Someone hit me over the head

Before we get started I want to state for the record that I’m not a violent person.

I’ve never been charged with a violent crime.

And I don’t have any ill will or harsh feelings towards anyone.

That said…

I wish someone would hit ME over the head and knock some email marketing sense into me.

{insert sigh of big sigh of relief}

Now that I’ve got that little guy off my chest…

I’d like to explain.

As part of my daily “market research”...

I spend quality time with my favourite social friend, YouTube.

So the other day I’m aimlessly scrolling researching and watching and this video grabbed me by the eyeballs…

I’m still curious how the YouTube algorithm keeps serving me these goodies but let’s keep going.

The long and dirty is that Jason Padgett was repeatedly bashed in the skull by two thugs.

The story goes that he was a self proclaimed “partier” and had no real interest in school.

But after being attacked and suffering a concussion, Jason began to see the world in a completely different way.

He began to see life as Fractals.

I’m not going to pretend that I understand or can describe what Fractals are.

(I barely scraped by highschool math class.)

You just need to know that the guy is now a Math genius.

How crazy is that?

He went from being a lowly furniture sales guy with no math skills…

To working and solving the world's problems by using Math.

According to Google he’s developed a condition called acquired savant syndrome.

And that got me thinking…

Could I hit myself in the head and become an email marketing wizard?

Not literally of course but you get the idea.

Here’s the kicker…

Sometimes as marketers and business owners we get caught up looking for that one viral email or post to blow up our business and cause a flood of sales.

And just like Jason…

We get caught in a rut doing the same thing over and over again.

Until one day it hits us.

And for ecom brands and businesses trying to use email marketing…

For brands trying to reach, engage and maintain a relationship with their audience..

That means we need to keep them entertained.

Now this might make some ecom brands clench their butt cheeks…

But that means ease up for gawd’s sake on the graphical poster board emails.

You can’t really get your reader to feel all tingly and emotional when all they see are pretty, overly designed emails.

Now don’t get me wrong…

I’m not saying ecom brands shouldn’t use pictures but…

If you really want to connect…

You just need to share "everyday", average stories.

They don’t always have to be life changing events like the math whizz.

Sure every once in a while it’s entertaining to read/see about the person that was…

“Struck by 2 lightning bolts and can now perform brain surgery and control the stock market”...

But the average person can’t relate to that Unsolved Mysteries type of experience.

Your stories could be centered around common experiences or users using your product/service.

So if you want to sell products or services…

You need to tell people stories.

And the best way to do that is to make sure your stories are relatable and familiar.

Here’s some everyday experiences you can use for stories:

• Random thoughts while you’re getting your mouth fisted at the dentist

• Stories about raising your kids or animals (aren’t they the same?)

• Family drama (you must have at least one)

• Something that happened to you (better yet someone else) at the gym

• A broken toilet repair story (aka trip to HomeDepot)

• A restaurant meal or take out dinner gone wrong

You get the idea.

You should be able to read just about each of those prompts and come up with a great story for your next email.

So how are you going to use more story based emails to sell your stuff in 2023?

Just hit reply or leave a comment.

Chat soon,

Mike