I've been going through a presentation by Jeff Walker of Product Launch Formula fame. Here's a bit that particularly stuck with me. Says Jeff: === When I'm looking to run a launch I'm as much interested in what strategic benefit does it have to me in addition to any money I could make. I'm a big believer in thinking long term. That's one of my competitive advantages, that I always think very long term. === Sounds really good, except.. ... what does "strategic benefit" really mean? And how do you think long-term? I'm not just farming for engagement here. I'm genuinely asking, because my time horizon is like 3 days. To help me with that, I just sat down and made a list of "10 kinds of strategic benefits of a launch." I wanna hear yours as well, because I'm sure I'm missing some. If you're game, we can play the usual "Battleship" format. If you name a strategic benefit that's on my list, I'll confirm it. If you name one I don't have, I'll give you one I have that hasn't been named yet. The game goes on until I'm sunk. Your turn.

What would you do differently? A dude who had signed up to my email list a few months ago, and who has never really interacted with me directly except for buying something from me once, replied to my broadcast email yesterday. (My email yesterday was a handraiser for an auction I'm considering running.) The dude's reply basically went like this: 1. He opened by saying he doesn't want to bother me but he feels I might be able to help 2. He then laid out his situation (not really unique, basically he has a website that gets no visitors or users) 3. He then asked politely if I can offer him some tips I looked over this email for a bit... clicked through to the site for a second... and then simply closed it all down, without responding. Any guesses as to why? And no, it's not (just) because I'm a dick. Instead, it is because I am petty. Specifically, there were two "rubs me the wrong way" things about this guy's message that made me predisposed to not helping him, even before I clicked through to his website. I realize it might be hard to gauge based on the bare bones outline of the guy's email I've shared up above, but I don't want to include the original message, because the guy was being nice and polite, and somehow it doesn't feel cool. Still, I think this is a opportunity to discover something new and important, if you're ever looking to start a relationship online with somebody you don't know, maybe by reaching out to them over email. What did this dude do wrong (2 things)... and what could he have done differently? If you like, guess away in the comments below. (I promise you, it's there in the outline of his message. But if you want to ask clarifying questions, I'm game.)

UPDATE: This riddle has been solved. @James Harrison got it in the comments below. But before you go and read James's answer, I highly recommend reading the riddle yourself, and thinking about it a bit, and trying to figure it out on your own. The answer, whether you figure it out or read it later, will be much more useful to you that way. ============== I just got a guy with an email list of 99,000 people, mostly buyers... ... and a proven $10k offer, plus a stable of lower-ticket products... ... say he's interested in handing over his list to me for me to monetize for him, via auction or in some other way. Maybe nothing will come of this. Still, I'm posting it because I'm chuffed about the possibility. Plus, I'm posting it because there's a lesson here that's relevant to you if you have an email list, and if you are looking for partners, clients, or customers. Do you want to guess how this guy and I started talking, and what I did to get him to express interest in working with me? I'll tell you this: - I'd never heard of this guy until two days ago - He didn't come via the "refer me your copywriting client" campaign I ran to my email list last week - I did not send him any kind of cold outreach message - He did not send me any kind of cold outreach message - We didn't meet in a group, a mastermind, a bathhouse, or an orgy So? You wanna guess how this guy and I started talking, and how the conversation turned to partnership in a jiffy? Or you need more information? Ask away or guess away. The smallest bit of thinking about this today will make this lesson stick more in your mind, and increase the odds you apply it tomorrow.

Hidden deep in a comment on another thread, @Maliha M reports on a potential partner who stopped responding. (Full details of the interaction below.) How would you follow up to get the guy talking again? Think a bit and write your best take in the comments below. Maybe we can help Maliha come up with a strategy she can test out and report on. But even sooner than that... A moment spent thinking now will pay you back if you ever want to find a list swap partner... an affiliate partner... somebody to sponsor your newsletter... somebody whose newsletter you can sponsor... a reader who can pay you $1k for an offer you're making etc. People drop off. At all points. For all kinds of reasons. Following up with them is a fundamental habit and skill. Here are the details of the interaction Maliha has had so far: ----- I left this message in a group recently: "Would anyone like to "sponsor" my newsletter, but instead of paying me with money, you hop on a Zoom call with me, and teach one thing to my audience in a quick 15-20 minute presentation? I will share this video in my tiny community... but I'll share your link (newsletter, lead magnet, or whatever you want) as a classified ad in my newsletter. What you teach must be relevant to my readers, of course. (Marketers, bloggers, newsletter writers, copywriters, and creators in general.) Let me know if anyone is curious!" ----- To which, and to my astonishing surprise, my favorite humor writer chimed in (didn't even know he was in that group!!!), and said: "I'm interested! I've been working on some ideas around “How to be funny” for exactly this kind of thing." ----- I took it to DM and gave him some details of what I expect, to which he wrote... a week+ later: "Hey Maliha, sorry for the delay on this. Sounds fun! I'd be happy to talk about easy ways/strategies to incorporate humor. Let me know what you're thinking as far as schedule etc." ----- To which I wrote back: "Don't worry about it. As for schedule, I'm pretty flexible. Just give me a couple of days and times when you're free and I'll make it work."

Maybe you saw my email from last night, "How to write a really great hook." In a nutshell, over the past few weeks, I sent four emails to my list in the following chronological order, all promoting the same offer, with the response from my audience in parentheses below: #1 "Where to buy crack" (26 responses) #2 "Taking credit for your rock star clients' results" (14 responses) #3 "You're probably creating too many products" (7 responses) #4 "Really great price on coaching" (40+ responses and counting) ... the surprising thing being that the last of four emails drew by far the biggest response (there was no deadline in place, so this was due to the email content alone). About that, @Danvir Gangadayal wrote me to say: === I thought for sure "Where to buy crack" would be the winner. It looks and feels like a far better hook, and maybe it even is - at least for me (I did tell you that was one of my favourite emails from you.) But perhaps it's not as specific as “Really great price on coaching,” because it doesn't have the word "coaching" in it. In fact, I noticed that none of your other subject lines had the word "coaching" in it. Except for "How to sell a $1k+ coaching program without testimonials" but you weren't offering the overview there. You did mention specificity in that email though... Would you say that “Really great price on coaching” got the most replies because it was more specific than the others? === I think specificity can be a part of the answer. But like I wrote in my email about this... I frankly had little idea why the last hook did so well compared to the others. But then I accidentally looked over my journal from the day before... and I noticed that I wrote that last email after telling myself to make a specific change. I put it to myself as the following four-word phrase: "L____ I____ T____ P____" If you read my "Really great price on coaching" email, do you have any guesses about what I was trying to do in that copy?