This challenge is about getting you out of any of the following grimy and depressing prisons: * Failed promotions and offers that nobody wants * Spending tons of time to write emails, and they still aren't making sales * Having a list, and knowing you should do something with it, but it's such a chore * No opens, no clicks, no replies * An old list that's either gone to sleep or died * No money, and rent is due How we get there is by sending a handraiser email to your list, and starting a conversation. This handraiser email is: * Short (A 9-word email is typical, but +/- 5 words won't kill ya) * Personal (It reads like a 1-1 email, not a marketing, broadcast, newsletter email) * Expecting a reply (The email takes the form of a simple question, rather than a statement or an invitation to click a link) You can find Step 1 of the 9-Word Email Challenge here. Today, we're on to Step 2!!!! (Thanks to @Lawrence Bernstein for cluing me in to the importance of using 4 exclamation points.) Step 2 is just as easy as Step 1, and maybe more so. Simply ask yourself: ====> 2. Who do I know (or know of) who would be perfect for my offer? SUPER IMPORTANT: Think of a specific person. One person. Somebody who would be a perfect prospect for this offer. (Yes, think of just one person even if you will be blasting this out to your entire list.) Do not waffle and describe an "avatar," or talk about the kind of person who would be right for this. You need to have a name in mind by the end of this step. If there's nobody you know (or know of) like this, then you have a bit of extra work. Go online and find a specific person like this. Depending on what your offer is, you can find perfect prospects on LinkedIn, or inside Skool groups (as either owner or member), or on podcasts, on forums, ... you get the idea. I cannot stress this enough. Find a specific, real, living person, with a name, who would be perfect for your offer. This will be crucial for Step 3 of this challenge.

Let's start to wrap up this exciting challenge up because: - The first step got 18 people participating - The second got 13 people participating We are now on the 3rd step. I figure we can't keep going much longer before we run out of people completely. If you've done the previous two steps, this third step will be easy. It's to look over your answers to Step 1 (your offer) and Step 2 (your one specific person to sell that offer to) and ask yourself: ===> 3. What short question could I ask my ideal person to just open a conversation? A couple easy handraiser questions: 1. If they joined your email list with a lead magnet that ties into your current offer, you can simply ask them if they still want the outcome the lead magnet offers: "Are you still looking for a house in Georgetown?" (assuming they signed up for Georgetown house listings or a Georgetown-area house pricing info) 2. If you wrote up an identifying fact about your idea person in your Step 2, description, you can simply call them out with something specific about them. Take Nick Bandy's recent email as an example, connected to his Step 2 description: "Do you run an agency with at least one employee or contractor?" There are many many other ways to craft your 9-word email. But rather than trying to spell them all out, I'll encourage you to just write up your best short question you can ask your ideal prospect to open a conversation... post it below in the comments... and we can workshop it together. Sounds good? Then get to it. I'll be watching you!

Couple weeks ago, @Vasileios Apostolou gave me a nice testimonial that I turned into a promo this week, and made about $8k on. Today, I got a new subscriber to my list who apparently really doesn't like me (screenshot attached) I don't know yet how to turn that into money, but I'm thinking about it. And in the meantime, maybe it can turn into money for you. What offensive/irritating/stupid messages from readers have you gotten recently? Or what glowing/great/pleasant messages have you gotten? There's a promo or a new offer or at least an email hiding in there. Share what you've got below, and we can work on it together.

You voted! The response was... lukewarm! But while we wait for @Nick Bandy's poll results to turn into a magical new offer... while @Maliha M is mulling over a new auction idea... and while @Svetoslav Dimitrov is riding around on his tractor... ... I've decided it's time to run the highly teased, mildly anticipated 9-Word Email Challenge!!! Forget about the 9-word email for the moment. This challenge is really about getting you out of any of the following grimy and depressing prisons: - Failed promotions and offers that nobody wants - Spending tons of time to write emails, and they still aren't making sales - Having a list, and knowing you should do something with it, but it's such a chore - No opens, no clicks, no replies - An old list that's either gone to sleep or died - No money, and rent is due We'll do this challenge bit by bit to make it easy. Today is Day 1. Step 1. Very easy. Simply ask yourself: ====> 1. What do I wanna sell as part of this challenge? It could be your own coaching or services. It could be a course or membership you're selling, It could be a custom offer you're going to be putting out and want feedback on. It could be an affiliate offer. IMPORTANT: The 9-word email is a handraiser campaign that starts an email conversation that can naturally lead to a sale. That means you want people to reply to the email, and you will then have to interact with them 1-1. Normally, a 9-word email is used to sell something sizable, which justifies the 1-1 contact and the time and effort that requires. A low-ticket offer can make sense, but only if you have other reasons for promoting it than the sales you're making. Otherwise you'll probably just want to send folks to an order page. KEY TO MAKING STEP 1 WORK: Make your offer specific and concrete. Don't say, "copywriting services." Do say, "story-based advertorial an ecom business can just drop into their cold traffic funnel."

Have you seen it? Have you not? What did you think? Do you refuse to see it? I went to see it Saturday. As per usual, I have some online-business-related takeaway I can make about it, but I'd like to hear first what you thought, or didn't think.