Short Copy, Big Profits

There’s a lot of money to be made in copywriting, but projects can sometimes be challenging. You may have to write thousands of words for a sales page to get the right results. Of course, that’s good business if you get the right fee, but it’s nice to have other options, too.

So what if you could also get paid top dollar for writing surprisingly short pieces of content? Imagine getting paid $100-$200 for a piece that’s just a few paragraphs long and takes less than an hour to write. And then doing that again and again. It’s easy to see how you could make a six-figure income that way, without working too hard. 

If that prospect sounds interesting, you should take a close look at email marketing. This is an area of copywriting that doesn’t get a lot of attention. Yet those who are ‘in the know’ are crushing it in this specialized niche.  

What is Email Marketing?

Email marketing is the secret profit engine to the most successful online businesses. Savvy marketers make every effort to collect email addresses from prospective customers. For example, they may offer a ‘lead magnet’ such as a free report in exchange for an email address. 

Over time, these marketers may be able to grow a substantial mailing list of email addresses. This can easily run into tens of thousands of names—perhaps even hundreds of thousands. 

This is perhaps the most valuable asset the business has. Because the company can then contact the people on the list by email, making them special offers or presenting exclusive deals.

All it takes is just a few clicks to send the same email to everyone on the list. And that one mailing may produce hundreds of sales. Better still, the company can mail this list over and over again, without incurring any extra advertising expenses. That makes it a no-brainer option. In fact, research shows that email marketing gives a far better return on investment than any other promotional strategy.

Email Copywriting

Most business owners, though, have no idea how to leverage their mailing list. They don’t have the special skills to write emails that get results. 

That’s where email copywriters come in. These are writers with the specialist skills and knowledge needed to generate sales from email. They can multiply the number of sales each email broadcast generates. And that can mean the difference between making zero sales and making 100 sales.

Clearly, this makes good email copywriters a valuable commodity. Business owners will fight to get the best email copywriters working for them, understanding the value they can bring to a business. 

This makes email copywriting a very attractive opportunity. The needed skills are a cinch to learn, but they will take you a long way. 

Email Money Magic

Email marketing pays well because it has such an impact on the profitability of a business. Better still, the results can happen fast. A good email can generate a ton of sales within a few hours. It’s perhaps the easiest way to boost profits.

However, the number of good email copywriters available is relatively small. There aren’t enough to go around, which causes prices to go up. Even as a relative newbie, you can expect to make decent money. When you have a proven track record, the sky’s the limit. 

How does $300,000 a year sound to you? Would that cover your bills? That’s what email copywriter Troy Ericson makes per year. 

And he’s not the only one. Copywriting guru Justin Goff says:

Yes, that is damn impressive! And this kind of money is well within your reach. Of course, you will make less as a beginner. But you will also have the chance to work your way through the ranks until you reach the big time. 

Here’s the kind of money you can make in the email marketing niche:

At the upper end of the scale, you can take this as far as you want to go. If you add on extra services such as email list management, clients will be lining up to partner with you. There are so many possibilities!

Getting the Click

If you want to get paid $200 plus for writing a short email message, you clearly need to be an email copywriting pro. Being mediocre won’t cut it. You need to level up and be at the top of your game. 

Luckily, that’s not too hard to do. Follow the strategies below, and you will be well on your way to becoming a top-earning writer:

Write a Compelling Subject Line

The subject line is the gatekeeper in the world of email marketing. Write a good one, and you’ll see a satisfying open rate. Write a poor one, and you’ll suffer the sound of crickets in the background of your campaign. 

While there are dozens of great ways to write a compelling subject line, the best ones all have a few things in common: They revolve around grabbing a reader’s interest and keeping it. With this in mind, follow all of the standard rules that come with writing any great email subject line: 

Personalize Every Email

Personalized email copy—where the recipient is addressed by name— performs better than general email copy. Today’s email software always includes the option to personalize, so be sure to make the most of this feature. 

Everybody loves the sound of their own name, and personalization allows you to leverage that fact. It’s easy to do but can bring you quick wins on every email sent. 

Make Your Emails Easy to Understand

Catchy emails are great, but only if they’re also clear enough to make your audience want to click on them. With this in mind, focus on making your emails clear and descriptive first, catchy second.

This ensures that your audience will understand the purpose of your emails, and that you won’t be going out of your way to develop email campaigns that don’t draw real results.

Keep Your Subject Lines Congruent

Even if your subject line gets attention, it’s all for naught if it doesn’t also align with your body copy. Delivering what you promise is critical in the world of email, and only people who can genuinely do this succeed in the long run.

With this in mind, keep your subject text in tune with your main message. Your job is to send prospects down a ‘slippery slope’ to the sales page. Any friction along the way will cause them to click away.

Keep It Relevant

Relevance is critical for a good email, so be sure to connect the content of your email with something that grounds it as relevant and in-demand. You can tie emails into news and current events or link them to promotions and other company activities.

If readers are puzzled as to why they received the message, you have a problem. So ensure that your emails stay on track and focused on your main message. 

Write in the Second Person

Emails are most effective when written in the second person - ‘you.’ When you reach out and speak directly to your customers, it’s easier for them to relate to the voice and content of your email.

This, in turn, also makes it easier for them to connect with your emails, enhancing the likelihood that they’ll open future emails. The more opens you get, the more sales you will make…so this is a critical factor.

Keep It Short but Sweet

Most people read their emails on devices with small screens, such as their phones. So email marketing is not the place to get wordy. Keep your emails as short and to-the-point as possible. 

The trick is to convey all the important information in just a few paragraphs of text. To do that, you need to keep your writing tight, focusing on the truly important information. 

Keep Your Reader on the Hook

Readers have short attention spans, even for emails. So write emails that hook the reader in, then stay interesting throughout. 

Telling stories is a great way to engage readers. You can also use relevant statistics or surprising facts. Do whatever it takes to keep the reader interested until the end. 

Go for the Click

When sending marketing emails, you are always aiming to generate clicks. Having someone open your email and read it is not enough. They need to be excited enough to click and find out more.

So make sure your email copy has links to the offer you are promoting. Give them a clear call to action to maximize the number of clicks you get. 

Excellent Emails

Now you’re on track to making a six-figure income as an email copywriter. And the more money you make for your clients, the more you will make for yourself, too. So here are some extra tips, tricks, and tactics to help you get the best results. 

Nail the Preview Text

With modern email clients, it’s not just the subject line that sells people on opening your email. It’s also the preview text. That’s the piece of text that tells subscribers more about the content of your email.

Often, this shows part of the first line of the email. That’s fine, as most email copywriters craft this carefully.

But if your preview text shows instructions on how to read the email online or links to your social media profiles, then you’re wasting an opportunity. With email preview text ranging from 35 to 140 characters, this is an aspect of your email you can’t afford to neglect.

DON’T SHOUT!!!

Using all capital letters in emails is considered rude…it’s like shouting at your audience. So avoid all caps and multiple exclamation marks in the subject line and body of the email.  

Being too aggressive can hurt your email open rate. And if enough subscribers report the message, it could also hurt email deliverability or even get your client blacklisted.

Know Your Audience

Getting to know your audience is a great way to boost conversions. The more you understand how they think and feel, the more you can increase engagement.

Use what you know from web and social analytics and customer interactions to build your buyer personas or customer avatars. When you know your customers, it’s easy to write email marketing copy that makes them want to click.

Choose the Right Words

When you look at the best email copy examples, one thing stands out. Word choice is crucial to make reading your email a great experience, and since most emails are short, every word counts.

If you want to stir readers’ imagination, appeal to their emotions, and get them to take action, you should:

Use Psychology

As human beings, our brains are wired to react in predictable ways to certain types of input. That’s why using psychology can help you create more successful, high-converting email marketing copy.

Some of the factors that make readers read and click include:

Borrow Great Ideas

There’s no need to reinvent the wheel—you can benefit from the good work done by other writers.  

You can get inspiration by subscribing to your competitors’ newsletters to see if they’re doing something that gets attention. Add these to your swipe file so you can incorporate them into your own email marketing strategy.

Other places to find good ideas are sites like Quora, Reddit, or Answer the Public, where you can check out the topics people are talking about or searching for. Use these as inspiration to craft emails that address key issues.

Monthly Recurring Income

Email copywriting is a specialized skill, but one that’s not hard to learn. Once you’ve mastered it, you will have an income stream for life.

Better still, you can make recurring monthly income. Whereas a client may only need a sales page once, fresh email content is required week in, week out. That means you have the chance to pick up retainer clients who may pay you like clockwork for years.

So if you are looking for a long-term income stream that gives you real financial security, then email copywriting is an excellent choice.