This is a special email series sharing what I’ve learned from the recent launches of High Impact Writing. You can find part 1 here (building) and part 2 here (copywriting).

When I started my creator journey I used to think marketing was for sleazy salesman.

But it’s crucial for every entrepreneur.

It’s not about making money - but creating a movement.

So today I’ll give you 3 tips that helped me immensely:

1. Tension, tension, and tension

Seth Godin explains tension is the force that pulls your audience into action. You create it through sharing the right story, at the right time, to the right person.

… Not sending 2 emails a week before to let them know a launch is coming.

Picture tension like an elastic band. The harder, and longer, you pull - the bigger the snap when you eventually release. I began talking about High Impact Writing 3 months before the first launch.

As soon as the launch ended, I began building tension again (from May till September).

Nobody should be surprised by your launch email. Hell, they should be excited for it.

Leading me to the email strategy.

2. The 3 part story

The big mistake is thinking an email like this builds desire for your product:

Hey I’ve spent months building this course and it’s gonna be ready for you to buy next week…

Instead, I sent a 3 part email series before each launch.

This series follows the standard storytelling format:

1. Setup: Establish desire in email 1
2. Conflict: Explain what’s at risk and what’s stopping your audience in email 2
3. Resolution: Give your solution (that leads to the pitch of your product) in email 3

In the first launch I introduced freedom as the desire, AI as the enemy, and writing as the solution.

In the second launch I introduced impact as the desire (saying freedom is wrong - good for curiosity and potentially appeals to a different crowd), noise as the enemy, and personality based writing as the solution.

Look at the click rate on launch 1:

Launch 2, I decided to send the email to a larger portion of the list:

Importantly, most of these clicks are primed. I’ve told a story they resonate with - which is incredibly powerful.

3. Don’t sleep on social

If you think about it, a launch is just simple economics.

You have a salespage that converts a certain percentage. The more traffic you drive, the more sales you make.

So whilst sending 16 emails over 4 days (only my most engaged readers got them all), I also:

1. Hopped on a spaces
2. Wrote a thread or long form post per day
3. Scheduled around 30 social proof posts sharing testimonials
4. Retweeted roughly 100 posts from current customers
5. Replied to every comment or question

(all while visiting family - not ideal timing but needs must!).

But that’s not all.

3 weeks before the launch, I began sharing lessons from High Impact Writing with screenshots of the slides. This helps your reader get a sense of what buying might feel like - whilst building more tension.

A week before, I shifted to social proofs because I’d generated curiosity - now the aim is to remove uncertainty.

So when I snapped that rubber band on Twitter, I was everywhere.

The end result was around 3,200 clicks on High Impact Writing from Twitter. This was around 1/5th of launch 1 though, which is a prime example of why you should start an email list. It only takes one algorithm change to screw up your weekend.

Next up you’ll get 3 ideas on what happens after your customer buys.

Have a nice weekend,

Kieran