Phase 3: Culmination

There are 2-3 weeks left in your 6 month program. Everyone can feel that things are drawing to a close. People are sharing their wins left and right.

And either silently or out loud, they’re wondering: “What’s next?”

What IS next?

Nothing?

They all just hang out in your program’s free FB group for years?

How about this instead:

With The Post-Sale Profit System in place, an automated email goes out asking your participants for their final feedback on your program. 

Based on those responses, you have a system in place to:

Upgrade interested participants into some kind of Continuity Offer (essentially a place they can continue to get some access to you at a smaller price, but ongoing forever and ever)

Ask satisfied clients to complete an exit interview, giving you even more valuable insight into their experience AND providing a video testimonial to convert new leads, and

Give your people one more opportunity to access a limited-time-offer perk or incentive by referring your program to their people (Got an official affiliate program? Plan an onboarding event for new affiliates here.)

As a result, where you previously “just” delivered an amazing, best-in-class program that got your students incredible results…

Now you’re delivering that amazing, best-in-class program that gets your students incredible results, while, at the same time, The Post-Sale Profit System helps you:

• Increase CLV through participants’ additional purchases

• Increased retention by proactively inviting people to upgrade into a higher-level offer and/or inviting them into your Continuity Offer

• Generated a TON of Voice of Customer data that helps you understand why your people buy so you can attract more action takers in your top-of-funnel marketing

• Acquire high-quality leads for free (!!) through the power of organic referrals, and

• Improve client success and completion rates, ultimately providing more social proof and increasing the goodwill of your clients, whether they continue working with you or not

You might be re-skimming everything you just read, wondering how that can all actually be automated, or whether it would work for your offers or brand, but here’s the thing—

The strategies The Post-Sale Profit System is built on – increasing CLV, improving client retention and harnessing the power of referrals – have all been proven, over decades, to be more effective and more profitable than pretty much anything else.

As a done-for-you service provider, I’ve personally generated over $200,000 from repeat clients and referrals.

And as a conversion copywriter and backend sales strategist, it’s MY job to make this system work for you.

So with the utmost respect for everything you’ve built and created—

If you’re asking:

“Why should we make this a priority?” right now…

You’re asking the wrong question.

You should be asking:

“How soon can we get this in place, so we can start seeing a bigger return on all the work we’re already doing?”

My answer?

That depends. The turnaround time is about 6 weeks, but we only take 1-2 clients at a time.

Reserve your slot now by booking a 15-minute Fit Check Call today.

Want to learn more before we chat?

Check out our free, on-demand workshop:

Profit without Pressure: How to sustainably add 5-6 figures to your bottom line with no new ads, offers or launches

In this pre-recorded workshop (you can watch at 2x speed or share with your team), I’ll walk you through the 9 Profit Levers waiting to be pulled inside your business’ backend.

You’ll walk away knowing exactly how you can generate 5-6 figures of additional revenue from your existing clients, every quarter—and keep that number growing

Keep hearing the words “backend offer” and “backend sales”, but not sure what that actually looks like in your online coaching business?

This post breaks down the concept of backend sales automations for coaches, and shares 5 things you need to know about selling to the clients you already have.

Before we dive in, let me be real—it used to be, if someone started talking to me with the word “backend”, my eyes would glaze over as my mind went back to the traumatic experience of trying to write the code for my own WordPress site back in 2015.

You too?

It’s not surprising.

Focusing on the front-end of your business – your branding, your IG grid, your content and immediate sales probably gets you buzzing. 

It’s colourful.

It’s sexy.

It’s dopamine-fuelled fun that can result in brain-pleasing “likes” and the rush of making sales.

Being in your business’ backend, on the other hand, can feel confusing and overwhelming. 

“Err, better not mess around in there,” you might think. “The people have already paid. Let’s just leave them alone and let them do their thing.”

Now, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with you if you LOVE seeing your inbox flooded with DMs, the satisfaction that comes from seeing your offer laid out in all its splendor on a long-form sales page, or the life-sustaining lift you get from sales made during launches…

Your business does need those front-end sales to survive.

But I bet you’d feel a bit differently about the backend of your coaching business IF you were clear on how your online coaching company could be generating an additional 5-6 figures in revenue EACH QUARTER with a backend sales system (like this one) in place.

You might even start to wonder if you can afford NOT to focus on backend sales.

Because if there’s one thing that tends to get a 7-figure business owner’s attention?

It’s the prospect of low-lift, long-tail revenue that doesn’t require you to keep dumping money into Facebook ads or ask you to stuff another launch into your already overstuffed year.

But first, what even is a “backend sales automation”?

Let’s break it down:

Backend = Not something the general public can see. Exclusive to your existing clients. Only visible to those who’ve already purchased your signature offer.

Sales = With the goal of selling an additional product or service, whether immediately or down the line.

Automation = Sent automatically, without requiring action from anyone on your team. Triggered by your recipient’s action (or lack thereof).

Put it all together:

Backend Sales Automations are flows, typically delivered via email (sometimes augmented by SMS & other channels), sent to your existing customers at specific points in their customer journey, with the aim of offering them additional support in the form of a complementary product or service.

These sales sequences are only seen by your existing customers. Hence, “backend”.

While they may accomplish other goals in the meantime, they have the ultimate goal of increasing customer retention and lifetime customer value.

And they are typically triggered by the recipient’s behaviour, e.g. immediately after they sign up for your program, complete a specific module or mark a particular achievement as “Complete”.

One simple example of a backends sales automation is offering a post-purchase upsell:

Let’s say someone signs up for your signature program, a $2500 6-week program, at which point they are presented with the option to add a 60-minute 1:1 coaching call to their order for $500. 

If that person adds the upsell to their order, they’re tagged as having purchased the upsell and their onboarding continues as usual.

If they don’t add the upsell, they can be tagged accordingly as well, then added to an augmented onboarding sequence that either gives them another opportunity to purchase the aforementioned upsell, presents them with an alternative offer, or both.

The post-purchase upsell is a relatively well-known example of a backend sales automation, but did you know there are actually 9 Profit Levers you can pull in your signature offer’s backend to help you improve customer retention and increase lifetime customer value?

I walk you through each of them in more detail – with examples and stats to back ’em up – in my on-demand workshop, Profit without Pressure: How to sustainably add 5-6 figures to your bottom line with no new ads, offers or launches. Click here to watch it now.

What are the benefits of having backend sales automations in place?

Whether you’re:

• The CEO of a 7-figure company, hoping you might be able to take some of the pressure of selling live off your back,

• A Director of Operations who’s heard murmurs about the potential of backend sales, or

• A CMO (Fractional or not) looking for ways to increase your ROAS in the face of ever-increasing CACs

I know there are a ton of potential projects competing for your team’s attention and your time.

So why should implementing backend sales automations be a priority?

Because simply delivering what you promised isn’t necessarily enough to keep your clients happy, engaged and shouting how much they love you from the rooftops—or continuing to think about investing in your work. 

But when you have backend sales automations in place, like the ones we build out for you inside The Post-Sale Profit System, you can:

• Keep your clients engaged for the duration of your signature program, meaning they are more likely to see the results you promised

• Connect your people with the support they need, when they need it, again helping them see results while you make an easy sale

• Encourage your clients to share program feedback as they go, providing you with more social proof and ideas for how to optimize your offer

• Seed your next offering within the current one, so that people know what their next step is after completing your signature offer

• Invite your star students to become brand ambassadors, sending more people like them your way << A no-cost, yet highly effective way of making more sales of your signature program

What kind of impact will backend automations have on your business?

You can sneak a peek at what your numbers might look like using this tool, but in general, I love to quote the following stats:

•  According to a Bain and Company study conducted with faculty from the Harvard Business School, a 5% increase in customer retention produces 25% to as much as 95% increase in profit. (Bain & Company)

• Another study by Gartner Group found 80 percent of future revenue will come from just 20 percent of your existing customers. (Paylode)

• That’s because: “Retained customers buy more often and spend more than newer customers.” (Bain & Company)

Ok, let’s say you’re bought into the idea that the backend sales automations within The Post-Sale Profit System will help you add 5-6 figures to your bottom line with no new ads, offers or launches.

What kind of tech does it take to get a backend sales automation up and running?

My answer might surprise you because you likely won’t need to add anything to your tech stack, other than a survey tool like Typeform, if you’re not using one already.

The automations within The Post-Sale Profit System are triggered by your clients’ actions, whether that’s:

• Completing a specific module

• Sharing a specific win

• Reaching a defined program milestone

• Reaching a specific point in your program (e.g. the halfway mark), or

• Demonstrating a certain level of engagement

Depending on the team you have in place and the scale of your signature program, your clients can be automatically or manually tagged (or both).

Upon being tagged or added to a specific segment, clients are added to the relevant automation within your email marketing platform.

Tagging and segmentation is accomplished within the same platform.

Clients are tagged or segmented based on their answers to simple surveys, feedback forms and clicks within segmentation emails.

Examples of Post-Sale Profit Sequences in the Wild:

When my client Sue Crites reached out to me back in 2022, she had a thriving membership community and over a dozen digital products, but she wasn’t actively marketing those offers anywhere.

In the context of our work together, one of the sequences I created for Sue was a new welcome sequence, with the ultimate goal of getting new subscribers to sign up for her membership, Energy in Motion.

 What that sequence also does, however, is mention another one of Sue’s offers, Morning Mojo. When I interviewed Sue about her results, she mentioned that in the first 6 months after her new funnels went live, she had made more sales of that product than in the previous 4 years combined!

Check out the full case study of the work I did for Sue right here:

Within just 3 emails, Sue’s subscribers are given clear next steps on how to get the most out of the short training they’ve just purchased, asked for insight into what led them to sign up, and invited to get more of Sue’s unique style of teaching by signing up for her membership community.

Check out how this subscriber went from downloading her lead magnet to purchasing her mini-offer to joining her community in just one day:

First they downloaded her freebie.
Then they purchased the mini-offer.
Then they joined the community.

All via automated emails!

There’s also this subscriber, who was on Sue’s list, bought the mini-offer, and then immediately upgraded to the membership from one of the onboarding emails:

This work I did for Sue was one of my very first forays into the power of Post-Sale Profit Sequences.

And it was in seeing results like Sue’s that I started thinking about the potential impact this kind of automation could have if it was implemented in a business that focused on higher ticket sales…

I’ve always been someone who loves seeing $$$ numbers, so I initially put together this ROI Calculator Tool for myself, to see what that impact might look like.

The results?

That’s when I decided to make The Post-Sale Profit System my signature offer.

And The Post-Sale Profit Studio was born.

How can you get started with backend sales automations today?

If you’re a 7-figure coach looking for an expert team to create a bespoke strategy for your backend system, write the emails that will make you sales and implement the whole thing in your business’ backend, your best next step is to book a Fit Check Call with my team today. 

On this quick, 15-minute call, we’ll make sure that your business & offer suite are well-suited to The Post-Sale Profit System before inviting you to a longer Strategy Review call, where we hammer out the details of what your PSP System will look like.

Hoping – for now – to get something in place for yourself?

Check out my free, on-demand workshop, Profit without Pressure: How to add 5-6 figures to your bottom line with no new ads, offers or launches:

In it, I walk you through the 9 Profit Levers you can pull in your signature offer’s backend.

It should give you some great ideas for where to start.

If you have any questions about the above – or the workshop – I’d absolutely love to hear them.

Comment below or send an email at katie@postsaleprofitstudio.com

“The fact that I chose to work with you is one of the best decisions I feel that I’ve made”

It wasn’t even a question I’d asked…

But when I sat down with my client, ​Sue Crites​, to interview her about the work we did together, she dove right into how she feels about her business now:

“You just did such a good job of being so thorough, on really getting to understand me, my business, and the way I work, and communicating that in a unique way that really reflected that,” said Sue.

“So there’s that—but there’s also this feeling, like, I can’t even explain the contentment that I feel knowing that I have this nurture sequence working for me.

It used to bother me way more than I knew, this weighing that “oh my gosh, I have no plan here.” […] And now I get so many replies. It’s really nice. I love it. I really love it. I’m just so happy that I did this.”

Here’s the thing you need to know if you, too, want a strategic nurture sequence selling for you 24/7—

The work I did for Sue wasn’t complicated.

Offer optimization and adding automated sales sequences? Nothing crazy.

But yeah, it was thorough AF.

Since Sue and I started working together, I have:

• Written a new sales page for Sue’s Spring Forest Qigong membership, ​Energy in Motion​

• Updated all of her freebies and landing pages so they are optimized to convert visitors into subscribers

• Crafted a new nurture sequence that sells new subscribers on her membership—sometimes even from Email #1!

This subscriber joined Sue’s membership from the very 1st email in her welcome sequence

• Written new web copy for ​Sue’s Home, About and Work with Me pages​, in addition to helping her refine the user experience of her website

• Crafted a new onboarding sequence for her membership to increase engagement and decrease churn

And as a result?

• In the first 6 months after her new funnels went online, Sue made more sales of Morning Mojo (her $39 Intro Offer) than in the previous 4 years combined

• Sue’s welcome sequence for new subscribers has an average open rate of 77.5% and an average click rate of 11.9% and gives her immense peace of mind because she knows new audience members will automatically get the information they need to make a confident buying decision

• Sue is no longer actively answering Qs in the DMs because all of the information people need to buy is included on the sales page or in her nurture sequence: “It’s like a staff member doing sales for you all the time”

​Listen to the full interview where Sue shares more wins & feedback about the experience of working with me:

I’ve had a lot of calls with business owners lately who are telling me the messaging they’ve got is just not working.

They are changing up their marketing and trying new strategies…

But without core messaging that clearly communicates the unique value they bring to their audience…

Even Hormozi-approved viral marketing techniques can’t help them convert the traffic they generate into sales of their signature offers.

This is where I come in.

Download the case study below to read the full details of how I helped Sue solve this problem:

For every client I work with, my first step is to get deeply acquainted with your audience, your offers, and the unique gifts you bring to the world.

My second step is to create a strategic vision for how we’re going to attract more Solid Gold Clients into your world

And my third step is to craft the copy assets you require to bring that vision to life…

…whether that’s a new ​sales page​ for your signature offer, new ​web copy ​that speaks to what really makes you magic, or a new ​lead magnet + nurture sequence ​for subscribers – so that you can put your ManyChat subscription to work!. (Psst—click through any of those links for more examples of my work!)

Sue’s remarks in ​this video​ – and the tangible results documented in the ​Case Study​ I share above – prove that the benefits of compelling core messaging are compounded when you have strategic sales assets in place (like a welcome sequence that can sell your offer for you… while you’re blissfully offline!).

If you’re interested in working together within the next 3 months on your web copy, sales page, or automated email sequences, now is the time to ​book a call​.

Now is the perfect time for us to kick things off so that you can kick back and relax while I craft your jaw-dropping, wallet-opening, “I don’t usually read online, but this is too good to skim” sales copy—so that you’re set up for success come Fall.

Talk soon,

Katie

P.S.

One of my favourite parts of this ​Case Study​ is the screenshots of remarks from Sue’s community members complimenting her on her new sales page:

“Your share about your journey is beautifully genuine, and the invitation to join both you and the beautiful community that has grown from your vision is nothing less than magical. Well done.”

Want copy that feels like a magical invitation to work with you?

Let’s talk about how I can make that happen.

I’d love to ​chat face to face on Zoom​, or ​connect in the DMs​.

xo KP

When it comes to writing your weekly email newsletter as a busy online entrepreneur, the following story can feel all too familiar:

You have an intensely busy week, and somehow, sending that email to your list gets bumped.

The next week it completely slips your mind again…

And the week after that you tell yourself,”What’s another 7 days? I’ll let Future Me figure out it out. “

We’ve all been there, right?

It’s been an intense few weeks over here, and, from my social scrolling, I get the feeling it’s been the same for a lot of people.

So just in case you’ve missed out on emailing your list for a couple of weeks…

I thought I’d make myself useful and give you a few tips for getting back in touch with your email list after time away:

1. Don’t make a big deal about the fact that you didn’t write

People are busy, their inboxes are full, and it’s likely they didn’t even notice you were gone.

Rather than boring them with self-flagellation, briefly acknowledge your absence – or don’t! – and then get back to the content they signed up for.

2. Stay focused on the value you have to offer

When you haven’t been writing regularly, it can be easy to start thinking, “I don’t even know what to say” or “It has to be really good after all this time”.

Thing is—nothing about your relationship with your subscribers has actually changed:

They signed up to read what you have to say about your specific niche.

All you need to do is re-focus on the value you can offer them, and let the words flow from there.

3. Keep the spotlight on them

I learned this tip from Marie Forleo back in the day, but it’s a good one:

Think of your copy like a spotlight. It can only be on one person at a time.

And at least 90% of the time?

It should be on your reader.

This applies to any copy you write, but it’s an especially good reminder for those times when you might be tempted to spend more time telling people what’s been going on in your life than you do solving their problems, allaying their fears, or guiding them towards their dreams.

4. Be prepared for more unsubscribes than usual

When you stop emailing regularly and then suddenly pop back up, it’s not unusual for people to decide they were doing just fine without you.

As always with unsubscribes: Don’t take it personally!

Your list is better off for being composed of people who want to hear from you.

Finally, based on the point above…

5. Remember: The people on your list want to hear from you.

You’re not being annoying by emailing them.

You’re not being sales-y by selling to them.

You’re not cluttering up their inboxes by sending them emails they specifically signed up to receive!

^^ When you can remind yourself of these facts regularly, not only is it easier to get back into the groove of sending out your newsletter…

You’re less likely to let lapses happen in the first place.

Talk soon,

Katie

P.S.

If you’d love a strategic source of inspiration for what to write in your weekly email, check out my on-demand workshop, check out this comprehensive email marketing strategy & planning workshop:

Let’s say you’re writing a welcome sequence, an evergreen webinar funnel, an abandoned cart sequence or an onboarding sequence (just to pull a few random examples out of thin air)…

Like any writing task tackled by a human, not a robot, half (if not more) of your success is based on what you do before you start.

Like Abraham Lincoln sharpening his axe before cutting down a tree…

Spending time asking yourself and answering the following questions will help you get the best possible results when the time comes for you to chop down your tree crack open Kit and get your emails written.

As a conversion copywriter and sales funnel strategist, Immersive Copy Research is always Step 1 in my process.

So by the time I sit down to ask myself these questions, I’m already deeply familiar with my readers, their problems, and their burning desires.

Still, I like to review this list for every email in a sequence because each email you send has the potential to shift your reader’s awareness of you and what you offer.

Answering these 7 questions doesn’t require you write anything down.

Your awareness of your reader’s thought process & state of mind is the #1 thing we’re cultivating here.

Ready to dive in?

Here we go:

1. Who is this email for?

In my mind, this question covers 2 things you need to know:

→ What the person in question knows about you/your business to date

For example, are you writing to:

• A subscriber – someone who knows you well?

• A customer – someone who’s paid you money to deliver a certain outcome? Or

• A lead – someone who clicked a link or signed up for a waitlist?

AND

Based on what you know about whichever segment of your audience the recipients belong to:

→ What does this person think / feel / want / need in relation to your offer at the present time?

^^ This is a question I ask myself before I sit down to write ANYTHING at all. You want to answer these questions as if you’re writing to your Solid Gold Client AKA the one person who is most willing and able to achieve picture perfect results if they take you up on your offer.

2. Where is this person coming from?

Similar to the previous question, this one ensures you’re taking into account the context in which your message is going to be received.

For example, has your recipient just:

1. • Had their first cup of coffee and opened a very full inbox? (Likely scenario for your newsletter subscribers)

   • Signed up for your webinar?

   • Downloaded a freebie?

   • Signed up for your waitlist?

   • Joined your high-ticket program? (And now they’re feeling a queasy mix of elated, excited and scared they’re going to lose everything and have to move back in with their mom?)

Regardless of the answer, your aim here is to put yourself  in the headspace of your reader so that you can adjust your hook and tone accordingly and meet them where they are in the opening paragraph of your email.

3. What’s the last message they received from me?

In the same way you want to use message matching to reduce friction / cognitive dissonance in your sales funnels, you always want to consider the last message someone received from you before you draft your next one.

Message Matching – Definition: Using the exact same words on the next page as you did on the previous page so that your reader doesn’t experience any friction as a result of surprise, confusion or doubt as to the credibility of your offer. E.g. The freebie you’re advertising in your ad copy should have the exact same name and promise as the freebie you’re promoting on your landing page and the one that lands in your new subscriber’s inbox.

This is important to help you create a clear and enjoyable user experience and to avoid compromising your brand integrity by, e.g. failing to fulfill promises or creating disjointed messaging where you’ve said one thing in one place and something totally different in another.

>> Whenever I sit down to write my weekly broadcast, I start by re-reading the previous one.

>> Whenever I sit down to write a funnel, I make sure I have a clear understanding of what that audience segment will have seen from me beforehand.

>> Whenver I’m writing an onboarding/delivery sequence, I make EXTRA sure that my From: name is the name they’ve seen from me in the past, that the product is named consistently everywhere, and that the design elements also feel familiar so that people don’t feel like they’ve fallen down the wrong rabbit hole after they clicked on “Pay Now”.

You may also want to consider what your reader has seen from you before more broadly:

For example, I recently began drafting a Case Study funnel for warm Done-for-You Copy Project Leads. This funnel will offer a PDF Case Study as a lead magnet and then subscribers will be entered into a short sequence in which they’ll be invited to book a call with me to discuss a done-for-you copy project.

If the person who downloads this PDF was previously on my email list, I can exclude them from receiving a couple of the emails that new subscribers will receive, that focus on introducing me and what I do.

Likewise, if you’re systematizing referral requests towards the middle or end of your program, you might want to filter subscribers by the feedback score they provided the last time you checked in.

4. What are they likely thinking as they’re reading this message?

For example, when you write a Black Friday sales email, your reader is likely thinking: What’s the deal?

When you write Email #7 out of 10 in an evergreen funnel, your reader is likely on the fence, wondering whether your offer is really right for them.

The answer to this question is informed by the answers to Questions 1-3 above.

Because just like IRL, the mood that we’re in for any given conversation is based upon:

• Who we are as individuals

• What we were previously thinking/feeling/needing/wanting before the other person started talking

• Whatever we were doing/seeing/engaging with immediately prior to the conversation starting, and

• Our last contact with / relationship to our conversational counterpart

By being aware of the previous factors and by using our own inherent writing superpower – empathy! – we can do our best to understand what’s going on in our reader’s head.

Not only will this help you understand what your message needs to say, it will also help you decide which proven copy framework is best suited to what you have to say.

E.g. If your reader is likely frustrated by the banks’ decision to keep interest rates so high, you might want to lead with their problem, and follow P-A-S.

On the other hand, if you’re writing a Cold Subscriber Re-engagement sequence, for example, you might want to lead with an especially interesting, curiosity-creating fact, and follow A-I-D-A.

5. What resistance might they feel around what I’m asking them to do?

Whereas the previous questions addressed things I want to know about my reader before I sit down to write…

This question helps me determine how much of an argument I need to make for the action I’m asking them to take (AKA my CTA and yes—every email should have one).

The answer to this question will likely be based on:

• How big an ask am I making?
  A link click to aid in segmentation is a much easier sell than a webinar, which is in turn an easier sell than a 4-figure DIY course.

• How many other emails have they received / will they receive with the same ask?
  If your reader is within an evergreen funnel, you don’t have to cover every possible argument in each email.

• What are the unknowns?
  Beyond just their experience with you, what other experiences might be colouring how they perceive the step you’re asking them to take?
  For example, you might think “Click to book a free discover call” is an easy sell—you’re offering them free coaching, so what’s not to like?

  But if your reader has been burned by high-pressure sales situations before, they’re unlikely to see that as a particularly appealing offer unless you can assure them in your invitation that they’ll take something away from the call whether or not they buy and that you’ll respect their decision either way.

6. What’s the #1 thing I want them to take away from this message?

Answer this question.

And then make this your P.S.

Too often, business owners treat the P.S. like the TL;DR of the body of their email.

The problem with this is:

You risk training your readers to skip to the end of your emails, since they know they’ll get the gist of it there regardless.

If your reader didn’t need to read the whole email, why’d you write it?

Can you go back and make it more relevant or more concise?

Instead of summarizing your whole email, use your PS to restate the #1 most important point you make and your CTA.

This way, people who skip to the end will still get the point, and people who do read your whole message will benefit from the repetition of your POV, expressed in a different way.

7. What hook will get this email opened?

(Plus a Bonus Q: What preview text will make it a Must Read?)

Finally, once you’ve gotten into your readers’ head, crafted the body of your email based on a proven copywriting framework and included a clear Call to Action, plus added a P.S. restating your #1 takeaway…

It’s time to write your subject line and accompanying Preview text.

Think of your subject line as the headline to your email (and consider using headline generator tools to give you a few ideas):

“Research shows around 41 characters is the optimal length for a subject line” [Campaign Monitor]

Customizing the preview text that appears under your subject line is a major opportunity even advanced marketers miss when it comes to giving your emails a better chance of being opened. 

Strong preview text can either provide additional context for your email or create an open loop that can only be closed by seeing what’s inside. 

You can use an email rendering tool to test what your email will look like in a variety of different inboxes, though I typically just send a preview version to myself and check it on my phone.

So you answered those 7 questions—Now what?

As I mentioned above, Step 1 in my process is always Immersion, Step 2 is Creation, and Step 3 is Refinement:

Once you’ve drafted your email sequence, your best next step is to publish that baby and let it do its thing.

Refinement – the step where you look at the data and work out potential tweaks you could make to improve it – is best practiced after 3 months or at least 100 people have been through the entire funnel.

Interested in how you can add 5-6 figures in revenue with automated emails sent exclusively to your existing customers?

Watch my free, on-demand workshop, The Profit Audit, now.

In this 30-minute workshop, I walk you through:

How to turn your existing buyers into repeat customers—without ever feeling salesy or pushy

The biggest mistake most high-earning coaches make when it comes to backend sales (and how to fix it fast)

A framework you can use right now to spot hidden profit opportunities in your business—so you’re no longer leaving money on the table every time you make a sale

As the founder of The Post-Sale Profit Studio—the only boutique marketing agency focused exclusively on backend sales—I help high-level coaches turn backend sales into a sustainable source of easy money—without lifting a finger. 

Curious about what that would look like for your business?

The Profit Audit workshop is your best next step.

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Last week I sent an email professing ​my love of email marketing​ (and dislike for Flodesk as a platform).

In it, I talked about the fact that email marketing is STILL reported to have a $3600 return on investment—meaning that for every $1 you spend on email marketing, you should be making $36.

Now, if you’re rolling your eyes after reading that, because even though you regularly email your subscribers, you don’t feel like you’re seeing that kind of $$$ return…

Below, I’m going to outline 5 of the main reasons I’ve seen business owners sabotage their ability to make sales via email… and how you can update your email marketing strategy to get a slice of that 3600% ROI.

1) You’re sending How To content

If you’re speaking to a reader that wants to know how to do something on their own… and that’s what your content helps them do…

You’re going to struggle to get those people to pay you for a solution.

Instead (and this applies everywhere), you want to be helping people see you as an expert and giving them the information they need to make smart decisions.

This doesn’t mean you don’t give value, it just means that you provide your reader with the same tips you’d give someone who’s working with you—not the ones they’d need to maintain their status quo.

2) You’re not giving people a $$$-producing CTA

No, I’m not suggesting you’re always going to be asking for a sale, specifically. But if you’re not asking people to take an action that might lead to a sale down the line…

You’re going to have a tough time generating any kind of ROI (though increased brand awareness and being top of mind do have positive benefits of their own).

ROI-focused Calls to Action in an email might look like:

“Hit reply and let me know!”

“Book a free, no-pressure Alignment Call right here”

“Sign up for this brand new masterclass right here”

“Only 3 spots left – click here to claim yours now”

Not all of these lead directly to the sale, but they all serve to engage your subscriber, get them to put their hand up and show you they’re interested, and take a step closer towards being a paying customer.

(Never sure what to add as a CTA? There’s a CTA Roadmap inside​ Activate Your Email List​ where I share a variety of CTA scripts based on what you’d like your subscribers to do.)

3) You don’t stand out in their inbox

I recently did a major cull of my newsletter subscriptions and the very easiest “unsubscribes” of all were the ones where I couldn’t clearly associate a face with the name or the brand.

The easiest way to make yourself memorable (and therefore harder to delete)?

Get engagement early on and help new subscribers them ​see you as a person, not a brand.​

How? By sending them through a ​Profitable Welcome Sequence​, where you introduce yourself, share a picture of your beautiful smiling face, and *connect* with your subscribers as a fellow human being.

4) Your subscribers don’t understand what you offer—or how it will make their lives better

In the same way you want to introduce yourself to new subscribers from the moment they sign up, you also want them to know you’re a business person with an offer.

This is why I recommend you mention your paid offer at least 3 times within your freebie itself and that you pitch that offer within your welcome sequence.

This doesn’t mean that your welcome sequence feels like a hard sell.

It means you want to be highlighting the benefits of your methodology and the results your clients get…

Then inviting your new subscribers to enjoy those same benefits / results.

5) You’re not tagging, segmenting, or making use of personalized content

We’re all aware of the fact that attention spans are shorter than a 4-second Reel these days.

Your subscribers want content that’s relevant to them and will start to tune out if you regularly deliver content that doesn’t reward them for their click.

Whether you’re sending them:

• Emails on topics they’re not interested in

• Content they’ve already seen on social media, or

• Blocks of text that aren’t easy to read

…once that attention is lost, it’s hard to get it back.

I recommend ​asking your audience to share what’s on their mind​s approximately 4x per year and to regularly make use of clicks to tag and segment your subscribers.

What does this look like in practice?

Here are a few examples:

• Include a segmentation email in your welcome sequence where people put their hands up to tell you which segment of your audience they’re in (My buckets are “course creator”, “coach”, “service provider” and “fellow copywriter who likes to lurk on other people’s lists”)

• Use a quiz as a lead magnet: This allows you to segment subscribers based on their outcome, but you can also layer in different levels of segmentation unrelated to the quiz takers final results.

• Tag actions like a subscriber who clicks to join your waitlist OR clicks to opt out of hearing about a launch. Both are giving you information about what they want to see more/less of. It’s up to you to listen.

Now, in my experience peeking at the backend of a lot of people’s email platforms, many business owners have an overwhelming amount of tags… But they don’t actually use that data to make relevant offers.

The key to turning those tags into dollar-dollar bills?

Use them to make relevant offers!

More on that another day.

Talk soon,

Katie

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the way we use email and social media as individuals…

…and the ways I think we *should* be using email and social media as marketers.

Before you let that “should” turn you off, bear with me, because this email is all about helping you get the biggest ROI from your email marketing efforts…

See, one trend I’m noticing more and more is business owners stylizing their marketing emails to look more and more *aesthetic*:

Banner images, branded fonts, even more images within the email, another one where your signature goes, and then maybe even your Insta feed, plus a few ways to work with you.

In some ways, I get it:

You’re building a brand and your visual brand identity is part of that.

You want to make sure you’re showing up beautifully wherever you engage with your audience online.

On the other hand, part of me does NOT get it at all!

As a conversion copywriter & email marketing expert, my #1 goal is helping personal brands like yours make more sales with email—not just show up and blend in with the other marketing messages your subscribers receive.

And you know my absolute favourite thing about email as a marketing channel?

• It’s NOT the fact that email STILL has a 3600% ROI, even in 2023 (meaning for every $1 you spend on email, you make $36 back)

• It’s NOT the fact your email will typically land in the inboxes of at least 85% of your subscribers (vs reach rates of ~26% for IG posts and 8% for Stories)

• It’s not even the fact that email allows you to automate your follow up & customize your messages based on your subscribers’ real behaviour—even though that one is definitely in my Top 3!

No, my favourite thing about email marketing is this:

Email allows you to show up in your subscriber’s inbox as if you were their friend.

As Email Queen Laura Belgray says, you want to:

“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, something 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.

See, the thing is…

Email is the ONE marketing channel where your messages don’t have to feel like marketing.

Email gives you the opportunity to connect with your subscribers on a human level, through storytelling, by sharing personal details and by writing to one person in each message (e.g. “Hey FIRST NAME’ vs. the “Hey Instagram” or “Hi fam” you might see elsewhere).

That’s why I recommend that you:

Make your “From:” name your name—”FIRST NAME + your last name” (not just your first name as you never know how many other FIRST NAMEs your subscribes know).

Write like you would to someone you know IRL. Because email doesn’t require you to use keywords, stick to content pillars or use “formal corporate” speak, you can and (dare I say it?) should write the way you’d talk to someone you know well.
​
​(Caveat: This recommendation is best used after a solid welcome sequence to help new subscribers get to know you, your voice & your brand.)

…and finally, for the love of all email marketing platforms—except for Flodesk…

Keep your emails LIGHT on the images.

When’s the last time your bestie sent you an email that had a banner image, a mid-message stock photo, a flashy button and a catalogue of services in the footer?

Never?

Yeah.

By making your emails feel like marketing messages, you might be keeping them “on brand”, but you’re missing out on one of the most powerful things about email—

Its intimacy.

The fact that, when done well, email does feel like a 1:1 exchange between you and your recipient.

I had a client tell me she gets multiple replies every week from people who go through her welcome sequence and hit reply to the email where she shares the story of how she started out.

(She forwards me the replies sometimes, which is the kind of feedback that I love)

These kinds of interactions = people feeling like they know you, like you and trust you, which in turn = more sales

Not to mention that, in the last couple days of your launch, email allows you to reach out with something like:

“Hey FIRST NAME,

I saw that you checked out the sales page for Your Signature Promise, but you haven’t signed up yet.

Are there any questions I can answer for you?

Feel free to send me a text at 438-520-5504 if there’s anything you’d like to talk through.

— Katie”

^^ This style of “personal note” email will get you a ton of replies and helps move people off the fence… but only when it looks like it’s coming from a person, not a brand.

“But I am building a brand, Katie, do you want me to email in the 1st person forever?”

I hear you.

And here’s what I’ll say:

If you look at some of the biggest brands in online business, the ones who are really using email marketing to drive millions of dollars in sales…

You’ll notice their text-only emails.

Maaaybe you’ll spot an optimized signature, including an image, button & CTA to book a call or check out a specific piece of content…

But the “catalogue” format is largely ignored by people who are already optimizing for the real power of email marketing:

A text-only email from Denise Duffield-Thomas

A text-only email from Laura Belgray

Why should you care about all this?

Any why is it worth your time to pay attention to what works in email marketing, even if you yourself never read newsletters and/or only skim?

Because just like having a long-form sales page for your signature offer allows you to cater to different buyer types, so that you’re not leaving money on the table…

An effective email strategy allows you to convert the people in your audience who do LOVE reading emails and who LOVE to hear from you.

Because email is where a large segment of your audience will make their buying decisions:

“Email is the third most influential source of information for B2B audiences, behind only colleague recommendations and industry-specific thought leaders. So basically, it’s only behind word-of-mouth,” says digitalstrike.com.

And

“59% of respondents said that marketing emails influence their purchase decisions, while just over 50% buy from marketing emails at least once a month,” says SaleCycle.

If you want to capitalize on the full power of email marketing (not to mention harness the full power of your signature program)…

You want to be making use of all the ways email helps you sell.

And the intimacy that comes from showing up like a friend?

That’s a big one.

Talk soon,

Katie

P.S.

I talk more about how to make the absolute most of your email marketing efforts in my workshop, Activate Your Email List, which gives you week-by-week flows for the types of messages you should be sending, whether you’re in the run-up to your next live launch or the doors to your offers are always open.

So you’re a coach, consultant or course creator who wants to make more money from your email marketing?

Then we’ve got to talk segmentation! (Sorry, not sorry—we’ve really got to go here…)

Did you know that according to the Digital Marketing Association “segmented and targeted emails generate 58% of all revenue [from email marketing] (DMA 2015)”.

“Segmentation” sound techy, but the truth is, what we’re talking about here is not really that much different than labelling the tupperwares in your fridge so you know what’s in them / when that food was made.

It’s a simple, straightforward process, and setting it up within Kit will only take an extra 5 minutes of your time. (Click through here for a guide to how)

What exactly do I mean by “segmentation”?

Tags based on your subscriber’s behaviour. I like to tag people based on:

• The freebie they opted in for (e.g. “[Freebie] Sales Page Framework”)

• Whether or not they’ve clicked to a sales or landing page (e.g. “[Action] Clicked to Sales Page Power Hour LP”)

• Whether or not they’ve been through a funnel (e.g. “[History] Sales Page Framework Welcome Seq DONE”)

• Any links they’ve clicked within an explicitly segmentation focused email (e.g. “Click the link below to tell me which sounds most like you:”)

I’ll leave it to ConvertKit to explain exactly how tagging works.

For the purposes of this post, I’m going to talk about cool ways you can use the tags you’ve applied to your subscribers to help you send more targeted emails that lead to more sales.

1. Tailor newsletters and launch emails to the individual subscriber with conditional formatting

   Say you’re sending a newsletter to your whole list, but the content is particularly relevant / complementary to one of the lead magnets a segment of your audience signed up for.

   If those people are tagged, e.g. “[Freebie] NAME OF FREEBIE”, you can use conditional formatting to add an extra paragraph and/or CTA that only the people who have that tag will see.

   Using the following code, for example, you can include one message for people who have the tag, and one message for people who don’t:

   {% if subscriber.tags contains "Purchased course" %}

   This will show if the subscriber has the "Purchased course" tag.

   {% else %}

   This will show if the subscriber does not have the "Purchased course" tag.

   {% endif %}

   I love using conditional formatting to send a different P.S. to different segments, based on their relationship to the content I’ve shared above.

2. Remind people “This is what you came for” based on tags applied

   As business owners – and humans – we have a lot on our plates, and a lot of different brands competing for our attention at any given time.

   Tagging your subscribers based on why they joined your list, as in the example above, also gives you the opportunity to make specific reference to WHY someone ended up on your list.

   This strategy can come in handy during launches because it allows you to make use of one of Cialdini’s Persuasion Principles: Consistency.

   Now, I know, Cialdini and his Persuasion Principles have been linked to marketing bros—but here’s how this technique serves both your prospects and your biz:

   When people sign up for your email list with a specific goal in mind, you’re making a claim to be able to help them achieve that goal.

   When, at a later date, you remind people of the goal they set out to achieve, you’re able to leverage our human desire for consistency – that is, our desire to act in line with what we’ve said we want – to encourage people to take action again.

   This might look something like:
   
   “Hey {{ subscriber.first_name }},

   Back in the summer, you signed up for my freebie, The “What Hurts?” Sales Page Framework, so I know you care about writing effective, empathetic copy that converts.

   That’s why I wanted to make extra sure you got this invite:
   This Wednesday, I’m hosting a brand new training all about writing a high-converting sales page. I’ll be sharing…”
   

3. Reward VIPs with special access, bonus content and more

   People who take action are people who take action.

   When you know who your action-takers are, you can give them even more opportunities to take action.

   Just last week, I wrote 2 pre-sales emails for a client to send to her waitlist on the eve of her official launch.

   By giving waitlist registrants (tagged as “[Offer name] Waitlist”) the ability to buy before the cart officially opened at a special waitlist price, not only did she get a nice little bump in confidence before hosting her masterclass the next day, those sales also served to validate a new offer and create a sense of momentum for the rest of the launch.

   In the example above, the “bonus content” was paid, but you could use the same approach to give VIPs early access to free training content or exclusive access to a content upgrade that leads to an upsell.

4. Customize the number of launch emails different segments of your audience receive

   It seems to be truer today than ever before: People freaking love to wait till the very last minute to buy!

   That’s why conversion copywriters like me will always recommend you send MINIMUM 3 emails on the day of your cart close.

   I also recommend you send at least 1 email a day during your cart open period (assuming it’s less than 10 days) to cover lots of different angles and keep your offer top of mind.

   Is it effective? Yes.

   Can it be a lot? Also yes.

   That’s why we ALWAYS give people the option to opt out of launch content if they want to, simply by clicking a link:

Subscribers who click the link above are tagged with something like “[OFFER NAME] Promo Opt Out” and excluded from receiving any other emails during that promo period. This ultimately helps you know who’s not interested, cuts down on unsubscribes AND lets your audience members control what/how much they see.

On the other hand, even your warmest leads might be waiting till the last minute to buy.

That’s why I like to send a couple of extra emails on cart close day specifically to audience members who’ve shown signs they want to buy.

This could look like clicking to the sales page, clicking to the launch event replay, clicking to the checkout page or through any other link you’ve given them to get more info on your thing. By sending these emails only to subscribers tagged for the abovementioned behaviours, I can use technique #2 and refer back to the actions they’re tagged for within those extra emails.

This might look like:

Hey {{ subscriber.first_name }},
I noticed you checking out OFFER NAME, but I haven’t seen your name pop up on my list just yet—
Are there any other questions I can answer for you?

Ultimately, by tagging your subscribers and sending them targeted emails and/or more personalized emails, your goal is to give your audience members the most personalized, relevant experience possible.

This benefits you during your launches, by making your marketing messages become more compelling and when you’re not launching, by helping ensure your audience doesn’t start automatically deleting your emails without opening because they’ve stopped caring what you have to say.

Yes, these strategies can be implemented in other email marketing platforms than ConvertKit (ActiveCampaign is my #2 choice) but if you’re choosing to go with anyone else, it’s important to look into what actions you’re able to take based on tags (I’m looking at you, Mailchimp!).

“Segmentation” isn’t scary, techy or hard—but it does have big advantages when it comes to making more sales from your email list.

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If sending your weekly email feels more like a chore than a money-making privilege, check out my comprehensive email marketing strategy & planning workshop:

As an online business owner, building and nurturing your email list is simply a concrete, non-negotiable Must Do.

And if that statement put you off, we’re probably not going to get along. #Sorrynotsorry. 

Now, I’m not going to spend the bulk of this post talking about why email marketing is the most effective channel to cut through the noise and speak directly to your audience—because I already did that here. 

No, today, I want to talk about the thrill that comes with seeing new subscribers sign up for your email list en masse—and the very specific sting that comes with seeing how many potential future clients get stuck in limbo as “Unconfirmed”.

My focus on this topic started a couple of weeks ago, when I clicked to my subscriber overview inside of Kit, and, for the first time, basically ever, I clicked to see my Unconfirmed Subscribers…

Unconfirmed Subscribers: The people who signed up for one of my lead magnets but then didn’t click to confirm their subscriptions from the initial email.

My jaw hit the table when I saw that the number of Unconfirmed Subs was almost HALF the number of total people on my list—especially because, as I scrolled through the names, I noticed so many people I know – well! – people who were clearly interested in what I offer, but STILL didn’t click through that link.

The thing about trying to reduce Unconfirmed Subscribers is that you’re legally not allowed to follow up.

So, while I would *love* to put together a little sequence to give these people a good reason to read my stuff…

The only thing I can do is try to help future new subscribers avoid the same fate.​

1. Adding a message to my Thank You pages that encourages people to go look in their Spam folders if they don’t see my email right away.
   
   In the same way that your new subscribers are most likely to buy shortly after they sign up for your list, your prospective subscribers are most likely to remember to go look for your email if you mention it to them ASAP.

   Making sure you mention that they should look for you in Promotions/Spam right there on your Thank You page is the best way to get them to take action right away.

    

2. Enabling auto-confirm for certain opt-in forms only
   
   While I 100% recommend having double opt-in enabled (that is, requiring people to confirm they want to hear from you after they initially sign up for your list)…

   It’s also the reason you have unconfirmed subscribers in the first place.

   Thing is, certain forms are at a higher risk of spam bots than others.

   So, in the future, if I’m running a limited-time workshop, for example, and want to make sure everyone who signs up actually gets all the details, that’s a form where it would be worthwhile to “Enable auto-confirm”.

   Generally, if a form is on your Home page, or another page linked form your main header navigation, you probably want double opt-in on.

   But if it’s hidden on a product page or only lives in your Insta linktree?

   It could be worth experimenting with enabling auto-confirm.

    

3. Auditing my incentive email subject lines / content
   
   Before sitting down to write this email, I looked more closely at my last 30 unconfirmed subscribers:

   1. Which forms did they sign up through?

   2. What appears on that Thank You page?

   3. What incentive email did they get?

   4. What was the subject line of the incentive email?

   5. Did they open that email?

   Again, because I can’t follow up with people who don’t confirm, all of my actions have to be preemptive.

   This means I need to optimize for getting that initial email opened and getting that “Confirm my Subscription” button clicked.

   From what you learn through this audit, you can go on to update your subject lines (e.g. adding something like [Action required!] or [Freebie inside!]). And, within your incentive email, you can make sure you’re being crystal clear about the fact that people won’t hear from you again until they click that button.

The 3 steps above feel like a good start when it comes to reducing “Unconfirmed Subscribers” and increasing the number of people who actually end up on my list.

With that said, tweaking & optimizing my setup will be an ongoing process, and I’m sure I’ll come across new strategies as I discuss this subject with other pros.

In the meantime, here are 3 things I’m NOT doing to fix this problem:

1. I’m NOT turning off double-opt in completely

   I do still want to make sure that the majority of my subscribers are people who care enough about getting my emails that they were willing to click that button.

2. I’m NOT freaking out about spam words
   
   The myth that certain words will trigger spam filters is widespread, but has generally been debunked.

   Sure, sending multiple emails with “Make money FAST” in the subject line might raise red flags, but the odds of that happening are dramatically higher if you’re engaging in generally spammy practices.

3. I’m NOT giving up on email entirely
   
   What I love about email marketing is the fact that, unlike social media, it can feel like you’re really talking to your people one on one.

   But apart from that added intimacy, email has tons of advantages over other marketing channels. In brief, you can measure your reach, you own your list, and you have the ability to send targeted messages based on what people do.

   The old “make $44 for every $1 spent” stat might not be 100% accurate anymore, but people are still more likely to make high-ticket buying decisions in their inbox.

   So, even though it’s frustrating to see new names added to that Unconfirmed Subscribers column, I’m not going to let it break my stride.

Ultimately, getting more of the people who sign up on your landing pages to actually confirm their emails isn’t going to make or break your success.

But as a marketing pro who’s in the business of optimizing for conversions, this is the kind of puzzle I love to dig into to try and improve.

Ready to keep optimizing the backend of your business?

If you’re reading this, odds are you’re the kind of person who pays attention to the details most people ignore.

And while reducing Unconfirmed Subscribers might not feel like a game-changer on its own… stacking small improvements like this across your post-purchase experience?

There’s serious profit in that. 

If you’re curious what other low-effort, high-return tweaks could be hiding in your backend, check out my free, on-demand workshop:
Profit Without Pressure: How to sustainably add 5–6 figures to your bottom line with no new ads, offers, or launches.

Inside, I walk you through:

• the 3 key phases of your client journey,
• 9 profit levers most coaching businesses overlook, and
• how we use voice of customer data (like the kind you’d collect in a form like this) to increase revenue without compromising your client experience.

Watch the workshop now—then come back and tell me what small change you’re implementing next.

xo KP