10.5 Things I Learned from My Inbox Today

by Angus Fraser · August 14, 2023

The challenge: Learning 10 things from my inbox in one day that are worth sharing with you. Here’s what I found…

1: Test before sending or look like an idiot. I received an email from [PRODUCT NAME] that read, “You are receiving this email because you purchased ___ with the email ___ and opted to receive updates and alerts.”

They don’t know the name of the supposed product I purchased, and they didn’t even bother to fill in my email address which they clearly have.

I didn’t read any further than that first horrible sentence. And from now on I will be testing all of my emails prior to sending.

2: I’m stealing these two words. One subject line that really stands out is, “News Alert: Man to be charged with…” It’s the first two words I’m stealing, and I’ll only use it when I have truly breaking news for my list. Which brings up another good point – are you giving your list the latest news in your niche? It’s a great way to become known as a trusted authority.

3: There’s a new toy to make videos. Entrepreneur.com is offering an AI-powered Autofly Camera Drone that tracks your motion. Next time you make an explainer video while walking, biking, running or rowing, you could have this drone create your video for you. Not sure how well it works, but I love the idea.

4: Don’t judge so-called ‘info junkies.’ Bob Bly makes a great point that just because some people buy a ton of information products but don’t actually put the information to use, is no reason to disparage them.

So what if many of your customers are armchair readers who enjoy your products but never use them? For them it’s a hobby, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

5: Hiding your actual price in favor of a price $300 higher is dumb dumb dumb. I received an email that’s actually a long form sales letter. No kidding, the entire sales letter is right there in the email, including a chart that compares their $629 air cleaner to other air cleaners.

The chart is big and bold while the print that reveals the $300 discount is buried in the copy. Anyone like me who scrolls to the bottom will see the $629 price but not the $300 discount off of that, making it $329. Dumb.

6: There’s money in print on demand journals. Rachael Rofe is selling a course on how to make money with print on demand journals. The journal cover is personalized with the person’s name, and the inside is mostly blank with maybe some quotes, phrases, prompts or whatever. Essentially, you’re selling personalized blank books. Cool idea.

7: You can write an engaging story about absolutely nothing. Stories are great for capturing the attention of your readers and viewers, but what if you don’t have a story?

I just spent 5 minutes reading the story of how Aussie copywriter Daniel Throssell opened a door, thought he’d hit someone with the door but there was no one there. Seriously. That’s the story. And here’s the strange part: It’s GOOD. If you don’t subscribe to Throssell’s emails, you might want to.

8: PLR is still being sold. With the advent of ChatGPT making it easier to write any amount of fairly good content, you might think that no one is buying PLR anymore, but here’s an offer for a PLR course on… wait for it… ChatGPT.

With ChatGPT someone could start cranking out insane amounts of PLR. In fact, I bet they are. No matter how automated things like ChatGPT become, there will still be plenty of people who don’t want to take the time to think of prompts to enter into ChatGPT, fix the errors, rewrite the confusing parts, edit the whole, add in the personal stuff and so forth.

They just want you to do it for them.

9: Krispy Kreme got a 23% boost in sales thanks in part to doing more digital marketing. If you own an agency and you’re having trouble onboarding a new business, you might bring them some Krispy Kreme donuts and tell them the story of how Krispy Kreme is kicking butt in the donut and cookie markets with online marketing.

No Krispy Kreme where you live? Find a local business that’s used internet marketing to increase sales in a major way, get something with their name on it and take it to your prospect for story time. Here’s the KK story: https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/23806-e-commerce-strengthens-omnichannel-capabilities-at-krispy-kreme

10: Udemy owes me and maybe you $40. This email looked like spam, but lo and behold it seems to be real. Udemy was sued in a class action lawsuit for using fake reference prices to run sales and they’ve agreed to pay $4 per course purchased, maxing out at $40 per person.

Just in case anyone needed this reminder, you cannot run a permanent sale and you cannot use false reference pricing. For example, if you say that you’re giving away a $500 course or selling a $500 course for $20, you need to be able to prove that the course sold or is selling for $500.

Here’s the story: https://www.classcentral.com/report/udemy-settles-class-action/

And here’s where you can file your claim: https://pricepromotionsettlementclaims.pnclassaction.com/

10.5: Diego Hernando sent me 86 emails in 17 days. 6 are in my inbox and 80 are in my spam folder. I don’t know Diego, but I’ve got to wonder if he’s okay. Maybe he’s secretly been kidnapped, and his only form of communication is to send out offers via email.

Diego, blink twice if you need help.