By resending an email to all the people who haven’t opened it.

It may seem naggy. But let’s face it: almost no one opens all your emails. Even my own mom has told me, “I saw an email from you. I haven’t gotten to read it yet.”

And, almost nobody will notice it’s the same email.

Here’s the trick:

1. Wait 5-7 days. If you re-send right away, you’ll hit people who just haven’t gotten to their emails yet. And then they’ll be annoyed to see two of the same email from you, if they open both.
2. Give the duplicate email a new subject line. Then, people really won’t notice. And if they do open both, that means you’ve got a pretty dedicated reader, and chances are, they won’t be annoyed. Or, you can use the old subject line with a Re: and a “sending this again” message, like so:

CAVEAT: Don’t do this all the time, or people will get annoyed. Save it for special emails you really need people to open.

17 – Play with emojis in your subject line.

Maybe don’t do it all the time. But once in a while, try sprinkling emojis into your subject line.

This one stood out in my inbox on Halloween:

And these did really well for me:

Emojis in marketing emails have become way more commonplace since I selected these, but it can still help your email pop. Can’t beat a row of ducks for standing out in a sea of plain text.

All that said, if you really want to stand out…

18 – *Sharpen your writing.* 

Start with a bang.

Tell stories. Good ones.
(For help coming up with stories to tell your list, download Story Goldmine for FREE)

Cut out unnecessary words.

Be conversational, not stiff and formal.

Use original detail instead of vague, bland-as-porridge cliches.

Use powerful active verbs, not passive ones.

Great writing is the true secret to great emails. (And judging from most of the emails out there, that really is a secret.)

*This one’s a non-negotiable. No matter what business you’re in.

If you want some quick help to sharpen your writing, grab my 5 Secrets to Non-Sucky Copy. It’s free.
You’ll find a host of my favorite writing resources here, along with all my freebies.

Download The Non-Sucky Subject Lines

19 – Always have a call to action.

Even when you’re not writing to sell or promoting anything, give your readers something to do.

• Check out this podcast I’m loving.
• Are we connected on Instagram? Come find me there.
• Hit reply and tell me ____.
• What’s your biggest struggle when it comes to ____?
• Whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you.
• Got questions about this? It’s our specialty. Hit reply and ask away.

(I recently asked readers the worst gift they ever got, and the replies were spectacular. One got a used bar of soap. Even a passive-aggressive hint gift should be new in the box.)

People love to be helpful, and they love to engage. The more they interact with you and your emails, the stronger a connection they’ll feel.

20 – Measure and celebrate your results!

One great thing about email is, you can see what works. The results are immediate and tangible:

Higher open rates, clicks on your links, replies, sales, compliments, requests to work with you.

Jane, who’d attended back-to-back presentations I gave on copywriting and email, wrote to tell me she’d put some of the tips to work and seen an immediate jump in open rates, from an average of 20% to around 30% and up to 40%.

ps — 21 – use the ps.

Many people scroll right to the ps. It’s a good place to give a link again, or anything you want to tell them. Yes, you’re rewarding for skimming. Hey, however they get to the bottom of your email, they should get a reward.

I almost never sign off without a ps.

pps – did you skip right to this line, Naughty? Go back up and read a couple of tips for your email. You’re missing all the good stuff.

But here’s your reward for getting to the bottom, however you got here. IT’S FREE.

Download The Non-Sucky Subject Lines

Now you.

– What could you be doing better with your emails to your list?
– Which of the tweaks I listed above are you going to try first?
– Is there anyone whose emails you open whenever they hit your inbox?
– What was your cheesiest email address? (I once had cliffhangaz at aol.)

TELL ME IN THE COMMENTS.

*Note that Kit links are affiliate links. I like and recommend it.

The post Become an email GOD: 21 tips to stand out in your subscriber’s inbox and boost open rates, engagement, and sales in 2026 appeared first on Talking Shrimp.

I’ve finally nailed down my favorite genre — the sweeping, multi-decade epic novel.

I often search using the term:

“Unputdownable multi-decade epic novels like Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Demon Copperhead, All the Colors of the Dark, and East of Eden.”

(I like to toss the Steinbeck in there so results aren’t limited to 21st Century choices.)

Here’s my list of all-time faves that I wish I could read again for the first time, with the books that fit that search term in bold. I might be misremembering a few that aren’t bolded.  Regardless of font weight, every one of these qualifies as “unputdownable.” Or, as they now call it, a “banger.”

Buckeye — Patrick Ryan (currently reading, Jan 2026)

All the Colors of the Dark — Chris Whitaker

Great Circle — Maggie Shipstead

Astonish Me — Maggie Shipstead

The Wedding People — Alison Espach

The Guest — Emma Cline

The Bee Sting — Paul Murray

Demon Copperhead — Barbara Kingsolver

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow — Gabrielle Zevin

Pachinko — Min Jin Lee

The Great Believers — Rebecca Makkai

The Goldfinch — Donna Tartt

The Art of Fielding — Chad Harbach

The Beautiful Ruins — Jess Walter

Where’d You Go, Bernadette — Maria Semple

This One Is Mine – Maria Semple

The Kite Runner — Khaled Hosseini

Middlesex — Jeffrey Eugenides

The Corrections — Jonathan Franzen

Fall on Your Knees — Ann-Marie MacDonald

Geek Love — Katherine Dunn

The Secret History — Donna Tartt

Look at Me — Jennifer Egan

A Visit from the Goon Squad — Jennifer Egan

I Am Charlotte Simmons — Tom Wolfe

The Bonfire of the Vanities — Tom Wolfe

People Like Us — Dominick Dunne

(and all novels by Dominick Dunne)

Little Children — Tom Perrotta

The Thorn Birds — Colleen McCullough

Roots — Alex Haley

Uncle Tom’s Cabin — Harriet Beecher Stowe

East of Eden and The Grapes of Wrath — John Steinbeck

The post Laura Belgray’s favorite unputdownable fiction books of all time (in case you were googling) appeared first on Talking Shrimp.

There are plenty of gift-buying guides out there. I thought I’d add one that’s a gift-getting guide. Free gifts, for you. All they cost is your email address.

Whether you’re shopping for help with:

• Making your writing funnier…
• Building your email list…
• Booking your first speaking gig…
• Pricing your offers like a pro…
• Mapping out your next high-profit launch…
• Writing copy that converts ideal clients…
• Or even learning to use magic…

You’ll find it here. You’ll also find new virtuosos to follow, learn from, collaborate with, and, of course, stalk.

They’re all members of the Shrimp Club community.

And if you’re looking for examples of lead magnets / examples of opt-in landing pages to inspire your own, you’ve just found Email Opt-In Nirvana.

(Not everyone’s version of paradise, but we’re not everyone, now—are we?)

Skip right to the area you’re most interested in with this table of contents:

Copywriting and Sales
Business Planning / Strategy
Lifestyle
Publicity, Marketing & Branding
Talking Shrimp freebies

Why should you have a lead magnet or opt-in freebie (same dif) to build your list?

So you can harness the glorious power of email marketing. Not exaggerating!

The most important thing I ever learned in online business came from my mentor and Copy Cure partner, Marie Forleo. She told me, “It’s all about the email list. The gold is in the list.” (It took at least seven years for that to fully click.) When I was making my first website, she asked, “What’s your opt-in?”

My what-in?

She explained how, to build a subscriber list, you offer a free thing. Something other than just “sign up for my newsletter” or “sign up for weekly tips ‘n’ tricks” because, in exchange for their email address, people want something immediate. “Weekly inspiration in your inbox” rarely does the trick anymore, unless you’re famous…for your inspiration. It’s gotta be something good.

These Shrimpers know that. They’ve all created free things well worth signing up for. And they’re stellar emailers, so you’ll want to keep hearing from them in your inbox. Here’s what we’ve got.

Presenting…the Shrimpmukkah Freebie Fest:

A roundup of the best opt-in freebies (aka lead magnets) from Shrimpers in my mastermind, Shrimp Club.

[Note: This post is from December 2025. With time, some links may stop working as these rockstars change things up in their businesses. That’s the beautiful thing about having your own business: you can pivot any time, no permission needed.]

Copywriting and Sales

Kristin Posehn—Creative Writing Coach & Substack Featured Author

How to DOSE UP Your Writing with the Secrets of Neurochemistry
Here’s what your writing teachers never told you: DOSE is short for Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphins. And the truth is, all the greats of writing are DOSE dealers. From Shakespeare to Steve Martin, from Homer to Homer Simpson, Jane Austen to Elizabeth Gilbert, and your favorite Substacker—every writer you love delivers that sweet DOSE neuro-candy in their own unique way. In this guide, you’ll learn about the absolutely-must-have role of DOSE in writing. And how to deliver it in ways that get your readers hooked on you.

Brenna McGowan, Launch Strategist & Copywriter

Launch Calendar Tool
Easily plan your next launch with the Launch Calendar Tool that maps out your pre-launch, launch event, and open-cart window in just seconds.

Marisa Corcoran, Copy Mentor, Creator of The Copy Chat®

The 50+ Scroll-Stopping Subject Lines
Take your emails from “meh” to “must read now” in seconds with 3 simple subject line formulas (+ the #1 place your best subject lines are hiding!).

Jen Baxter, Email Copywriter & Substack Strategist

Substack for Authors: The Strategic Setup Guide Nobody’s Teaching You
Every Substack tutorial tells you HOW to set it up.
Nobody tells you WHAT to write about or why your newsletter shouldn’t just be about your book.
✓ Identify your “book-adjacent topics,” so you have endless content variety
✓ Craft your Newsletter North Star (the hook that makes people subscribe)
✓ Strategic messaging frameworks that make tech setup stupidly easy

Lindy Alexander – Award-winning freelance travel writer

Write travel articles for magazines and newspapers – An insider’s guide

You don’t need a journalism degree, travel industry connections or thousands of Instagram followers to become a travel writer.

Here’s how I (and hundreds of my students) started landing travel stories in top-tier publications (and yes, those all-expenses-paid trips too) without any of that.

When I began, I had:
• No clue what editors actually wanted
• No travel “ins” or media network
• No idea how to turn a trip into a story an editor would buy

Now my travel writing has taken me from staying in luxury $8k/night hotels, meditating with monks in Thailand to heli-hiking in the Canadian Rockies… all while being paid to write about it.

Inside this free insider guide, you’ll learn:
The 4 types of travel publications that pay for stories
How to make your ideas irresistible to editors
How to craft pitches that get replies (and commissions)
The 3 biggest mistakes new writers make — and how to avoid them

If you’ve ever dreamed of seeing your byline in a travel magazine (and getting paid to explore the world), this guide shows you where to start.

Toby Myles, Story Coach, Founder of The Core 8 StoryHub

The Nashville Method: Tell Stories That Stick Even If You Don’t Like Country Music

This 5-day email series teaches you how to turn real moments into unforgettable brand stories using a simple method inspired by country music’s best storytellers.

You’ll learn how to:

Find powerful stories in everyday moments
Make people feel what you felt
Paint pictures that live in your audience’s head
Share your turning points with confidence

If you’ve ever thought, “I don’t have a story worth telling…” This is for you.

I promise you don’t need a big dramatic story. You’ve already got story GOLD in your everyday moments.

Susan Reoch, UX & Website Copy Expert

HOOKED: 5 Ways to Start Your Homepage so Your Dream Customer INSTANTLY Knows They’re in the Right Place
The top of your homepage is doing more heavy lifting than you think.
Get it right, and your dream customer feels seen and keeps reading. Get it wrong, and they’re gone before they even see what you’re selling.
These 5 plug-and-play templates help you nail it in just 15 minutes — no guesswork or expensive copywriter.
Just one tiny tweak that could change everything.

Samantha Miles – Stand-up Comic and Founder of Catchiest Copy

Grab Yer Subscribers by the Funny Bone
A humor hit list for bizfluencers who want quicker, funnier emails that convert like you’ve been personally DMing every subscriber on InstaTokX… even if you’re not funny or online.

Business Planning / Strategy

Nicole Khamooshi, Freelance Success Coach

5 Mistakes Holding You Back from 6 Figures on Upwork
The five common (and totally fixable) mistakes holding you back on Upwork—along with clear guidance to help you stand out, book better projects, and feel confident charging what your work is worth.

Beth Napleton, Leadership Partner, Founder of LevelEDUp Leadership

Mini Moves Monday
Mini Moves Monday: Get a quick dose of weekly clarity in your inbox every Monday with quick, practical guidance for leaders who want to feel less stretched and more steady.

Megan Schopieray—Fractional COO & Team Operations Strategist

The Delegation Toolkit
If you’ve been feeling like it’s just easier to do everything yourself, this toolkit teaches you the simple shifts that help you delegate more effectively so your VA finally “gets it” — and tasks actually get done right the first time. You’ll finally experience what it’s like for your VA to lighten your workload, not add to it.

Colleen Kochannek – Founder, The 3rd Act Lab

The 2026 Idea Sprint: Your AI-Powered Shortcut To A Profitable Digital Product Idea
The 2026 Idea Sprint: A plug-and-play AI guide for women 50+ who are ready to start their first digital business but don’t know where to start or what to sell.

Jane Carter, Business Coach

The Soulful Solopreneur: Reflection & Renewal Workbook for 2026
Your business isn’t just what you do —it’s part of who you are. This powerful workbook combines reflection & intention-setting to help you:
Take stock of your biggest accomplishments and deepest challenges
Let go of energy-drains, limiting beliefs, and spark-stealers holding you back
Cultivate a deeply fulfilling, soul-satisfying (and yes, profitable!) business in the coming year.
Think of it as a heart-to-heart with your business.

Jackie Ellis, Meta Ads Expert, Host of So Worth It The Podcast

The “WTF Is Happening With My Marketing?” Quiz
A 5-minute quiz that finds the hidden money in your marketing. Discover the ONE gap costing you sales—and how to fix it fast.

Maritza Schäfer, Executive Coach, Consultant & Bruja.

The Art of Fierce Grace: How to navigate difficult conversations with truth, love, and power
There’s no such thing as conflict avoidance. There’s only postponing it while you Google “how to bring up something that’s bothering me.”

When a conversation makes your chest tighten, it’s a sign you’re ready to make a shift in your life.

The Art of Fierce Grace shows you the exact way to walk in (calm), say the thing (clearly), and get the outcome you want (without drama). It’s not hard once you know how.

Cindy Childress, Ph. D. The Expert’s Ghostwriter®

Bestselling Book Blueprint Mini-Course
Get 100% clarity on your book’s focus, market positioning, and profit plan so you can confidently write your bestselling book. Welcome to the most accessible, value-packed way to get strategies usually reserved for my private ghostwriting clients.

Julie Schoen – Creative AI Content Strategist, Founder HonorSociety.ai

AEO Authority Analysis (For Turning “Who’s This?” Into “Oh—Followed.”)
A simple FREE breakdown of what your online presence signals today and the small changes that make your brand magnetic.

Stacey Brass-Russell, Business Coach + Founder of Passionate & Prosperous

How to Create and Deliver High-Converting Webinars That Lead to Clients (Not Crickets!)
Learn how to create and deliver workshops, masterclasses, and webinars that don’t just get compliments—they get clients. In this free video + playbook bundle, I share my go-to framework for leading powerful, value-packed events that build trust, spotlight your genius, and naturally lead into offers your people are excited to say yes to.

Brittany Love | Co-Conspirator for Business Growth + Founder of Revolutionary Presence

THE CEO’S ANTI-GOALSETTING MANIFESTO: get unstuck and prioritize your dreams without ever writing another time-sucking smart goal
Wouldn’t it be nice…

* using your time to build momentum on your big vision…instead of constantly getting stuck before you get started?
* having a secret system for defining the most important thing to focus on NOW to create the biggest impact in your business?
* knowing exactly where that wheel-spinning energy is taking you (and finding a more enjoyable and efficient route to get there)?

If you’re panting like a chihuahua and vehemently nodding your head in agreement, then download and lap up every morsel of this super short, incredibly practical and actionable guide to making your dreams your number one priority. Fringe Benefit: You never have to write another SMART goal.

Sandra Booker, Business Manager & Growth Strategist

The Great Big List Of KPIs For Online Business Owners
What if, at any given moment, you knew exactly what your next business move should be?

Grab this guide and discover:

Why KPIs are absolutely vital to the health of your business
How many to use (and why you don’t want to track everything)
The 8 main categories, how to pick which to focus on & a simple, uncomplicated method to start tracking
The best way to identify trends, stay on top of problems (so they don’t become disasters) & identify hidden opportunities
A list of KPIs to choose from for Digital Course Creators, Service Providers, Coaches & Consultants

Lifestyle

Kara Kull – Coach and Cheerleader for Moms

Make Resolutions You’ll Actually Keep!
A free, super-focused workshop (30 minutes!) where you’ll leave with a resolution that’s easy to accomplish, fills you up, and may even be – gasp! – fun!

Alex Darby – Human Design Obsessive + Business Coach

10 Things you’ll wish you knew sooner about your Human Design. Especially the one about procrastination.
10 Things you’ll wish you knew sooner about your Human Design (especially the one about procrastination). So if you’re side-eyeing your own chart with a.. wait what am I missing.. this is how you can make your chart your own.

Stephanie Dosch — Award-Winning Travel Expert

Travel Light, Look Amazing: How Just a Few Pieces Create Endless Outfits and Zero Packing Stress
Discover the strategic packing approach that seasoned travelers swear by — including how 11 pieces created 45+ outfits on a real trip, exactly which pieces give you more mileage from less, and the mindset shift that makes packing effortless *forever.*

Koa Elder, Somatic Coaching + Content, Founder of Conscious Content

Relax into Being Audio Experience
Want to stop pushing so hard, being pushed and feeling totally frazzled? Relax into this step-by-step guided audio series plus a bonus guide to noticing where you’re not letting nourishment in.

Dani Sumner – Host of the top-rated podcast A Holy Mess, Life Coach for High Achieving Humans (who sometimes feel like on the inside) find their deeper purpose

Ready to get your spark back?! Try my 2-minute ‘back2me exercise’ and get your spark back for the new year.
This 10 minute video and quick exercise is GUARANTEED to help get you remember who you ARE, before the world and life told you who you ‘should’ be.

Sydney Craig: Alignment Based Restorative Movement Specialist and Founder of Pilates Tonic

Your Core & Pelvic Floor Workshop
Why your ab workout might be making you pee when you sneeze and what to do about it.

Jennifer Hacker, Grief Coach for Introverted High Achievers, Author of From Gutted to Glorious

Answers won’t change what happened, but they can help you stop drowning in the question “Why God?”
If grief has left you questioning everything, especially God, this 6-part email series offers honest, research-backed insight into what role God really plays in your suffering.

No platitudes. No quick fixes. Just solid answers to help quiet the relentless Why? Why? Why?

What you’ll learn:

– The 4 most common spiritual clichés and why they don’t help

– Three universal truths – the REAL causes of suffering

– Moving from “Why me?” to “What now?”

– The most important key to feeling better (one that honors your loved one instead of asking you to forget)

Mary Schroeder – Handstand Expert, Circus Artist, Co-Founder of Pink Lemon Agency

Sleigh Your Handstand
A FREE, 2-Day Winter Intensive to Make Your Handstand So Stable Santa Will Be Droppin’ Presents to Say, “DAMN Queen, that line is CLEAN!”

No more patchwork strategies from random Instagram reels you saved and will probably never watch again. Get a plug-and-play handstand system to take the guesswork out of your training and make progress so fast, even the elves will be hyping you up. Get ready to Ho-Ho-Hold it, baby!

This is an all levels class, whether you are a total beginner or an upside-down baddie drinking egg nog on one arm. Taught by a professionally trained circus artist with years of experience studying the mechanics, strength, and somatic intelligence behind elite handstands.

Kelly Clark, Weight-Loss Mentor

How I lost 30 pounds—without dieting & kept it off for the last 25+ years
Find out who you are when you’re not skipping meals, counting calories & over-exercising.

Sue Cheung – Nervous System Regulation Coach, Yoga & Mindfulness Meditation Teacher

Anti-Anxiety Magic
Using a combo of neuroscience and yoga, learn two techniques in under 5 minutes that will give you immediate anxiety relief.

Emily King – Hypnotherapist & TEDx Speaker

The 7-Minute Holiday Spiral Reset
When your to-do list, kids, inbox, and in-laws all need you at once, hit play on this woo-adjacent hypnosis reset. Emily walks you through a quick nervous system unravel-and-reset so you can stop spiralling, breathe like a human again, and come back to yourself…fast.

It’s a 7-minute, easy-to-use hypnosis audio for when your December brain is screaming “I’M FINE!!” but your nervous system is absolutely not.

A woo-adjacent lifesaver for December (and honestly, all year).

Sandra Chuma – Self-Leadership Strategist, Founder of WORTHY

30 AI Prompts to Think Clearer & Stress Less
Turn AI into the tool that stops your mental spirals. Get 30 AI prompts that bring you back to clarity in under 90 seconds. These prompts help you calm your mind, cut through second-guessing, and get your clarity back in moments when you need it most.

Publicity, Marketing & Branding

Michelle Martello

The Minima Essential Site Check
The 10-minute website check-up that gets your site ready for leads, clients and sales.

Iona Holloway – Keynote Speaker, Founder of Brave Thing

How to book your first 4-figure speaking gig
How I used DMs (and embraced the cringe) to land $6k+ keynotes…when I had no footage of me speaking.

Cathlyn Melvin — Copywriter + TEDx Coach

The Power Idea Blueprint
(Normally $175, but for Shrimpmukkah you get it free with the code SHRIMP!) Your to-do list is full. Your brain is full. And when you sit down to write an email, pitch a podcast, or update your website… You feel like you’re starting from scratch. Every. Single. Time. Friend, you don’t need more ideas. You need ONE idea that’s strong enough to carry everything else. Get your Blueprint free with the coupon code SHRIMP.

Tara Reid – Business & Marketing Strategist

The Quiet Marketing Playbook
Grow your business without social media… in less than 5 hours/week! Peek behind the scenes of the exact quiet marketing system I use to attract aligned clients, grow my email list, and create consistent revenue.

Linda Ugelow, Speaking Confidence and Vocal Coach

The Handbook for Overcoming Your Fear of Speaking
Why Managing Fear Isn’t Enough (And What Actually Works) – to Unlock Your Speaking Confidence

Gretchen Oris — Sumi Ink Artist, Designer & Founder of Createrati

Creator’s Chapters — The Creativity Planner for Focus, Flow & Ikigai
Creativity first. Productivity optional.
A planner for multi-hyphenates to follow their rhythm, tune into ikigai, and design ideas to life—without force, fuss, or the pressure to “be productive.”

Juliane Bergmann, Bestselling Ghostwriter, Editor, and Book Coach

How Not To Be A Starving Artist (And no, you don’t need to fuck with AI)
You do NOT have to be a writer (or churn out cringe-y AI slop) to get free publicity for your creative business while getting paid for your articles in big publications, and get follow-on opportunities (podcast invitations, speaking gigs, new clients).

Yes, you can do this even if you have no connections, no degree, no PR team, or budget.

My complete pitch guide includes the exact template I use to write and pitch stories to major publications that got me a “hell yes” from editors at HuffPost, Wired, and Insider, and made me thousands of dollars in added opportunities and new clients.

Marilee Kostadimas, Creative Director at Spotlight Sojourns

Tell Your Story Easily
It’s your story. It deserves your voice. And in the AI era, your own voice matters more than ever – whether it’s a professional, personal, or travel story.

So, grab this guide to help you tell your story easily.

Talking Shrimp freebies — because I’d be crazy not to include my own

Story Goldmine
63 Surprising Places To Mine Your Everyday Life For Stories.
Get my idea bank of binge-worthy stories for your newsletter & marketing emails.
Includes bonus guide How to tie your stories to a point or Call to Action.

5 Secrets to Non-Sucky Copy
Learn to write compelling, powerful copy that hits home and makes bank.

Talking Shrimp’s List-Building List
No signup necessary, which is ironic because this is a guide to getting people to sign up for your list!

Non-Sucky Subject Lines
For emails that always get opened: my 33 most-opened (highest open rate) subject lines, with templates to make your own.

Pretty great group, right? These movers and shakers Shrimpers are all current or alumni members of Shrimp Club.

So? What did you snap up? Got praise? Tell me in the comments.

Interested in past Shrimpmukkah Freebies?
Check out the list from 2020 here.
Check out the list from 2021 here.
Check out the list from 2022 here.
Check out the list from 2023 here.
Check out the list from 2024 here.

The post Shrimpmukkah! A 2025 roundup of must-have lead magnets from Shrimp Club superstars appeared first on Talking Shrimp.

If you’ve seen me ranting about ChatGPT’s grating tics and how dispiriting it is to read something it obviously wrote, you might be surprised by how much I use it.

While I never, ever use it to write something for me, because
a) I don’t want to skip the writing or outsource my own self-expression (you can’t) and
b) its take on “my voice” is embarrassing and plain insulting and
c) it takes more time to rewrite ChatGPT’s output than to write it from scratch…

I do put it to work as a writing assistant. Other than the monthly fee for premium, it’s happy to charge me nothing!

How I use ChatGPT as a writing assistant

• When I need to replace a word I’ve repeated too close together
• When I can’t think of the word I want (daily, because over 50)
• To brainstorm and punch up a line. Usually, it tries way too hard to be funny or absurd and makes stupid suggestions, but they get my wheels turning so I come up with something I like.

And, every time I write or reuse an email…

• To edit and tighten it.

I’m wordy. There’s never an instance where I couldn’t lose a word here and there or rephrase something more economically or powerfully. There’s always a word I can lose or a phrase I can tighten. I used to bicker with ChatGPT through a whole round of edits. “THAT DOESN’T SOUND LIKE ME! AND WHY ARE YOU INSERTING EM-DASHES WHEN I JUST TOLD YOU NOT TO?? WHY DO YOU SUCK???”

(It would answer in its infuriating suck-up way: “Good catch! You’re absolutely right to call me out on that. Here’s a new version edited to your — ” Lordy. STFU and just do it right.)

Under my ruthless training, ChatGPT has become an excellent editor. In a plea to “help me help you help me,” it created a prompt I can feed it whenever I want to edit an email. (You can use it for anything you write.)

Copy-paste it into a Google Doc in your bookmarks bar, a Sticky Note, the Notes app, or whatever is handiest to grab.

My Go-To ChatGPT Editing Prompt (Steal This):

Can you help me tighten up the following without losing any of its tone or flavor?
Show me your suggested edits to the email, broken down one at a time.

STYLE LOCK (ABSOLUTE, NON-NEGOTIABLE):

• • Do not insert any new em dashes under any circumstances.

• • Keep all em dashes that already appear in the original draft exactly as they are.

• • Replace any potential new dash with a comma or period instead.

• • If even one new em dash appears, the output is invalid.

• • Confirm at the end: “ No new em dashes added; all original em dashes preserved.”

AUTO-CHECK FAIL-SAFE:
Before producing the final answer, automatically scan the output and:

• • Confirm that no new em dashes were added.

• • Confirm that all em dashes in the original remain untouched.
    Only show the result once both checks pass.

EDITING GUIDELINES:

• • Maintain my natural tone, humor, and rhythm.

• • Tighten for clarity and flow only; do not smooth, polish, or re-rhythm the text.

• • Match my punctuation style exactly.

• • Never remove or alter existing stylistic choices unless I say so.

• • If a choice feels ambiguous, default to keeping my original.

FORBIDDEN AI TICS (Apply only to new edits):

• • Sentence fragments as questions (e.g., “The best stories in your emails?”).

• • False-drama question commas (e.g., “The truth?” “The problem?” “And honestly?”).

• • “Not this. That.” constructions.

• • Overly tidy “rule of three” punchline patterns.

• • Cutesy or performative phrasing I haven’t modeled (e.g., “Cue the record scratch,” “Wait for it,” “Let that sink in”).

• • Any stylistic habits or cadences from chatgpt puke carousel linkedin.pdf or combined emails.pdf.

• • Em dashes for rhythm, pause, or reveal — never allowed beyond the original.

• • AI-style beats (forced pauses, ellipses, extra paragraph breaks for effect).

• • Cadence-based sign-offs, faux-profound lines, or tagline endings.

• • “Quietly,” “mic-drop,” or self-aware “memorable” phrasing.

• • Anything that sounds like it’s trying to be quotable.

• • No added sentence-fragment questions, triplets, or dramatic punctuation swaps.

IMPORTANT:
Punctuation, rhythm, and pacing must match my original writing style — never AI-generated cadence.
Maintain my authentic humor, tone, and sentence variety without introducing new stylistic habits.
Always verify the “no new em dashes” rule before returning results.

Try it! You’re going to love how it sharpens your writing. And if you want to take that further, grab my guide, 5 Secrets to Non-Sucky Copy now! You can get it free right here. 

The post How I Use ChatGPT as My Editor (Without Letting It Mangle My Voice) appeared first on Talking Shrimp.

Another bit of wisdom?

“Every question about your product is an objection.”

That’s why I’ve compiled this epic FAQ joint — to clear up confusion
(“What’s the difference between Launch Hero and Inbox Hero?” etc.) and answer your most burning, itching objections questions.

Any offer where your people need to think about the investment should have a FAQ email. (Even if you yourself never want to read them.)

You’ll see one of these in your Bare Bones Framework inside Launch Hero (if you grab it for the special discount at checkout).

And here we go:

First, an at-a-glance list of the q’s with clickable links.

• • Is Inbox Hero good for professional copywriters?

• • What even *is* Inbox Hero? Is it video modules? Does it require special equipment or loose clothing?*

• • What’s Launch Hero? Is it different material from Inbox Hero and Story Hero?

• • I already have and love The Copy Cure! Are these different?

• • What if I’m not a copywriter? It’s not my forte.

• • Ugh, I hate writing emails to my list! I’m an artist and would much rather spend my energy on my art.

• • How long will Inbox Hero and Story Hero take me to complete?

• • Do these trainings work for a physical product/ e-comm business, like skincare or fashion?

• • Can I use this training for social posts as well as emails? Like, for IG captions?

• • I’m writing in another language (not English). Will the Hero courses work for me?

• • English isn’t my first language. Will Inbox Hero teach me to write conversational, slang-y English?

• • Will Launch Hero work for an evergreen sequence?

• • What’s the format of Launch Hero?

• • I missed the fast-action bonuses! Can I still get them?

Now, with answers:

Q: I’m a professional copywriter, and would be writing emails for clients, not my own brand. Is this for me?

You bet. I’ll let Kevin Oberhausen’s results for his client do the talking. Kevin started taking my copy courses for his own business and discovered he had a knack for copywriting — and enjoyed it so much, he went pro. Here’s what he said after applying his learnings from Inbox Hero, Story Hero, and Launch Hero to his first launch for a client:

And then, after the next launch:

Go Kevin! UPDATE: Kevin’s client has now hit the $1M mark in sales from Kevin’s emails.

Pro copywriters often ask me if their clients will go for a personable, conversational style.

Kevin is proof that they sure will when they see the results it gets!

(An EFAB is an “Email From a Bestie” — the style I recommend aiming for to get your or your clients’ emails opened. I teach it in Inbox Hero.)

Q: What even *is* Inbox Hero? Is it video modules? Does it require special equipment or loose clothing?*

Inbox Hero is a unique, makeover-style course for writing emails that get your subscribers to open, click, buy, and drool at your every word.

The main meat of it is in 100% readable PDF form. Over 100 pages made up of:

a) side-by-side before-and-afters where you see the original email and what needs fixing, and then the fixed-up email and notes on what I did to it. And…

b) the “Reverse Makeovers” where you see emails that work, with detailed notes on why they work and techniques you can steal to make your own emails stand out from all the samey, so-so emails out there. Even from the good ones!

Here’s a gif to give you an idea of what the main doc looks like.

You also get Story Hero, a 90-minute video deep dive into storytelling for emails, including how to add the funny.

Plus, these resources:

The super-simple, “OK, I can do this” 9-step email framework, from subject line to “ps.” Use it to get in the flow when you’re stuck for what comes next.

The ULTIMATE checklist to make every email an EFAB (Email From A Bestie) and an ETS (Email That Sells) before you hit SEND!

28 must-check-off items broken into categories:

• Subject Line
• Preview Text
• Greeting
• Start of Email
• Tone
• Economy/ Clarity
• Punch, Personality, Storytelling
• Readability

21 Ways To Write Better Emails: A printable desk reference guide. Or, bookmark it in your browser.

JUST ADDED! The 90-minute “Copy Crush” breakdown with Marisa Corcoran of my 3 top-converting emails – a training worth $1,495, yours for $0 when you join Inbox Hero.

Wish you could see the text that’s blurred out? You can, inside the course!

Q: What’s Launch Hero? Is it different material from Inbox Hero and Story Hero?

Yes, it’s different. A spinoff of Inbox Hero, Launch Hero offers a closeup on launch sequences. You’ll get to see the line-by-line secrets to these money-making launch sequences:

My premiere launch sequence for Inbox Hero, which raked in 170k from just that series of emails. A *true* 6-figure “lazy launch.”

My M*ney Bootcamp affiliate sequence, which — despite being not quite a brand fit — beat all the competition and made me the number one affiliate…against partners with ginormous, scary lists!

My famous B-School affiliate sequence, the version that truly crushed the leaderboard (right beneath 5 all-time giant partners like Amy Porterfield, Gabby Bernstein, etc.) and put 150k in my pocket.

Plus, the Bare Bones Launch Sequence Framework — a godsend for plotting out your own launch emails.

Plus, you’ll get the BONUS training: “Behind-The-Scenes Secrets To A True 6-Figure Lazy Launch.”

When you get Inbox Hero, you can add Launch Hero at checkout for a special discount. Find out more about Launch Hero here.

Q: I already have and love The Copy Cure! Are these different?

YES! 100% different.

And, as with everything I create, they’re a perfect complement to and reinforcement of The Copy Cure.

Inbox Hero and Story Hero are a high-level deep dive into compelling, personable, and persuasive email writing.

They cover selling strategy as well as writing craft.

For instance:

– What do you say to your list to warm them up to a promotion of something that isn’t a natural fit for your brand?

– What do you say to them the instant they sign up, so they love you (and allow-list you) forever?

– What do you say when you’re not selling anything?

– How do you make your stories funny? And what if you’re not a funny person?

– How do you transition from a story to a sale, a teaching point, or a call to action?

There’s no overlap in content with The Copy Cure, except that you’ll see the fundamental writing techniques from The Copy Cure brought to life in new ways, using examples you haven’t seen before.

Q: What if I’m not a copywriter? It’s not my forte.

Oh, watch out! This course will make it your forte.

Email copywriting is different from other copywriting because it’s generally creative writing with a call to action.

Whether or not you write for clients, if you have a business or anything to sell (now or in the future) I firmly believe you should get great at writing emails. To a list.

It’ll do wonders for your business that you can’t anticipate.

Q: Ugh, I hate writing emails to my list! I’m an artist and would much rather spend my energy on my art.

Not a question, but I hear you! Most artists would rather be art-ing.

HOWEVER: What if you could share what you’re working on consistently, stay top of mind, and forge a bond with your subscriber that leads to SALES of your art?

I can’t guarantee how the course will make you feel about email, but I can definitively say that other artists have loved it and said it gave them tons of ideas.

I have more to say on this, which I do in the FAQ section near the bottom of the Inbox Hero page.

Q: How long will Inbox Hero and Story Hero take me to complete?

First of all, you get instant access to all of it, including the 90-minute training video, Story Hero (which a lot of Shrimpers like to start with).

It’s not a dripped-module training.

That means you can binge it in one sitting, like Sadra (see her review on the sales page), or you can course it out over time. How long that takes you depends on how fast you read, how thoroughly you take in the notes, and whether you take action as you go.

You might pore over a couple of makeovers and immediately run off to write an email to your list or to change up your automated welcome sequence.

My prediction: You’ll be inspired to get writing in between bouts of learning.

Addictive as it is, more than one person has put it aside at around page 20 and run off to implement – like copywriter Michele DeLima, who said:

Was writing my first subscriber email after my purchase. Applied the BFF principle (which I thought I’d been doing a pretty good job of, but wow, room for improvement). A fun new subject line and off she went. 31.6% open rate improvement from my last email (19% to 25% opens)!! And hey, I was only about 20 pages into Inbox Hero!

Q: Do these trainings work for a physical product/ e-comm business, like skincare or fashion?

One of the most frequently asked questions, now with the best answer yet — because Inbox Hero now contains a whole supplement dedicated to those very markets!
Check out story-based emails/newsletters, with notes on why they work, from:

2 clothing retailers (with very different email styles)
An enamel-pin company
An artist selling lifestyle/home decor products printed with her art
2 fine-art painters
A cheese subscription box company
A fish purveyor (commonly makes 5K+ when they send an email, and the one you’ll see made $8,311.56!)

Q: Can I use this training for social posts as well as emails? Like, for IG captions?

Absolutely! And you should. Anywhere you need storytelling that connects to a CTA (call to action), you can use this. Tip: repurpose! Turn your favorite emails into captions, and vice versa. I do it all the time.

Q: I’m writing in another language (not English).
Will the Hero courses work for me?

YES. The training isn’t focused on particular English words or turns of phrase, but, rather, storytelling and persuasion principles that are universal across languages.

Q. English isn’t my first language.
Will Inbox Hero teach me to write conversational, slang-y English?

Yes, if you learn well by example. The course doesn’t give instructions for that, but good news:

You can run your emails through ChatGPT and ask it to make them more conversational.

Here’s a prompt I just tested, and the results were decent:

I’m writing a sentence, “Writing more conversationally in English is very difficult and frustrating for me.” Can you give me 20 ways of expressing the same idea that are more slangy / conversational? I’m looking for contemporary, up-to-date expressions.

This is one of the tasks I do recommend using ChatGPT for (as opposed to writing your emails for you).

Q: Will Launch Hero work for an evergreen sequence?

YUP! Think about it: An evergreen funnel is really a launch on autopilot. If it’s done right, it takes each person who enters it through a phase of building awareness, seeding desire, opening a cart, and selling from different angles all the way to the “last chance” email. You’ll learn all that in Launch Hero if you grab it during checkout.

Q: What’s the format of Launch Hero?

Launch Hero is mostly on the page. Besides the “Lazy Launch” video training (which you also get instant access to if you grab Launch Hero during checkout), there’s a short intro video. I might even add some video (you’ll get that upgrade as a courtesy if I do), but the meat of it is in PDF form.

If paper’s your jam, you can print it out or order it all spiral-bound from a Staples, Kinkos, or other printing place near you. It looks pretty sweet printed, gotta say. As does Inbox Hero.

Q: I missed the fast-action bonuses! Is there some way I can still get them?

Yes! Moolah Fuel and the Welcome Sequence Workshop are both available to add on during checkout at very special prices. Once you submit payment here, you’ll see the offer.

Do you have any questions I didn’t address here or on the pages for Inbox Hero and Story Hero? LMK by emailing me at laura@talkingshrimp.com!

Hope these answers helped you decide if it’s right for you. And if it is, whatchu waiting for?

Start now.

*Oh yeah, you asked about loose clothing. Here’s my advice: If you’re devouring Inbox Hero, Story Hero, and Launch Hero at home, wear something comfortable. Sweats, a caftan, or nothing at all! Unless you’re on a woven chair that makes marks on your butt.

The post Inbox Hero FAQs (and answers) appeared first on Talking Shrimp.

Happy seasons (whatever season it is when you see this)!

There are plenty of gift-buying guides out there. I thought I’d add one that’s a gift-getting guide. Free gifts, for you. All they cost is your email address.

Whether you’re shopping for help with:

• Making your writing funnier…
• Building your email list…
• Booking your first speaking gig…
• Pricing your offers like a pro…
• Mapping out your next high-profit launch…
• Writing copy that converts ideal clients…
• Or even learning to use magic…

You’ll find it here. You’ll also find new virtuosos to follow, learn from, collaborate with, and, of course, stalk.

They’re all members of the Shrimp Club community.

And if you’re looking for examples of lead magnets / examples of opt-in landing pages to inspire your own, you’ve just found Email Opt-In Nirvana.

(Not everyone’s version of paradise, but we’re not everyone, now—are we?)

Skip right to the area you’re most interested in with this table of contents:
Copywriting and Sales
Business Planning / Strategy
Lead Generation
Lifestyle
Publicity, Marketing & Branding
Talking Shrimp freebies

Why should you have a lead magnet or opt-in freebie (same dif) to build your list?

So you can harness the glorious power of email marketing. Not exaggerating!

The most important thing I ever learned in online business came from my mentor and Copy Cure partner, Marie Forleo. She told me, “It’s all about the email list. The gold is in the list.” (It took at least seven years for that to fully click.) When I was making my first website, she asked, “What’s your opt-in?”

My what-in?

She explained how, to build a subscriber list, you offer a free thing. Something other than just “sign up for my newsletter” or “sign up for weekly tips ‘n’ tricks” because, in exchange for their email address, people want something immediate. “Weekly inspiration in your inbox” rarely does the trick anymore, unless you’re famous…for your inspiration. It’s gotta be something good.

These Shrimpers know that. They’ve all created free things well worth signing up for. And they’re stellar emailers, so you’ll want to keep hearing from them in your inbox. Here’s what we’ve got.

Presenting…the Shrimpmukkah Freebie Fest:

A roundup of the best opt-in freebies (aka lead magnets) from Shrimpers in my mastermind, Shrimp Club.

[Note: This post is from December 2024. With time, some links may stop working as these rockstars change things up in their businesses. That’s the beautiful thing about having your own business: you can pivot any time, no permission needed.]

Copywriting and Sales

Sami Miles, Stand-Up Comic and Copywriter, Founder of Catchiest Copy

Grab Your Audience By The Funny Bone
10 secrets to infuse humor into your talks, video content, and website & email copy.

Heather Campbell, Brand Strategist & Creator of Radical Branding

The Launch List
Marketing isn’t hard because it’s complicated. It’s hard because no one gives you the whole dang roadmap. That’s why I created The Launch List – the step-by-step, no-BS guide that takes you from “Where the do I start?” to “Offer launched, let’s go!”

Glenna C Bailey, Writer, Editor, Health Literacy Champion

Banish “Big Company Syndrome”
How to keep your health messages human in a big company world — so you can win hearts, minds, and brand loyalty.

Jessie Congleton, Copywriter

Free 5-Minute Website Review! (Scroll to the bottom of the page)
Is there something that’s keeping your customers from hitting that “Buy Now” button? Let’s get another set of eyeballs on it so you can get more cha-ching out of it.

Brenna McGowan, Launch Strategist & Copywriter

Launch Calendar Tool
Easily plan your next launch with the Launch Calendar Tool that maps out your pre-launch, launch event, and open-cart window in just seconds.

Marisa Corcoran, Copy Mentor, Creator of The Copy Chat

The 50+ Scroll-Stopping Subject Lines
Take your emails from “meh” to “must read now” in seconds with 3 simple subject line formulas (+ the #1 place your best subject lines are hiding!).

Jen Baxter, Copy Queen & Content Strategist

Everyone’s Starting a Substack… Should You?
9 questions to know if it’s your next right move
Skip the tech headaches and focus on your writing
Create genuine connections with your readers

Laura Lopuch, Client and Partner Acquisition Expert

WARM Cold Email Template
Get more yes’s with a WARM cold email. This WARM cold email template is the framework of a successful cold email that’s made me $428,560 (and counting) in my business. Both in 1-1 clients and win-win partnerships.

Paige Worthy, Email and Website Copy for Businesses that Give a Shit

PRIVATE PODCAST: How to Market When the World’s a Dumpster Fire
Six tips and mindset shifts to make meaningful marketing (and money) in the suckiest of times.

Susan Reoch, Website Copywriter & UX Strategist

HOOKED: Homepage Header Templates
Discover how to INSTANTLY capture attention and keep the right people on your website… so they can buy from you!

Business Planning / Strategy

Susie Italiano, Business Finance Expert (aka Finance Fairy Godmother)

Price Like a Pro (a rich one!)
39 industry secrets and ideas to price your offer PROFITABLY. Whether you sell a product or a service, these tried and true techniques and tips will help you price your offer like a pro. And look out for those 4 pricing mistakes to avoid at all costs!

Maritza Schäfer, Executive Coach, Consultant & Bruja.

Three Magical Time-Tested Tools to Make Shit Happen
This guide captures ancient practices from a real-life bruja (Spanish for witch) to get results and infuse magic into any aspect of your business or life – using a witchy tool that shifts your subconscious mind to make shit happen — fast!

Jane Carter, Business Coach for “Soulful Solopreneurs”

The Soulful Solopreneur: A Workbook for Reflection & Renewal
Your business isn’t just what you do —it’s part of who you are. This powerful workbook combines reflection & intention-setting to help you:

Take stock of your biggest accomplishments and deepest challenges
Let go of energy-drains, limiting beliefs, and spark-stealers holding you back
Cultivate a deeply fulfilling, soul-satisfying (and yes, profitable!) business in the coming year.

Think of it as a heart-to-heart with your business.

Frenchie Ferenczi, Business Strategist & Advisor

Do the Right Work: Weekly Check-Ins
Let’s unlock & unblock your business revenue, today. You know that big business vision you’re scared to say out loud? It’s time to turn into reality, in under 5 minutes a week. Whether you’re aiming to:

Hit your next revenue milestone
Establish a thriving personal brand
Productize and monetize your expertise

Sign up today to get weekly accountability check-ins, delivered right to your inbox on Sundays at 6pm.

Cindy Childress, Ph. D. The Expert’s Ghostwriter®

Discover Your #1 Bestselling Author Personality Type Quiz
This FREE quiz helps you unlock your book writing superpowers by getting clarity on your topic, beating imposter syndrome, and getting out of your own way to actually write this bestseller. This is a MUST-TAKE for those with ideas for nonfiction books.

Stacey Brass-Russell, Transformational Business & Life Coach

Five Steps To Creating Your Irresistible Signature 1:1 Offer
A mini-course for coaches and experts who want to build a 6-figure business simply and without spending a penny on ads.

Sandy Park, Pinterest Marketing Expert, Founder Pin with SPARK

Pinterest: A Beginner’s Guide Mini Course
Pinterest mini-course with 3 instant access video lessons to grow your business with Pinterest.

Virginia de Assis, Business & Life Coach, CEO of Content Lounge

Happy Millions – How to Build a 7-Figure Business That Gives you Life
Scaling to 7-figures doesn’t have to be stressful or overwhelming. In Happy Millions you’ll learn how to make millions in a way that feels effortless to you.

Emily King, Money Coach & TEDx Speaker

Abundance Upgrade: Unblock Your Cash Flow
Is your bank account ghosting you? Let’s fix that.
Turns out, your subconscious beliefs are low-key sabotaging your cash flow (rude, right?).

Heal Your Family Money Drama
Because your childhood beliefs about money are running the show (and it’s time to fire them).

Rewire Your Brain for Abundance
Let’s evict those broke beliefs and upgrade to the VIP suite of your subconscious.

Walk Out Feeling Like a Money Magnet
Ready to rake in the dough and make it rain? By the end of this workshop, you’ll be practically glowing with money-making mojo.

It’s time to get your mindset and your money on the same page—let’s do this!

Brittany Love, Strategic Impact Coach & Founder of Revolutionary Presence

The Unf*ckwithable Playlist for Entrepreneurs and Everyday Revolutionaries
21 strategic songs for entrepreneurs and visionary leaders to clear the headjunk, flip the script, and boost motivation so you can implement your mission-aligned strategy and have the *freedom and ease* you’ve always wanted in your life, work, and business. Welcome to the soundtrack for your more mission-aligned, unf*ckwithable life.

Frederike Harms, Growth Strategist, Founder of The Sett

Productize & Prosper – Build a Service that Scales
Free mini-course on how to become the genius of your niche – and grow a sustainable business that thrives without you. With the tools to implement!

Trish Mossman, Ops + Efficiency Strategist

A Crash Course in ClickUp
Your shortcut to customising ClickUp to match the way your brain works, so you can tame the chaos, reclaim your time and spend more of your day doing what you love.

Tara Reid, Business & Marketing Strategist

Rock Your Emails
15 simple and actionable tips to immediately improve your email performance.

Colleen Kochannek, Founder of The 3rd Act Collective

109 Simple and Inspiring Ideas You Can Make Money With
A simple online product (and the start of your online business) doesn’t have to be technically difficult, expensive or take forever. You could have your first product done this weekend, even if you don’t have a website.

Sandra Booker, Business Manager & Growth Strategist

The Great Big List Of KPIs For Online Business Owners
What if, at any given moment, you knew exactly what your next business move should be?

Grab this guide and discover:

Why KPIs are absolutely vital to the health of your business
How many to use (and why you don’t want to track everything)
The 8 main categories, how to pick which to focus on & a simple, uncomplicated method to start tracking
The best way to identify trends, stay on top of problems (so they don’t become disasters) & identify hidden opportunities
A list of KPIs to choose from for Digital Course Creators, Service Providers, Coaches & Consultants

Lead Generation

Toby Myles, Copywriter, Email Strategist, Storyteller

99 Juicy Lead Magnet Ideas
Explode your email list with a goldmine of eager-to-buy clients!

Lifestyle

Jennifer Broxterman, Registered Dietitian & Owner of PRO$PER Nutrition Certification

Nutrition Coaching Basket of Freebies!
Grab this incredible basket of FREE resources and handouts for nutrition & fitness coaches!
Nutrition Coaching Masterclass video series.
6-Step Success Guide & Checklist to make more income from your nutrition business.
Healthy Snack Shopping List.
And so many more free nutrition coaching handouts to swipe!

Simie Iriarte, Health & Well-Being Coach and Journaling “Expert” on YouTube

The Digital-Analog Time Blocking Blueprint
A step by step checklist for setting up my unique hybrid system that combines the best of paper planning with a digital calendar.

Kara Kull, Coach and Cheerleader for Moms

11 Ways to Kick Procrastination’s Hiney and Start Keeping Promises to Yourself
Sick of not doing what you say you will? More Instagram scrolling is not the answer!

Instead, check out my quick download with tools to get you moving again:
4 easy-peasy mindset shifts to move past your inner critic’s (ridiculously) loud opinions
3 teensy movements to trick your brain into kick-starting your motivation
3 big leaps for long-term success so you can keep your commitments to yourself
Plus, a 2-minute exercise to uncover what’s actually holding you back and how to blow through it.

Listen, this isn’t something you’re gonna wanna put off (mwahahahahaha!).

Karen Patten, Owner, Writer at Intentional Family Life

Words That Work With Teens (Parenting Scripts So You Can Understand, Support, and Strengthen Your Connection)
How to not feel like you had the perfect punchline…to the joke you told last week.

Dani Sumner, Christian Life & Mindset Coach, Host of A Holy Mess Podcast

3 Jesus-Centered Practices To Help You Get Unstuck (No Cringe, Just Simple Steps)
Tired of hearing ‘just pray about it!’ when you’re struggling?
Grab this FREE workshop now to discover 3 Jesus-centered practices that actually help you get unstuck (without the cringe or toxic positivity). No 4am prayer marathons required. No shame spiral included. Just real help that fits your real life.

Aspasia Koveou, Doodler

Grab Your Free Doodle Art Bundle
Download. Decorate. De-stress. With these 9 Happy-Go-Lucky Doodle Art Prints, by Cryprint.

Kimberly Ann Johnson, Author, Sexological Bodyworker, and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner; Founder of KAJ Holdings

Trauma & Transcendence
In the Trauma and Transcendence class, I dispel some myths about what you learned in high school biology and what is being taught all over the nutrition, biohacking, fitness and yoga worlds about the nervous system. I want to help you understand how the nervous system works in YOUR body, because then and only then can you make decisions and heal from a place of true agency.

Mary Schroeder, Handstand Expert

The 5-Step Guide to Handstand Success
Learn to do a handstand, even if you’ve never tried before.

Sandra Weinacht, Serial World Traveler, Founder of Inside Travel Experiences

The NO BULLSHIP Guide to Virgin Voyages
Smart Escapes Start with Zero BS.

Virgin Voyages is NOT your grandma’s cruise (unless she’s cool).
Design that inspires, fitness that energizes, shows that entertain – all on your schedule.

Get the straight scoop on Virgin’s adults-only red-hot lady ships if you:

• Need that ocean escape (while staying connected)
• Want hammock time without any kids interrupting
• Crave actual good food (no buffets in sight)
• Love to create content that doesn’t look like everyone else’s
• Want both late-night parties and 7 PM shows

BONUS: Free 15-minute (work)vacation strategy calls (on sea or land), and the first five Virgin bookings get $150-$600 extra bar/spa credit per cabin.

Bethany Bunnell, Founder of The Birthday Interview

50 Ways to Connect with Your Kids
Feel like your kids are growing up way too fast? Here are 50 questions to film an annual video to capture the precious moments you never want to forget.

Sue Cheung, Yoga & Meditation Teacher and Integrative Life Coach

Anti-Anxiety Magic
Using a bit of neuroscience and yoga – in under 5 minutes learn two techniques that will provide immediate anxiety relief.

Candyce Ossefort-Russell, Grief Expert, Psychotherapist, Writer

Your Grief is Your Own E-Book
An e-book that busts grief myths and gives you permission to grieve your own way.

Bonnie Mincu, ADHD Coach, Founder of ADHD Membership Program, Productivity Pathfinder

QUIZ: “Who Drives Your Bus?”
If your brain were a bus, who grabs the wheel most often? Find out what tendencies, assumptions or behavior tend to derail you.

Sydney Craig, Alignment Based Restorative Movement Specialist and Founder of Pilates Tonic

Your Core & Pelvic Floor Workshop
Why your ab workout might be making you pee when you sneeze and what to do about it.

Jennifer Hacker, Certified Grief Recovery Specialist

Grief Relief Text Message Support
A tool for healing is in your hand with GRIEF RELIEF TEXTS. 1-3 text messages each week. Messages of hope, tools and tips, and encouragement to help you navigate life after loss and bear what feels unbearable.

Kelly Clark, Weight-Loss Mentor

ONE DAY Meal Plan: How I lost 30 pounds—without dieting & kept it off for the last 25 years
Find out who you are when you’re not skipping meals, counting calories & over-exercising.

Publicity, Marketing & Branding

Chad Metcalf, Self Publishing Expert, Author, Marketer, Former Navy SEAL

Best Seller Strategy
Learn the simple step you can’t miss if you want your book to be a continual best seller.

Juliane Bergmann, Ghostwriter for Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House

The Complete Pitch Guide – Zero to Bylines
You do NOT have to be a writer to get paid for your articles in big publications, get free publicity for your business, and establish yourself as an industry expert.

Here’s how I write and pitch stories that got me a “hell yes” from editors, even though I had:

• No idea how to package my expertise for prestigious publications
• No published articles or even the faintest idea of where to start
• No fancy writing degree, media connections, PR team, or budget

As a result of going from zero to bylines in Wired, Insider, and HuffPost, I have spoken on podcasts, presented at conferences, guest-lectured at a university, and made tens of thousands of dollars from new private clients, subscriptions, and teaching classes.

I’ll teach you where to find publications that pay, pitch editors you’ve never met, and get the highest rates!

Iona Holloway, Founder, Brave Thing

How To Book Your First 4-Figure Speaking Gig
How I used DMs (and embraced the cringe) to land $6k+ keynotes…when I had no footage of me speaking.

Cathlyn Melvin, TEDx Coach & Copywriter

The Essential TEDx Application Guide
15+ must-answer TEDx application questions to land your talk on the “red dot.” (Plus, expert tips for each one.)

Trez Thomas, Creator Good Procrastination

3 Big-Network TV Promotion Secrets to Steal for Your Own Brand (and 1 to Avoid)
My favorite tricks to get people obsessed with shows they didn’t know they needed in their lives — like The Real Housewives. Create your binge-worthy brand using secrets mastered during my adventures as Brand Expert and Creative Director at Bravo, Lifetime, and other colossal pop-culture brands.

Lindy Alexander, Award-Winning Travel Writer

Get published in travel magazines!
Ever wondered how travel journalists land their sweet, sweet gigs?
Inside this ultimate guide, you’ll learn how you can write travel stories for top-tier publications (and go on all-expenses paid trips).

You’ll learn:

• The 4 main types of travel publications looking for articles
• How to make your travel article ideas stand out to editors
• How to craft a great travel pitch
• 3 huge mistakes newbie travel writers make (and how to avoid them)

Laura Scholes, Copy, Brand & Website Guru for Time-Crunched Entrepreneurs

6 ways to tweak your homepage so people fall in love with you (and buy your stuff!)
Get the winning formula your favorite entrepreneurs use to create a home page that sucks people in like a sponge—and gets them to take action (that is: send you $$$!).

Marilee Kostadimas, Chief Storyteller at Spotlight Sojourns

Tell Your Story Easily
It’s your journey. It’s your story. And in the AI age, your story in your own voice matters more than ever – whether you’re on a professional journey, a personal journey, or a travel journey. So, grab this guide to help you tell your story easily.

Irina Leoni, The Brand Visualizer

Get a structure for addictive Instagram stories that grow a loyal following
[No opt-in necessary!] Watch Instagram stories highlight called “IG Formula” on the @irinaleoni.co account and never take this stories format for granted again. Liked what you saw? Follow Irina for more on growth with visual storytelling!

Michelle Martello, Design & Tech Educator, Founder of Minima Designs

Rich Inbox: 36 ways to use your email list to generate money, power and prestige
Make more money with your email list (even if it’s tiny or brand new).

Talking Shrimp freebies — because I’d be crazy not to include my own

Story Goldmine
63 Surprising Places To Mine Your Everyday Life For Stories.
Get my idea bank of binge-worthy stories for your newsletter & marketing emails.
Includes bonus guide How to tie your stories to a point or Call to Action.

5 Secrets to Non-Sucky Copy
Learn to write compelling, powerful copy that hits home and makes bank.

Talking Shrimp’s List-Building List
No signup necessary, which is ironic because this is a guide to getting people to sign up for your list!

Non-Sucky Subject Lines
For emails that always get opened: my 33 most-opened (highest open rate) subject lines, with templates to make your own.

Pretty great group, right? These movers and shakers Shrimpers are all current or alumni members of Shrimp Club.

So? What did you snap up? Got praise? Tell me in the comments.

Interested in past Shrimpmukkah Freebies?
Check out the list from 2020 here.
Check out the list from 2021 here.
Check out the list from 2022 here.
Check out the list from 2023 here.

The post Shrimpmukkah! A 2024 roundup of must-have lead magnets from Shrimp Club superstars appeared first on Talking Shrimp.

Oh my, aren’t you forward! That’s quite the personal question. When you ask, what you’re probably also wondering is:

“What’s a good email list size?” 

I’m happy to answer both questions, the best I can. 

So, not to brag, but around town, I’m kinda known for my list size. 

That is, my relatively small list size. People point and say, “It’s so tiny!”

They’re not being rude, they’re impressed. Because my little list is also mighty. 

My Shrimpers? They are engaged. And they invest in themselves (that’s self-development/coach-y-pants speak for “they buy”). They’re mostly what you’d call “organic leads” because very few of them came through ads. 

Not only that, but their numbers have grown by a lot in the past few years. In fact, close to tripled! By 2019, I had not a huge list, but a true Million-Dollar List.

What’s a Million-Dollar List and how do you get one???

It’s a list that generates a million dollars in sales. In other words, a list of subscribers who, cumulatively, spend a million dollars on your offers. That’s what happened in 2019 (for the first time) and has continued to happen each year since. 

How did I get there? Let’s go back.

How do you go from zero subscribers to a million dollar list?

Everyone starts at 1 (zero + Mom). I got my first few hundred subscribers from people visiting my website and signing up for my one freebie (the same 5 Secrets to Non-Sucky Copy that’s there now. A classic.)

For years, I was under 1,000 subscribers. I was terrible about driving more people to my opt-in, because the benefits of a list were still abstract to me. Other than my services, which I only mentioned occasionally because I was booked enough through word of mouth and had TV clients to juggle, I didn’t have anything to sell in those emails.

…That is, until I tried my hand at being an affiliate. With a handful of emails, I was able to make over $20k in commissions the first time I even tried. So this was the magic everyone talked about! The magic of email.

I wanted more people to email. 

In 2015, I got a sweet boost from one source, which I’ll mention in my list of list-building strategies below.

I started putting more energy into building my list, and went from over 4k Shrimpers in 2016 to nearly 13k at the end of 2019, to 20k+ as of January 2021. 

So, they might seem like a tiny list to the million-subscriber big Kahunas in the marketing space….

…But I think the average person starting a business would say:

“Wow, how’d you grow your list? What should I do to grow my list?”

And to that question, first, I say…

Here’s what’s worked for Talking Shrimp

1 – Use Calls To Action (CTAs) on social

I use frequent (if not constant) CTAs in my Instagram captions (posted automatically to FB) to sign up for my freebie or my emails.

2 – Put opt-ins all over your site

I’ve made my website an opt-in honey trap. Opt-ins, everywhere you look! (Like, on my About Page. See how many you can spot!)

3 – Make visibility a priority

I do this by:

• Going on podcasts and always offering a gift – usually, the link to my non-sucky subject lines freebie
• Guest posting in big publications, especially ones that allow a shirttail bio with a link (Business Insider)
• Speaking on stages (when there are actual stages) and offering a link to my opt-in at the end
• Guest teaching in OPP (Other People’s Programs) – I regularly agree to be a featured speaker in various friends’ masterclasses. I always offer a “gift” (my opt-in), and encourage people to story it.
  
  

4 – Use the “headline” feature in your Linkedin bio

Mine says: “I write the only emails anyone opens anymore.” People sign up to see if it’s true. (It is.)

5 – Give great testimonials

Fun fact: When my friend Marie Forleo first asked me for a testimonial for her site, I demurred. I was afraid TV clients would see me on a coach-y site and think it was weird. When I came to my senses and did give her a testimonial, later, I got found by so many people. For years. Lesson: Give testimonials to people you’ve worked with, especially mentors. Those aren’t usually linked, but people look you up. When you offer a testimonial, make sure you include your title (what you want to be called). Otherwise, they’ll just put your name.

6 – Offer multiple lead magnets (opt-in freebies)

I could do a lot more of this. This post you’re reading could be a lead magnet. I’d probably soup it up, make it into a pdf with nice Talking Shrimp-branded graphics. In 2022, I created a brand new freebie called…

Story Goldmine: 63 Surprising Places To Mine Your Everyday Life For Stories That Sell. 

This new lead magnet “sells” like hotcakes, because everyone with a business needs storytelling and content ideas—and brought a fresh influx of subscribers to my list.

7 – Put a signup button in your newsletter emails.

I only recently put a signup button in my own emails. Mine is like so:

8 – Have a featured landing page for your lead magnet or just your emails.

I have a featured landing page for just my emails, with tons of social proof about how good they are. (Seriously, have you not signed up yet? Go here and you’ll be convinced.)

9 – Use “gated content” (use a blog post to tease more information that they have to opt in for)

Try writing the occasional “epic” blog post that becomes a super-resource, full of ways to sign up for my list. This one, on writing emails that sell, is my cornerstone content.

10 – Partner with badasses

I partnered with indisputable badass Marie Forleo to create our course The Copy Cure. That course has brought me a vast portion of the exposure I get – both because Marie’s platform is monstrous and because the course is incredible. Get on the interest list for The Copy Cure here. (Partnering with a juggernaut like Marie isn’t an easy opportunity to come by, but make connections and they’ll pay off. If you admire someone and want to learn from them, join their programs, participate actively, help other people generously, and you’ll be noticed.) 

11 – Create free, ungated content full of links to sign up for your stuff.

Yes, this post could be accessible only as an opt-in, but then it wouldn’t get found by google. It’s free information, but don’t you want to click the links and sign up anyway? Here’s another: CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP AND BECOME A SHRIMPER

12 – Put your newsletter in your email signature

I have a line at the bottom of my personal email signature like so: 

13 – Create a roundup featuring other people

I did this for the first time with my “Shrimpmukkah” post featuring freebies from Shrimpers in my mastermind, Shrimp Club. I didn’t even have to ask them to share it. They shared it everywhere. It was a win-win-win-win-win to the nth degree. (Shrimp power!)

What else I could be doing (that you can do if you’re not quite as lazy):

1. Giving testimonials and submitting my site as a case study to apps and platforms I’ve used and loved, like Convertkit (for emails to my list) and Kajabi (for digital courses). These two are affiliate links. If you sign up for either, I get a commission! Win-win.
2. Pitching articles more regularly
3. Paid ads. I’ve dabbled, but not to great effect. I have a weird block about these, always have. Part of it is pride in my organic list. And fear that the people I attract through ads will suck. That’s my own cuckoo thinking. For my therapist.
4. A quiz! Haven’t done one of these, have considered it. I haven’t landed on what the quiz would be about. Or tried that hard to. But I’m not opposed.
5. Webinars. Free live or recorded video trainings are a great lead magnet. Most marketers use them to pitch something, usually something big, at the end. But you can use them to get people on your list. Why not?
6. Pinterest, Youtube. These are both search engines, great places to be posting regular content that drives traffic back to your site. Some people are everywhere and do it all. Me, I have Real Housewives episodes to watch. Gotta draw the line somewhere. But never say never!
7. Run a free summit, drawing on the star power and promotional efforts of your guests. This can get thousands of opt-ins in one go.
8. Start a free Facebook group where the questions to join include, “What’s your email? (Providing this gives me permission to subscribe you to my mailing list and contact you)” 

14 – Get your colleagues with similar or ideal audiences to share your lead magnet!

In 2022, when I created Story Goldmine, I reached out to a handful of friends in the online entrepreneur space, or just, “The Space,” and asked them to share it if they thought it would be a valuable resource for their people and make them look cool (win-win). To make it easy, I created swipe copy for them in a Google Doc to copy-paste. Some used it, some didn’t, but those who did loved the ease of it.

Want more on building your list? Check out my friend (and huge-list hero) Amy Porterfield’s free masterclass on rapid list building, or jump right into her course, List Builders Society.  (<—This is my affiliate link.)

Before signing off, let me tell you how NOT to build your list:

By adding people to your list without their permission. They must, by law, “opt in” to hear from you if you’re sending to a list of people. It’s one thing to add a few (true) friends to a brand new newsletter and explain that you’ve done that, and that they can hit unsubscribe any time. But please don’t import your list of contacts into an email service provider and start sending them your marketing emails. That’s called spam.

SO: Which of the above list-building strategies could you start doing right away?

And, what’s worked for you? What did I leave out?

Comment below. Or, if you’re shy, write back to any one of my emails. If you don’t know where to write me back, it’s because you’re not on my email list. And if you’re not on my email list, WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE?

Sign up over here. 

The post The Million-Dollar Email List: How To Build An Engaged Subscriber List From Scratch—Without Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, Or Giving A Dime To Zuck appeared first on Talking Shrimp.

Happy seasons (whatever season it is when you see this)!

There are plenty of gift-buying guides out there. I thought I’d add one that’s a gift-getting guide. Free gifts, for you. All they cost is your email address.

Whether you’re shopping for help with:

• Getting your stories and business in the media…
• Setting up and starting a successful Substack…
• Powering up your traffic with Pinterest…
• Writing copy that converts ideal clients…
• Or even eating your way through Europe…

You’ll find it here. You’ll also find new virtuosos to follow, learn from, collaborate with, and, of course, stalk.

They’re all members of the Shrimp Club community. What’s Shrimp Club? Find out more here.

And if you’re looking for examples of lead magnets / examples of opt-in landing pages to inspire your own, you’ve just found Email Opt-In Nirvana.

(Not everyone’s version of paradise, but we’re not everyone, now—are we?)

Skip right to the area you’re most interested with this table of contents:
Business Planning / Strategy
Copywriting and Sales
Lead Generation
Lifestyle
Publicity, Marketing & Branding
Talking Shrimp freebies

Why should you have a lead magnet or opt-in freebie (same dif) to build your list?

So you can harness the glorious power of email marketing. Not exaggerating!

The most important thing I ever learned in online business came from my mentor and Copy Cure partner, Marie Forleo. She told me, “It’s all about the email list. The gold is in the list.” (It took at least seven years for that to fully click.) When I was making my first website, she asked, “What’s your opt-in?”

My what-in?

She explained how, to build a subscriber list, you offer a free thing. Something other than just “sign up for my newsletter” or “sign up for weekly tips ‘n’ tricks” because, in exchange for their email address, people want something immediate. “Weekly inspiration in your inbox” rarely does the trick anymore, unless you’re famous…for your inspiration. It’s gotta be something good.

These Shrimpers know that. They’ve all created free things well worth signing up for. And they’re stellar emailers, so you’ll want to keep hearing from them in your inbox. Here’s what we’ve got.

Presenting…the Shrimpmukkah Freebie Fest:

A roundup of the best opt-in freebies (aka lead magnets) from Shrimpers in my mastermind, Shrimp Club.

[Note: This post is from December 2023. With time, some links may stop working as these rockstars change things up in their businesses. That’s the beautiful thing about having your own business: you can pivot any time, no permission needed.]

Business Planning / Strategy

Sandy Park, Pinterest Expert

Pinterest: A Beginner’s Guide Mini Course
3 Instant access video lessons to grow your business with Pinterest.

Virginia De Assis, Coach and Founder at Content Lounge

Aligned 6-Figure Bootcamp
How To Build A Multiple 6-Figure Business That Feels Effortless.
Learn how to adjust your STRATEGIES and find ALIGNMENT you can scale to 6 figures and multiple 6 figures with ease.

Stacey Brass-Russell, Business & Life Transformation Coach

5 Steps To Creating Your Irresistible High-Ticket Offer
For Coaches, Experts & Consultants Ready To Attract Dream Clients By Giving Them Exactly What They Want, Need & Will Gladly Pay For!
The ultimate guide to turning your secret sauce and unique zone of genius into a 1:1 offer that speaks directly to the hearts and minds of those you serve.

Maggie Isley, Neurodivergent Business Coach & Brand Designer

QUIZ: Successful Neurodivergent Entrepreneurs: What’s your Ideal Work Environment?
Unlock the secret sauce of your perfect work environment – it’s like a personality test, but for your desk!

Brittany Love, Strategic Impact Coach & Founder of Revolutionary Presence

Shake Your Assets: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Supercharge Your Business Vision
Supercharge your results by developing a personalized strategy to use your time, expertise, and resources to make your biggest business (or life) vision a reality faster than you thought possible…even if you’ve been singing the shoulda, woulda, coulda blues for months.

Tara Reid, Business Coach & Marketing Strategist

Growth Breakthrough Challenge
A 5-day email challenge for service providers who want to make more money but don’t want to (or have the time to) take on more 1:1 client work.

Frenchie Ferenczi, Business Strategist & Advisor

GUIDE: Stay Close To The Money (37 stupid-easy tips!)
Called “The only freebie I actually use,” by more than one person, in this guide you’ll discover how to:
Grow your revenue more easily
Keep that growth consistently
AND do it all WITHOUT feeling ‘salesy’!

Jane Carter, Business Coach for Solopreneurs

The Soulful Solopreneur: Annual Workbook for Reflection & Renewal
Make 2024 the year for more fun and less frazzle. These 29 questions go deeper than the usual year-end number-crunching and help you get clear on what you really want, and which habits, belief patterns, and go-to behaviors are getting in the way of your vision.

Sarah Aviram, Author of Remotivation: The Remote Worker’s Ultimate Guide to Life-Changing Fulfillment

Get Re-Motivated Workbook
A vital guide to help you thrive in a remote and hybrid world.

Julie Cabezas, Brand Positioning Expert

Winning High-Ticket Clients
Join us for a Free 5-Day Challenge on How to Find Your High-Ticket Advantage and Book High-Ticket Clients – Starting December 4!.

Cindy Childress, Ph. D. The Expert’s Ghostwriter®

Discover Your #1 Bestselling Author Personality Type Quiz
Finally understand and unlock your writing superpowers. Are you a trailbazing leader or a crowd-sourcing influencer? Maybe you’re more of a compassionate inspiration or a daring expert. Take the FREE quiz and find out how to write your book YOUR way.

Colleen Kochannek, Founder www.ColleenMKochannek.com

109 Simple and Inspiring Ideas You Can Make Money With
“I Can’t Believe That’s A Business.” It doesn’t have to be technically difficult, expensive or take forever. You could have your first product done this weekend, even if you don’t have a website.

Mye De Leon, Founder, Digital Product Genius

100 Digital Product Ideas
Want to turn your skills and knowledge into passive income but don’t know what to sell? Here’s a list of ideas to pick from so you can stop wasting time and get started right away.

Sandra Booker, Business Manager & Growth Strategist

The Great Big List Of KPIs For Online Business Owners
What if, at any given moment, you knew exactly what your next business move should be?

Grab this guide and discover:

Why KPIs are absolutely vital to the health of your business
How many to use (and why you don’t want to track everything)
The 8 main categories, how to pick which to focus on & a simple, uncomplicated method to start tracking
The best way to identify trends, stay on top of problems (so they don’t become disasters) & identify hidden opportunities
A list of KPIs to choose from for Digital Course Creators, Service Providers, Coaches & Consultants

Copywriting and Sales

Jen Baxter, Copy Queen & Content Strategist

How to Substack: Quick Start Video to Write More Powerfully on Substack
 9-minute, step-by-step video to set up your newsletter for success
 Dial in design settings to look polished from your first post
 Meet other cool writers, readers, and podcasters through the power of your stories

Mary Schroeder, COO of Unconventional Life

The Somatic Ink Masterclass
A writing workshop for content creators who want to ditch limiting beliefs and splash their wild, funky selves all over the internet.

Paige Worthy, Customer-Obsessed Messaging and Copywriting for Businesses That Give a Shit

The 1-Week Homepage Glow-Up Challenge
Five days, five ways to update your website so customers say, “WTF how did they KNOW?!” and click that Buy Now button.

Sami Miles, Comedienne, Copywriter, & Founder of Catchiest Copy

Grab Your Audience by the Funny Bone
10 tips to infuse humor into your talks, presentations, and content
…So you’ll stand out, be memorable, and get approached for more high-visibility opps!!

Susan Reoch, UX and Website Copy Expert, Founder of The UX Copywriter

One-and-Done Website Copy Planner
Can I help you write your website copy for free? Strike “write better web copy” from your to-do list with this deliciously simple step-by-step planner.

Marisa Corcoran, Copy Mentor, Creator of The Copy Chat

The 50+ Scroll-Stopping Subject Lines
Take your emails from “meh” to “must read now” in seconds with 3 simple subject line formulas (+ the #1 place your best subject lines are hiding!).

Brenna McGowan, Launch Strategist & Copywriter

Pre-Launch Plan Cheat Sheet
Uncover what every prospect needs to believe before they — and the exact content to create that pre-sells your offer so you can have your most successful (and stress-free!) launch yet!

Lead Generation

Toby Myles, Email Strategist, Copywriter & Founder of The Big Juicy Copy Club

99 Juicy Lead Magnet Ideas!
Explode your email list with a goldmine of eager-to-buy clients!

Linda Sidhu, Quiz Creator & Community Builder

The Quiz Quadrant Workshop
Unlock the secrets to crafting a personality-packed quiz that captivates your audience without a hint of sales pressure. This step-by-step framework ensures rapid email list growth with genuinely engaged subscribers. Plus, you’ll receive a 4-personality PDF guide on writing tailored content for your new subscribers and a 9-step checklist for crafting the ideal personality quiz.

Lifestyle

Marie-Elizabeth Mali, Personal Development Coach for Grown-Ass Women

Grown-Ass Power Quiz
For midlife women having a “Now what?” moment who are ready to turn on your unapologetic power, purpose, & passion to rock this next stage of your life.

Heidi Villegas, Herbal-Aromatherapist, Founder of Healing Harvest Homestead and the School of Botanical Arts & Sciences

Ultimate Guide to Herbal Steams for Health and Beauty
Healthy lungs and beautiful skin? YES, please! Find out how and why herbal steams work to support your respiratory system, boost your immunity, and give you dewy, glowing skin all at once. PLUS best ideas for herbs and essential oils to use.

Dani Sumner, Life Transformation Coach

10 Faith-Based Secrets To Thrive In Your Personal Life As Your Business Grows
Great at taking care of business but struggle taking care of YOU? This short audio and worksheet will help.

Victoria Werner, Patternmaking Teacher & Founder of Erbaccia Studio

*Free Course* Illustrator Basics for Patternmaking
Learn foundational skills for drafting sewing patterns in Adobe Illustrator.

Sandra Weinacht, Casual Luxury Travel Expert, Lifelong Foodie, Founder of Inside Europe Travel Experiences

Nine Mouthwatering Experiences in Europe — Worth Every Calorie
I love to travel and travel for a living — making sure “Let’s all go to Europe” is always a great idea, for 20 to 200 or more. When it comes to food, I don’t fork around and neither should you. My insider’s guide is all about eating like a local with the locals — while taking the roads less traveled in Europe.

Dana DiPrima, For Farmers Movement Founder & Local Farm Concierge

Swipe Right for Your Perfect Local Farm Match!
Of course you want only the yummiest potatoes for your latkes. And what would your Yule Log be without the creamiest, straight-from-the-farm butter? You know you deserve the juiciest Chanukkah brisket or the most delectable holiday ham and that means finding a local farm that does it way better than your supermarket. Let me be your farm-finding bestie and personally match you with a farm near you!

Amy Groome, Creative Strategist + Strengths Coach | Founder of mid-flight

Perspectives + Possibilities [ A PODCAST PLAYLIST ]
23 hand-picked podcast episodes guaranteed to get you curious, spark ideas, inspire creativity, and calm your inner critic. You’ll find episodes about:

> reframing regret
> cultivating creative courage
> befriending fear
> strategizing self-acceptance

…and so much more. An antidote to information overload, this one-stop curated listening shop helps you pause for perspective, percolate on possibility and power up your potential in the year to come.

Bethany Bunnell, Founder of The Birthday Interview

The Birthday Interview Questions
Your kids are growing up way too fast. Grab my questions and film your child every year answering these insightful and intimate questions. You’ll create an uncensored time capsule of your child at each year of their incredible life as they grow and become who they’re meant to be. Hear their secrets, their hopes, and dreams. It’s a gift for them. It’s a gift for you. Turn your kids’ childhood from a blink of an eye into a treasure you can keep forever.

Iona Holloway, Breathwork Expert, Founder of Brave Thing

Build Your Trust Fund
Let’s turn the stone in your chest back into a beating heart. 5 days. 5 ZeroFluff emails. You: Clearing the muck, Remembering Who The F*ck You Are, stacking trust, and owning the hell out of 2024.

Maura Kelpy, Graphic Designer & Health Coach in Training (Founder of Maura K Creative and Veggies & Vodka)

Have your veggies and your vodka too
7 inspiring ways to play with your balance of veggies and vodka – not just in your health, but in your life too. Plus: Additional resources that helped me go from lagging to energized on my wellness adventure.

Sue Cheung, Integrative Life Coach and Yoga Teacher

Anti-Anxiety Magic
Using neuroscience and yoga, let me show you how to stop feeling anxious in less than five minutes. Seriously. I’ll give you TWO super simple techniques that will dissolve that feeling away. And you don’t even have to read anything. Just hit play, follow my cues and let the wave of calm and relaxation wash over you. .

Kisma Orbovich, CEO Illumination Academy, Co-Host, Illumination Podcast

Universal Laws Cheat Sheet
Your go-to-guide to learn how to work with the natural and universal laws so that you can manifest faster, create more calm, and never self sabotage again.

Rubeena Ianigro, Founder, The Gray Muse® and The Aura Market

Human Design Centers: A Guide to Understanding the Nine Energy Centers
A 43-page introduction to the human design system’s nine energy centers, helping you to understand how your own energy flows to, through, and from you, with tips on what to look for in order to avoid burnout, overwhelm and pressure!

Candyce Ossefort-Russell, Psychotherapist

Your Grief is Your Own: A Comforting E-Book
Your Grief Is Your Own is an easy-to-read book that dispels common myths about grief that make grieving harder than it has to be. I’ve lived through loss myself, and I wrote this book to validate what you’re going through and to help you feel understood and not alone in your grief.

Sydney Craig, Restorative Movement Specialist, Founder of Pilates Tonic Online

The Every-Days
Five exercises to do every day to feel more relaxed, fluid, and comfortable in your body.

Sandra Chuma, Mindset Mastery Coach

Worthy of Self-Love – The ‘Secret’ Habit for Success
Did you know that one of the most searched questions on Google is “How do I learn to love myself?” When we think about improving our lives, we often look to external tactics and strategies. And then we wonder why we keep self-sabotaging or simply not doing the things we know we should be doing to create the life we want. What we miss is that the foundation of ALL success stems from this one habit. The habit of self-love.
Join me as I take you on a journey to reignite self-love and reclaim self-worth.

Jennifer Hacker, ICF Certified Life Coach and Grief Specialist, Founder of The Center for Help & Hope

3 Things You Need to Know to Answer the Question: “Why did you let this happen God?”
Do you silently wonder “Why did you do this to me God?” and wish there was an actual answer (i.e. not platitudes or clichés)? Get a copy of this e-book and learn 3 things that will answer your questions and ease your path moving forward.

Kelly Clark, Weight-Loss Mentor & Author of “It took me 10 years to lose 10 pounds (because I had all the wrong information)” & “What the F do I eat?”

ONE DAY Meal Plan: How I lost 30 pounds—without dieting & kept it off for the last 24 years
Find out who you are when you’re not skipping meals, counting calories & over-exercising.

Publicity, Marketing & Branding

Juliane Bergmann, Writer

Get Paid For Your Articles!
Snag the free pitch template that got me a “hell yes” from editors at Wired, Insider, and Huffpost, even though I had:

– No prior published articles
– No fancy writing degree
– No media connections
– No PR team or budget to pay one

I’ll also share a successful pitch example that took less than 15 minutes to write, got accepted within hours, and paid hundreds of dollars!

Erin Geiger, Co-founder at Miracle Max

9 Tips to Sleigh Your Website in 2024
It’s the holiday season and we’re in a giving mood! At Miracle Max, we’re all about helping companies grow their business through integrated marketing. Are you struggling with putting the magic into your messaging or SEO strategy? You’ll shoot your eye out, kid. Let us help!

To get started, visit our website and scroll down to complete the Get In Touch form (be sure to mention Shrimpmukkah).

Here’s what we’ll send you:
– 3 things we love about your website
– 3 things you can change to drive traffic
– 3 things to add to your website

Ted Prodromou, America’s Leading LinkedIn Coach

How to Get Your Best Prospects to Stop Scrolling on LinkedIn and Beg You to Do Business With Them
Your LinkedIn profile is your chance to make a great first impression. When was the last time you updated your LinkedIn profile? This LinkedIn profile template and video training helps you create a client-attracting LinkedIn profile based on proven direct marketing principles.

Marietta Gentles Crawford, Personal Branding & LinkedIn Strategist

Attract Clients and Media With a Magnetic LinkedIn Profile (and Presence)
Get my top LinkedIn tips that will help you tweak your bio so you can increase your visibility and profitability — without sending AI DMs people ignore.

Cathlyn Melvin, TEDx Coach & Messaging Expert

Want to Speak on the TEDx Stage?
Here are 3 empowering secrets TED won’t tell you about sharing your message on the Red Dot.

Trez Thomas, The Brand Adventurist & Procrastinista

3 Big-Network TV Promotion Secrets to Steal for Your Own Brand (and 1 to Avoid)!
My favorite tricks to get people obsessed with things they didn’t know they needed in their lives — like The Real Housewives.Create your binge-worthy brand using secrets mastered during my adventures as Brand Expert and Creative Director at Bravo, Lifetime, BET, and other colossal pop-culture brands.

Lindy Alexander, Award-Winning Travel Writer

The 5 fastest (and easiest) ways to get an article published in a magazine
Discover the 5 different types of articles you can write and get paid for, what you need to include when you write each type of article and exactly what to say when you send your article to an editor.

Julie Zhu, Marketing Strategist, Founder of Marketing With Julie

How to Make Your Business Unignorable (It Works!)
My 6 best tips to nail down your top marketing priorities and leverage your unique strengths.

Laura Scholes, Founder of The 24-Hour Site

Two Easy Ways to Boost Your Brand Story (And Your Sales!)
Steal the two questionnaires I use to create websites that captivate (oooh!) and convert ($$$$!).

Marilee Kostadimas, Chief Storyteller at Spotlight Sojourns

Tell Your Story with Authority, Simply and Easily
As a professional woman, you understand it’s important to tell your story. With authority and clarity. Because your voice, your experience, and your expertise matter. So, grab this guide to help you spotlight your story, simply and easily.

Linda Ugelow, Speaking Confidence Coach & Author of Delight in the Limelight

Preparation Rituals for Speaking on Stage or Camera
A must-do checklist of exercises, rituals, and warmups to use before you speak to ensure you’re clear-headed, grounded and charged, whether on camera or at the front of the room.

Helena Bowen, Speaker Coach, Speechwriter, Slow Work Advocate

How to Get Booked to Speak at TEDx
Insider tips & proven strategies I’ve learned working with hundreds of TEDx Speakers and reviewing 10,000+ TEDx Speaker Applications.

Gretchen Oris-Chong, Austronesian Aussie Artist/Designer/Strategist

Free Ikigai Idea Guidebook: For Limit-Defying Multi-Hyphenates
Inspired by the Japanese philosophy of ikigai, this guidebook helps you choose an idea and create a brand that sits right at the intersection of what you love, what you do well, what rewards you, and what the world needs.

Irina Leoni, Branding with Photography for Coaches and Experts

“Perfectly on Brand” Shoot Planning Bundle
Free only for Shrimpmukkah hoarders! The “7-steps photoshoot plan” and the “List of ALL the brand visuals you’ll ever need” – combined – so you always have the exact images you and your designer need to get you SEEN, LOVED and PAID.

Michelle Martello, Design & Tech Educator, Founder of Minima Designs

2024 Website Tune-Up Guide from Minima Designs
Grab this quick fix website checklist and get your site ready for leads, clients and sales. Diagnose and fix the common site issues that could be costing you serious bucks.

Talking Shrimp freebies — because I’d be crazy not to include my own

Story Goldmine
63 Surprising Places To Mine Your Everyday Life For Stories.

Get my idea bank of binge-worthy stories for your newsletter & marketing emails.
Includes bonus guide How to tie your stories to a point or Call to Action.

5 Secrets to Non-Sucky Copy
Learn to write compelling, powerful copy that hits home and makes bank.

Talking Shrimp’s List-Building List
No signup necessary, which is ironic because this is a guide to getting people to sign up for your list!

Non-Sucky Subject Lines
For emails that always get opened: my 33 most-opened (highest open rate) subject lines, with templates to make your own.

Pretty great group, right? These movers and shakers Shrimpers are all current or alumni members of Shrimp Club. If you want to be one of them next time, hop on this waitlist.

So? What did you snap up? Got praise? Tell me in the comments.

Interested in past Shrimpmukkah Freebies?
Check out the list from 2020 here.
Check out the list from 2021 here.
Check out the list from 2022 here.

The post Shrimpmukkah! A 2023 roundup of must-have lead magnets from Shrimp Club superstars appeared first on Talking Shrimp.

During the book-launching process, which pretty much begins the moment you get a book deal, I was lucky to receive advice and support from a number of friends who’ve already become bestselling authors (some, a few times over) or were just ahead of me in the process. Above me on “Book Mountain,” as I call it.

Many of their tips and insights, I understood but still had to learn on my own throughout the publication and promotion of Tough Titties, if that makes sense.

Originally from a hugely popular email, here are 13* surprises from launching a book that many people had already told me but maybe I didn’t believe them?

Except for number 6. That one, no one’s mentioned.

(*The email listed 11, but one item was buried in the middle of another and I forgot to sub-head and number it. So, 12. And then I had to add an extra because I have this thing where all lists should be odd numbers, unless it’s a list of 10.)

1. You do most everything when it comes to promoting and selling your book.

A sampling of items that are all on you, unless you shell out to hire a PR firm:

You track down, beg, harangue authors for blurbs.

You find authors or other public figures to pair with if you want bookseller events.

You pitch yourself to publications and podcasts.

You throw yourself the launch party, if you want one.

You pay for travel, if you decide to go on tour.

Not always, but often, you connect with bookstores and get them to carry your book.

Most of all…

You promote it and get people to click “buy” — something I never could have done without a subscriber list and the hugely lucrative skill of writing them emails that entertain and sell.

[I teach these email storytelling-and-selling skills in Inbox Hero.]

If you’re lucky, your publisher will promote you on social, take care of mailing out books and swag (mine created fantastic merch), and maybe get you a plumb bookseller event. Mine got me Barnes & Noble.

But all the other lifting? You, you, you.

Many authors told me it would all fall on me. My agent’s offer of representation even stated it: “Selling this book is up to you!” And still, l had to learn it myself.

2. If you hate asking for favors, you’re going to be very uncomfortable. (I do, I have been.)

Favors have included:

• Read my early stuff, which is a hot pile of mess?
• Intro me to that agent?
• Intro me to that author?
• Ask that influencer if I can send them my galley?
• Will you read and blurb my book?
• Hi, me again, any chance you’d be willing to read and blurb my book?
• OMG, I’m SUCH a pest! Not sure if you’re even seeing these, bc probably in your requests folder, but…please see above, would still love to send you the book for possible blurb!
• Oh, hey, friend who’s already been so generous and helpful, will you also promote the book to your subscriber list?
• Hi, I know you’re so busy! Congrats on everything! Will you still give my book that shoutout you promised when you said you were no longer blurbing books?
• Now that you bought the book and supported it, would you care to support it even more with an Amazon review?

You may also find yourself using more emojis than fit your personality.

3. The New York Times list is for turd munchers. (Unless you or I make it on there, yay me or you!)

Don’t pay attention to the NYT list, I was told; don’t invest one shred of your self-worth in it.

It’s a mystery decided in dark of night by a secret society in hooded robes, who eat a steak dinner, chant in Latin, sacrifice a goat and/or debut author, hold up the beating heart, and then say, OK, boys, let’s decide some fates!

(Not that inclusion on the list decides your fate, nope, not at all.)

A few people had to remind me about the self-worth part — some, several times — and they were right.

For real, the list doesn’t make sense. It’s not bestsellers by number of sales, so much as bestsellers the NYT likes that day.

If you want to get on the NYT list, there’s no surefire way on, but it probably helps to get an essay or op-ed kind of thing in there before your book comes out. Still, no guarantees.

Nobody knows how it works and it’s nearly as unlikely for a new author as being struck by lightning. Even lightning, you’d probably have more control over. Climb a tree on a hilltop during a storm and hold up an old TV antenna. Crack, boom.

Recently, I talked on the phone to a big TV celebrity who’s also a NYT bestselling author. They said, “Before my book came out I was like, fuck the Times, what matters is that I wrote a book. And then, I did hit the list at number 2, not number 1 because of that damn Jennette McCurdy sitting at the top forever, and the next week, I plummeted to number 5 and was like ‘Everybody hates my book!’”

Author’s note: I loved Jennette McCurdy’s book. That one deserves its reign on The List, if any does.

Author’s note 2: My book did make two important bestseller lists, one of which makes it a national bestseller. Even if that doesn’t make me more worthy as a person, I REALLY WANTED IT!

First week of publication, Tough Titties made the Publishers Weekly bestseller list.

And then, thanks to a sales bump in September, it made the USA Today list, which had come back out of retirement that month. I’d been so mad that list was on hiatus when Tough Titties was released, because I had the sales numbers to make it pretty high up. But no matter. Thanks to this, the paperback edition of Tough Titties will have “NATIONAL BESTSELLER” above the title.

4. Books really are hard to sell.

Depending on your audience, it can be harder to sell a $28 book than a $500 or even $5000 course. You may need to come up with offers for people who just don’t want to buy a book.

When someone says “I can’t wait to read it,” most of the time they haven’t ordered it and aren’t going to unless you nudge them and say “Have you ordered it?” It’s pushy but you gotta be pushy.

5. Asking for Amazon reviews is like asking for a kidney.

I’ve started just asking for a kidney first, and if that’s not possible – totally get it! – will you leave an Amazon review?

Apparently, if you hit 1000 Amazon reviews, your book sells in perpetuity. So I’m asking for 1000 kidneys!

I also tried asking for a Picasso (oil painting, not drawing or lithograph). No can do? Will take an Amazon review!

While you’re reading this, if you can’t spare a kidney or a large-scale Picasso, would you please leave me a review on the ‘Zon? The rules say I can’t ask you for 5 stars, but I can tell you that’s what helps the book.

6. You’ll be equally surprised by who shows up for you as by who doesn’t.

Actually, more by who doesn’t. Several who’ve promised to shout out your book on the ‘gram or do some other favor often don’t, and those you never expected anything from come through in shocking, humbling ways.

It’s a little like losing a loved one in that respect. Some people you’d expect to be in the first row behind the family at the service don’t so much as write a note, and others show up at the shiva early, with a whole platter of corned beef sandwiches.

Thinking about it, no one mentioned this one.

7. No one cares about your book as much as you do.

Kind of like having a baby, not that I’d know. Definitely like your birthday. You’re the only one walking around all day thinking, “Today’s a very special day!”

That said, how great of Kelly Ripa (an author, so she gets it!) to give me this extended shoutout on my Pub Day:

8. Whatever you’re told “doesn’t move the needle” might very well move the needle.

Nobody knows what moves the needle. You can look at sales sold directly from an event and say, “that wasn’t worth the time,” but then the social proof from that event can sell way more books than anything else you do. Then again, I don’t know that, I’m just guessing, which is what everyone’s doing.

9. There are a ton of expenses that all seem to cost around 6k.

It’s like renovating your home. The more you spend, the more you keep spending, because…well, I’ve come this far. Might as well.

10. Many people in your life will take forever to finish or even start your book.

If you’re insulted when they don’t dive in even though they’ve said “I can’t wait to read it,” think about all the books you truly can’t wait to read that you still haven’t. Some of us can’t read 3 pages in a row anymore without picking up the phone to check Instagram.

If you’re insulted someone was reading enthusiastically and reporting to you about it and then seems not to have finished it, think about the times you’ve dropped a book in the middle even though you’re loving it, and you don’t know why. Or remember when you’ve gone slowly because you only have a little time each day to consume media just for pleasure, and you’re brain-dead so you open up Peacock instead of that book you love.

BTW – most people who say “I can’t wait to read it” have no intention of doing so, unless they also tell you they bought a copy.

I like to call their bluff.

When someone comments online, “I can’t wait to read it,” I reply, “Yay! Did you get it yet?” And then…silence.

11. Yes, people you wrote about will read it.

If you think “I can write about this person, they’ll never read the book or if they do, they won’t know it’s about them,” you’re wrong. You can still write about them, but expect that they will read it and will ask, “Is this person me?”

12. Promoting a book is a full-time job.

Every author friend who published before me asked the same question out loud:

“How the F do people who have actual jobs do this?”

All of those friends have been either full-time authors, so that is their job, or business owners who had to neglect their usual money-making efforts if they wanted to go all in on getting the book out.

It’s a choice, of course. No one said, “Become utterly consumed by the success of Tough Titties or we’ll come after your family and take away everything you love.”

But if you do make the choice to prioritize your book, and you’re obsessive like me, you’ll be entering a season of making less income (except the passive kind, good to have that set up) and “OMG, I’m so sorry I didn’t get back to you about this when you sent it three weeks ago!”

13. Remember, you wrote a GODDAMN BOOK!

That’s what I have to keep coming back to. It’s already successful, because it fucking exists! It’s printed, with a spine. That is some next level shit. Yes, swear words necessary.

Is that it? I’m sure I’ll think of more after sending this, but I like the number 11 [NOW UPDATED TO 13].

PS – Can’t wait to read Tough Titties? Get yourself a copy! It’s the hot read of 2023/2024.

PPS – Whether you’re promoting a book or anything else where the selling is up to you and you’re not a household name like Paris Hilton, I can’t stress enough the importance of writing standout, consistently entertaining emails to an engaged subscriber list.

PPPS – BREAKING: I now have a course on book marketing, Book Launch Hero.

In a live, double masterclass, It’ll walk you through everything I did to make my first book a bestseller, and provide you with a kit of materials — including my best emails — to help you promote. Enrollment closes Tues Jan 30th at midnight ET. Join here.

The post “The List” is for turd munchers: 13 surprises and lessons from becoming a published author and launching a book appeared first on Talking Shrimp.

All the gift guides right now tell you where to get the best barbecue set. This one’s a little different.

It’s a roundup of free gifts — none of them great for grilling chicken but all exceptional for heating up your business and profits. All they cost is your email address.

Whether you’re shopping for help with:

• Writing a bestseller…
• Pinpointing and defining your brand…
• Getting your business in the media…
• Writing copy that converts ideal clients…
• Hiring a VA or marketer….
• Or creating your high-converting quiz funnel…

You’ll find it here. You’ll also find new virtuosos to follow, learn from, collaborate with, and, of course, stalk.

And if you’re looking for examples of lead magnets / examples of opt-in landing pages to inspire your own, you’ve just found Email Opt-In Nirvana.

(Not everyone’s version of paradise, but we’re not everyone, now—are we?)

Skip right to the area you’re most interested with this table of contents:
Business Planning / Strategy
Copywriting and Sales
Lead Generation
Publicity, Marketing & Branding
Talking Shrimp freebies

Why should you have a lead magnet or opt-in freebie (same dif) to build your list?

So you can harness the glorious power of email marketing. Not exaggerating!

The most important thing I ever learned in online business came from my mentor and Copy Cure partner, Marie Forleo. She told me, “It’s all about the email list. The gold is in the list.” (It took at least seven years for that to fully click.) When I was making my first website, she asked, “What’s your opt-in?”

My what-in?

She explained how, to build a subscriber list, you offer a free thing. Something other than just “sign up for my newsletter” or “sign up for weekly tips ‘n’ tricks” because, in exchange for their email address, people want something immediate. “Weekly inspiration in your inbox” rarely does the trick anymore, unless you’re famous…for your inspiration. It’s gotta be something good.

These Shrimpers know that. They’ve all created free things well worth signing up for. And they’re stellar emailers, so you’ll want to keep hearing from them in your inbox. Here’s what we’ve got.

Presenting…the Tough Titties Freebie Fest:

A roundup of the best opt-in freebies (aka lead magnets) from Linda Sidhu’s MixerMind crew.

[Note: This post is from June 2023. With time, some links may stop working as these rockstars change things up in their businesses. That’s the beautiful thing about having your own business: you can pivot any time, no permission needed.]

Business Planning / Strategy

Belinda Rosenblum‚ Profit Strategist, CEO of Own Your Money

Pay Yourself Calculator
Ready to pay yourself better? Here’s what you want your revenue to be!

Finally set the right revenue goals that will allow you to pay yourself more as the CEO. Hey, you run the show and you deserve to get paid better for all your efforts and expertise.

But figuring out HOW to make that happen can be confusing and overwhelming — especially as you grow your revenue to $50k and $100k+ (because your expenses are likely growing too). Enter in 3 key numbers and let the calculator work its magic.

Celi Arias, Business Growth Strategist & Certified Mindset Coach

The 7-Figure Business Quiz
How do you know if you have the right strategy to grow the business for the life you want? Whether its 6 or 7 or 8 figures, you need to know where you are in order to know exactly what you need to do next. This quiz will tell you exactly that!

Cindy Childress, The Expert’s Ghostwriter©

Discover Your #1 Bestselling Author Personality Quiz
You have a powerful book inside you, and you know it. This quiz will help you step into your next-level author role.

Dallas Travers, Business Mentor, Found of The Hive

The Coach’s SuperPower Quiz
Take this 45-second quiz and learn the precise next steps to find paying clients, build your list, or scale the right way. You’ll receive a custom toolkit based on your strengths instead of a one-size-fits-all formula.

Danielle Laura, Celebrity Spiritual Advisor, Energetics Expert

10 Actionable Tips for Aligning Your Business with Your Unique Human Design For Sovereign Success
This guide is packed with practical tips and strategies to help you understand your Human Design and use it to create a business that’s aligned with who you truly are.

Emily Reagan, Digital Marketer

How to Hire your First Virtual Assistant
For expert service providers who are beyond ready to offload tasks in their business and free up their time with a teammate (not just a clock-in, clock-out worker bee).

Frenchie Ferenczi, Business Strategist & Advisor

Stay Close to the Money
37 Stupid Easy Ways to Grow Your Revenue (without being “salesy”).

Krissy Chin, CEO & Marketing and Funnels Expert

Turn Your Knowledge Into Profit
Ready to stop trading time for money and launch a digital offer, but you aren’t sure what to do or how to sell it? Download this ultimate guide to show you how to generate an extra $1,000 a month in passive income in just 3 weeks with your existing knowledge.

Toyin Alli, Academic Business Consultant

How to Monetize Your List with an Evergreen Newsletter Audio Guide
16-minute audio guide on how to engage, nurture, and monetize your email list without writing a weekly newsletter!

Copywriting and Sales

Brenna McGowan, Launch Strategist & Copywriter

The Pre-Launch Cheat Sheet
Uncover what every prospect needs to believe before they — and the exact content to create that pre-sells your offer so you can have your most successful (and stress-free!) launch yet!

Gemma Bonham-Carter, Online Course & Funnels Expert

$100k Launch – Email Swipe Files
The 27 emails I sent during my live launch that brought in $100k in revenue.

Jessica Brooks, UX Sales Page Copywriter

6 Weeks of Case Study Carousel Templates
Turn the testimonials on your sales page into scroll-stopping social proof without spending an hour starting from scratch. Snag this limited-time download for your next launch!

Marisa Corcoran, Copy Mentor & Creator of The Copy Chat

The 50+ Scroll-Stopping Subject Lines
Take your emails from “meh” to “must read now” with 50+ subject lines you can swiftly customize. I’ll show you how! Plus, uncover where your best email openers are hiding out (hint: at Target!).

Merel Kriegsman, Elite Business Mentor & Women’s Wealth Advocate

Merel’s Million Dollar Sample Stash
Get access to the 6 emails that sold millions of dollars in high-end offers.

Zafira Rajan, Sensory Copywriter & Brand Strategist

Quiz: What’s Your Brand’s Core Essence?
Learn how to diffuse the top, middle and base notes of your unique blend of strengths into a new marketing ritual that helps you stand out powerfully and consistently.

Lead Generation

Ange Quinn, Operations and Measurement Expert

Google Traffic Dashboard & UTM Training Course

Ask yourself:
Can you confirm which marketing strategies are working? Which ones brought in the most leads, traffic, and buyers? (and which ones didn’t bring any ROI?)
Do you understand how and WHERE to look for valuable data using Google Analytics?
Do you know what web pages and content your audience is most interested in?

You’re invited to dive into my mini training course that will teach you what you need to know about using Google Analytics to decipher exactly WHERE your leads and buyers are coming from.

Know your conversion rates instantly, which audiences convert better than others, and understand what marketing efforts are WORKING!

Laurie-Ann Murabito, Speaking Coach & Strategist

Take the Stage – 3 Steps to Confidently Share Your Message

Ready to get positioned as the expert in rooms filled with your ideal clients? Look no further, this guide will help you look and feel comfortable and confident sharing your story like a pro right from the get-go and leave with a handful of hot leads who are ready to work with you in 30 min or less.

Linda Sidhu, Quiz Creator & Personality Expert

Quiz: What’s Your Quiz-To-Cash Strategy

Reveal your unique, quiz-based path to your biggest launch yet. Take this 8-question quiz and discover how to rock your next launch based on your strengths.

Tasha DaCosta, Website Design & Funnel Expert, Founder of Lady Boss Studio & Funnel Breezy

Free Training: 3 Proven Strategies to Double Your Email Subscribers Starting Today

Learn how to double your email subscribers fast without the pain of trying to figure it out alone, wasting money on tech you don’t understand, and building your list with crappy leads.

Publicity, Marketing & Branding

Adela Hussain, Award-Winning Media Mentor

10 Steps To Get Your Business In The Media
Want to see your name in the media? Discover the fastest and easiest way for you to be featured and land instant leads, clients and credibility. Grab 10 Steps to get your business in the media now. This powerful guide has helped entrepreneurs land features in Harvard Business Review, BBC, Insider, The Times, The Sunday Times, The Independent, Stylist and more. Your newsworthy business begins now.

Jen Liddy, Messaging Strategist & Copy Coach

The Customized Content Planning System
Turn your swirling ideas into a cohesive & simple content plan, saving you hours every week – no matter which platforms or socials you use.

Jenn Nash, Brand and Squarespace Designer

Website Design Audit Checklist
A checklist to assess your current website design and ensure that you are providing a consistent brand experience for your customers that is easy for them to navigate and take action.

Kristin Lawton, Brand and Marketing Expert, Owner of District Brand Bar

Discover Your Signature Brand Marketing Style
Take the quiz to unlock your unique cocktail style and get tailored tips that will allow you to market your brand according to your personality in a natural and effortless way!

Liz Watson, Brand Strategist & Designer

BrandING vs. Brand – What’s the difference?
Print this infographic and never be confused about “brand” again!

Sunny Logsdon, Marketing Strategy and Hiring Specialist

The Ultimate Checklist For Hiring Your Perfect Marketer (and the #1 mistake most business owners make)
I’ve interviewed hundreds of marketing candidates over the last two decades. Download the checklist I created as a result.

Talking Shrimp freebies — because I’d be crazy not to include my own

Story Goldmine
63 Surprising Places To Mine Your Everyday Life For Stories.

Get my idea bank of binge-worthy stories for your newsletter & marketing emails.
Includes bonus guide How to tie your stories to a point or Call to Action.

5 Secrets to Non-Sucky Copy
Learn to write compelling, powerful copy that hits home and makes bank.

Non-Sucky Subject Lines
For emails that always get opened: my 33 most-opened (highest open rate) subject lines, with templates to make your own.

The Tough Titties Book Bonuses! (Till JUNE 13TH)
Bonuses for preorders starting at 1 hardcover copy:

• The Intro Chapter (Instant download)
• Story Goldmine Live! (new storytelling workshop)
• UNPUTDOWNABLE (new writing course)
• Replay of my Behind The Titties call revealing my whole “book journey” (Instant download)
• Tough Titties swag (limited suppply)
• Personal copy or business feedback from me…and more!

Pretty great group, right? These movers and shakers are all current members of Linda Sidhu’s MixerMind crew.
The MixerMind is for ambitious entrepreneurs who want to gather, connect, and collaborate from the comfort of their couches. You’ll experience the transformative power of being in the *right* room and watch in awe as your vision board aspirations come to life before your eyes, and embrace the opportunity to shine like never before. Join the waitlist now and be prepared to open the door to a world of limitless possibilities.”

If you want to be one of them next time, hop on this waitlist.

So? What did you snap up? Got praise? Tell me in the comments.

The post Tough Titties Freebie Fest! A Special Edition 2023 roundup of must-have opt-in freebies from Mixermind superstars appeared first on Talking Shrimp.