An email copywriter came to Andrew Gould with a problem.
His guide to writing better emails was bringing in subscribers, but those subscribers weren’t asking him to write their emails.
They’d signed up to learn how to do it themselves.
Andrew suggested replacing the guide with a detailed case study showing how he’d improved a client’s sales emails.
That would give someone thinking about hiring him a chance to see what he could do for their business.
The copywriter put the case study together, and the sign-ups slowed down.
But Andrew remembers that within the first couple of days, people started emailing to ask if the copywriter was available and whether he could do the same thing for them.
If you were only watching list growth, the new lead magnet would have looked like a step backward.
But it was finally starting the conversations he’d wanted all along.
Andrew has been a freelance direct-response copywriter since 2009.
By his count, his work has generated roughly $150 million for clients across everything from woodworking to joint mobility.
I brought him on Audience Bridge Insights to talk about copy.
We kept coming back to the decisions publishers make before they write a word.
Who are you attracting?
What did you promise them?
And what are you counting as success?
You can watch the entire podcast now or scroll down to get the full breakdown.
Your Lead Magnet Is Choosing Your Audience
The first guide wasn’t necessarily bad. It attracted people interested in learning to write emails.
The problem was that the copywriter wanted clients.
The case study gave those potential clients something more relevant: evidence that he could solve a problem they had.
For publishers, the same question applies to every acquisition offer.
Someone who subscribes for a giveaway may have very little interest in your reporting.
Someone who signs up for a useful sample of your coverage has at least shown interest in what you actually publish.
Neither the download nor the sign-up tells you what happens next.
That’s why I’d look beyond the conversion rate on the landing page.
Do those subscribers respond to the newsletter they receive afterward?
Do they keep reading?
Do they take the actions your business depends on?
A cheaper subscriber who never responds can be an expensive way to grow.
The promise that gets someone onto your list should connect to the reason you want them to stay.
Could Another Publisher Put Their Name on Your Welcome Email?
Andrew sees a lot of welcome emails that could come from almost anyone.
Thanks for subscribing. We’re excited you’re here. Watch your inbox for valuable insights.
You could swap the logo and barely notice.
As he put it:
“Anybody could have sent that email.”
His advice was to use the welcome email to introduce more than your name.
Explain your philosophy, why someone should listen to you, and what they can expect.
For a publisher, that means answering a few things while the subscription is still fresh.
What do you cover?
What makes your coverage useful?
How often will you send?
What’s coming next?
If you promised a download, deliver it.
If you promised a particular kind of newsletter, start showing the reader what that looks like.
There’s a big difference between “We help you stay informed” and “Every Thursday, we explain one change affecting independent publishers and what you can do about it.”
The second gives someone a reason to recognize your next email.
Andrew’s broader point applies here:
The more specific you can get, the more believable your copy gets.
You don’t need a louder welcome email.
You need one that sounds like it could only come from you.
He Went to Hot Yoga to Understand the Customer
When Andrew researched a hot yoga offer, he went to classes for several months.
For a power generator project, he went to outdoor events and talked to people who might actually use the product.
That’s more work than reading a few reviews.
It also gives you something a review can’t always provide: the language people use when they aren’t sitting down to write a review.
“You almost want to think of it as becoming your audience.”
Publishers have an advantage here.
We can hear from readers regularly through replies, interviews, surveys, and conversations.
But we can also mistake the people who respond for the whole audience.
I brought up something I’ve seen in publishing: readers tell you they want one kind of coverage, then their clicks point somewhere else.
That doesn’t make the feedback useless.
It means you need both pieces.
Listen to what readers say.
Then look at what they consistently respond to.
When those disagree, there’s something worth investigating before you rebuild your editorial calendar around a handful of replies.
Proof Can Be Something You Show
When people hear “proof,” they often think of testimonials.
Andrew’s favorite forms include demonstrations and explaining why something works.
Think about an infomercial showing a mop cleaning up a mess.
You’re watching the product do the thing being promised.
A publisher can apply that without turning a newsletter into an infomercial.
If your subscription page says you make complicated topics easy to understand, show an example.
If you promise useful local reporting, let someone read a story that demonstrates it.
The lead-magnet case study worked on this principle.
It showed prospective clients what the copywriter had done.
A subscriber count tells a prospective reader that other people signed up.
A strong sample issue helps them decide whether they should.
Let your work carry some of the argument.
Don’t Change Personalities When You Start Selling
Andrew described a mistake that will sound familiar if you’ve read enough sales emails.
The writer starts conversationally.
You feel like a person is talking to you.
Then the pitch arrives, and suddenly you’re listening to a carnival barker.
The words get louder.
The claims get bigger.
The person you were reading a moment ago disappears.
Publishers can do this when asking for a paid subscription or introducing a sponsor.
The editorial voice is familiar, but the sales copy sounds as if it came from a completely different business.
Your reader already knows what you sound like.
Keep that voice when you explain what’s available, who it’s for, and why it might be useful.
A paid subscription pitch can be direct without becoming theatrical.
A clearly labeled sponsor message can still fit the tone of the publication.
Selling shouldn’t require a personality change.
Five Thousand Past Buyers. Nobody Bought.
Andrew also shared a project that went badly.
He’d previously done successful work with the client.
The new offer addressed internet addiction, and the audience included roughly 5,000 past buyers.
There were reasons to believe it would work.
Instead, the project dragged on for months.
Two decision-makers wanted different things.
Andrew turned down other work while trying to finish it.
When the offer finally launched, he recalls that nobody bought.
He received a $200 goodwill payment.
At first, he focused on the messy process.
Looking back, he questioned something more fundamental: did that audience want that offer at that time?
That’s an uncomfortable question because you can spend a long time polishing copy without answering it.
For publishers, it’s worth asking before launching a paid tier, a course, an event, or a new publication.
Interest in your existing newsletter doesn’t automatically establish demand for the next thing you want to sell.
Good copy needs something to work with.
Follow the Result Past the Click
Andrew made another point that matters when you’re judging email performance.
A curiosity-driven subject line can get attention from people who have little interest in the offer.
A more direct subject line might attract fewer readers but bring in more of the people ready to act.
If you stop at opens, you can reward the wrong email.
For publishers, the next step is more complicated than simply counting immediate sales.
A newsletter might introduce someone to a sponsor long before that person becomes a customer.
And the publisher may never see the eventual conversion.
That was my point in our conversation: you need to understand the role the newsletter is playing and agree on what success looks like.
Use the most meaningful outcome you can reliably measure.
Where sponsor data is available, learn from what happens after the click.
Where it isn’t, be clear about what your report can actually tell you.
The copywriter’s lead magnet is a good example.
The sign-up rate moved one way.
Hiring inquiries moved the other.
Which result would you want the dashboard to celebrate?
Your Move This Week
Andrew’s closing suggestion was simple: take a strong email you’ve already sent and put it into your welcome sequence.
Publishers put a lot of work into an issue, send it once, and move on.
Someone who subscribes next month may never see it.
Find an evergreen issue that earned meaningful reader response.
Check the links, update anything dated, and work it into the end of your welcome sequence at a sensible pace.
That gives a new subscriber a chance to read some of your best work while they’re still deciding whether your newsletter deserves their attention.
My Take After This Conversation
Three things stayed with me.
1) Your acquisition promise shapes the audience you get.
Before you blame the welcome sequence for weak engagement, look at what brought those subscribers in.
2) Specificity makes your value easier to believe.
Show the reporting, explain the approach, give the example.
Readers shouldn’t have to guess what makes your newsletter worth reading.
3) Your best emails should keep working.
A useful issue doesn’t lose its value because you already sent it to last month’s subscribers.
Andrew writes long-form sales copy for a living, but much of this conversation came down to understanding the person on the other side of the email.
That’s work every publisher has to do, whether the next ask is a click, a paid subscription, or simply coming back next week.
See you next week,
Chris Miquel
P.S. Open your welcome email and cover up your name and logo. If another publisher could send it without changing anything, start there.
