Episode Transcript
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Unknown (00:00):
Welcome to the
copywriting for coaches podcast.
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My name is Megan catchin, and Iam obsessed with having your
brand actually sound like you onthe internet. We help you write
all the things that you've beentrying to articulate about your
business but have never beenable to put into copy. We're
going to go deep to up levelyour business without adding
more to your already full plate.
We'll keep it simple andsustainable. Sound like a breath
of relief. Let's dive in. Wantto write emails faster. Of
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course, you do it. Can feel likeit takes forever if you're not
doing these things that I'mabout to share with you, forget
templates, stop waiting orscrolling for inspiration, and
no more trying to write theperfect email. All of these
things that are supposed to behelping you are actually slowing
you down. I wrote five emails inunder an hour, and they
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converted. I hear too manybusiness owners spending two
hours writing one email or onepost. So today I'm going to
share how I do it so much fasterand no, you don't have to be a
pro copywriter for this to workfor you. Let's and let's talk
about this. The one thing thatall of my multi, six and seven
figure done for you clients havein common is that they all send
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emails to their list regularly,at least weekly email marketing
is the backbone of how theynurture, connect and convert.
Writing good emails quickly isone of the most important and
profitable skills that you candevelop as a business owner. A
couple months ago, I set achallenge for myself. I wanted
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to batch write my weekly emailsin one hour per month, and I
surprised myself, and I've beenaveraging writing about five
emails in 55 minutes. The firstweek, I wrote three emails in 30
minutes. The next week was fiveemails in 55 minutes, and so on.
And that's about how it averagedas well. So that comes down to
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about one email every 10minutes. And this is from my own
business, not for my clients.
And this is writing fromscratch. This is not just
revamping or tweaking, you know,an email that's already
existing. This is literally fromscratch that I'm talking about.
And no, AI, does not play a hugerole, if any at all. So I'm
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gonna get into all of this. Butmaybe this is nerdy, but
tracking my time like this hasbeen a fun way to keep me
focused during my writing hours.
And I don't know anyone else dothis, just me, but maybe you
should. It's it was really agreat way to keep me super
focused. Because just like you,just like anyone else you know,
when you sit down to write, it'slike, oh, I need to clean, the
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laundry needs to be done, thedishes need to be put away, and
all the other things that comeup. And so this was a great way
and a fun way to keep mefocused. So there are, let's see
how many nine steps I have foryou today to just really break
down how I made this happen. Soif you're wondering how I did
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it, let me walk you throughexactly what worked for me to
write quickly and effectively.
And the best part is you canreplicate this process even if
you're dealing with Mom Braindistractions or a pack schedule,
because same do this as you arewriting your holiday and end of
year sales copy especially, Imean, I mean, do it all year
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long, but I think especiallyrelevant with all of this coming
up, so you're writing email,writing productivity is about to
get an overhaul. Here's how Ipulled it off. Step one is to
get specific about your goal. Sobefore I even open up my laptop,
I knew I wasn't just writingrandom emails. I knew I wanted
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to batch emails promoting thisspecific offer, and having this
clarity was my first boost inemail writing productivity.
Next, I joined a co working calland told everyone exactly what I
plan to accomplish, anddeclaring my intentions helped
hold me accountable. And I'm nottypically a person who, like,
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needs accountability buddy, likeI am highly disciplined type A
if I say it's gonna get done,like it's gonna happen. But
something about this wasdifferent, like every time a
distraction popped up, I knew Iwas on the clock to write these
emails, and maybe it's thecompetitive side of me, but it
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made me really want to get thisdone, and I knew everything else
could wait. The dishes can wait,the clutter needs that needs to
be put away. It can wait andaccountability made it easier to
stay focused and productive. AndI occasionally offer co writing
sessions in copy critique club.
So if that is helpful for you,that could be a great place for
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you to join and get startedthere as well. Okay, next step
was. Is to separate the writingfrom the editing. And I know
this is like a typical piece ofadvice that you hear from
writers, but it's because itworks. So one of the biggest
time wasters when writing isediting while you write, you
know the drill, backspacingsentences, rewriting the same
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paragraph three times, agonizingover which sentence sounds just
right. I didn't do any of that.
Instead, I focus on getting mythoughts out of my head and onto
the page. That's all you do whenyou're writing your first draft.
Editing comes later. So byseparating these two processes,
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it helped me stop overthinkingand just let the words flow. It
makes writing feel easy when youdon't have to worry about
editing when you So, okay, thinkof it this way, editing while
writing is like cooking whiledoing the dishes. It's slowing
you down, and quite honestly, itjust doesn't make sense, right?
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So make the ugly first draft andand just get it down. And
editing becomes so much easierwhen you have a ton of stuff
that you're working with, andnow you're just paring it down
to what actually needs to bethere. And then writing also is
so much more fun when you justlet it flow, and you don't worry
about what it sounds like ifit's good enough, if it's going
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to convert what other people aregoing to think, let that all go
this simple mindset, simple butnot easy mindset. It's a shift
that significantly improved myemail writing productivity along
the lines of overthinking.
Something that has helped me isallowing chatgpt to come and
clutch, but not in the way youmight think. So. I did not ask
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chatgpt, or, you know, your AIof choice, to write my emails
for me. Instead, I used it asbrainstorming to spark ideas. I
fed chatgpt a ton of my ownwriting. So sales page copy for
the offer. I was promoting a fewstories. I had already written a
brief description of my brandvoice. So I'm sending a ton of
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information. My prompts arealways like a mile long to
really get anything you know,halfway close to what I'm
looking for. Then I asked it tooutline three different email
angles promoting. It was copycritique club in this case. So
chat GPT gave me the ideas, andI chose the one that resonated
most and then tweaked it to fitmy message. Having all of my
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ideas narrowed down helped mestop the pattern of overthinking
it all and just choose adirection and then let my
message flow from there. Sobecause this is the internet,
let me be clear, I don't letchatgpt write for me. Every word
in my emails comes from my heartand my thoughts. And chatgpt, of
course, is simply a tool. It's abrainstorming partner. It helps
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me explore different angles, butit will never replace my
creativity or authenticity, andI hope it doesn't replace yours
either. So when used withintention, chatgpt, for sure,
can save time and spark ideas,but it's still up to you to
bring your unique voice andmessage to the table. This
process reassured me that I hadconsidered all the angles while
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still keeping my copy authenticand in my voice, it chatgpt did
not replace my creativity.
Instead, it kept me focusedinstead of getting stuck in my
head, is that familiar to anyoneelse? So using AI thoughtfully
can add a valuable layer to youremail writing productivity.
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Okay, next step, I got reallyspecific about my outcome. I
didn't just sit down and say I'mwriting emails today. I had a
clear, measurable outcome. Iknew I wanted five emails
promoting copy critique club,and I broke it down even
further. I wanted one per emailfor the rest of the month.
Actually, it was for two months,so I was already halfway through
the month. I wanted to finishout that month and then do the
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next month as well. And thisspecificity gave me a roadmap.
So instead of wondering, what doI write next, I knew exactly
what I needed to create andbatch writing my emails together
help the emails flow a littlebit better between each other.
Not that everyone necessarilyremembers what you wrote next
week, but it helps me with mythinking of what do I want to
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say next in the next email. Sothat was super helpful and just
clear goals in general, help youreach your outcome much better.
All right. Next step waspreparing ahead of time. So
preparation for me looks likegathering everything I needed I
had right at my fingertips. Iopened up my sales page copy. I
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had stories I wanted toreference that I just keep on a
note in mywhat's it called on my iPhone,
notes, and then I also have athand on my task board, notes on
my ideal audience and their painpoints. So I keep a running list
on the Notes app on my phone ofthings I want to talk about, so
things that I that pop in myhead of like, Oh, that would
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make a great email. Like, whileI'm going. About my day, but I'm
not ready to sit down and writemy emails yet. I just keep a
running list of that so thatwhen I do sit down to batch my
emails, boom, boom, boom, all myideas are right there, and I
don't have to think about whatam I writing about today,
because I already have a listready. So then I can reverse
engineer those stories toconnect with the CTA that I'm
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going for having all this readymeans I can dive straight into
the writing without wasting timehunting for information,
overthinking things. And sopreparedness is this simple but
powerful way to boost your emailwriting pro tip productivity,
and write these emails that youneed you know you need to write,
but now you can do it so muchfaster. Next is creating the
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right environment. And I used tothink like, this is kind of woo,
woo extra like, just sit downand get it done. You know, come
on. But protecting my time andenvironment for full focus with
no distractions is essentialduring this time. So I take one
minute to make my desk totallyclutter free. It's the winter
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time, and even when I live inSouthern California, I still got
a cozy blanket on my lap. I hadmy water bottle within reach. I
may try a quiet place with nodistractions in sight. You know,
I had a babysitter for my kids.
I, like, I was fully focused. Somaybe for you, that's going an
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extra step, and like lightingthe candle or turning on a
playlist, if that helps youfocus. For me, I like it totally
quiet. For me to focus, I knowI'm probably in the minority for
that, but you do you. You knowthe point is to create an
environment that supports yourwriting. So whatever it needs.
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Literally, it just takes you aminute to set it up, and then
you feel like, okay, this is it.
And it also helps you be like,Okay, this like, this is what
I'm doing. This is what I'm setup to do. So you write your
emails, get it done, don't letthe distractions take over. I
feel like that is the biggestthing, right? There are so many
other things that tug at yourattention when it's time for you
to even if you block it on yourGoogle Calendar, to batch write
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your emails. You want to do allthese other things. So that
leads me to my next tip, whichis to focus on one email at a
time. Once I started writing, Ijust tackle one at a time. I
didn't let myself think aboutthe next email till I'd finished
the current one, and the singletasking approach kept me from
feeling overwhelmed, oh my gosh,all these emails I have to
write, and allowed me to fullyfocus on the message I wanted to
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convey. And so caveat there I dokind of outline what I want to
talk about in each email, andthen I take that and then focus
one email at a time, so I knowgenerally what I'm going to say,
and then I let it flow right outof me. Next is trusting the
process. Because here's thething about writing, your brain
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will try to convince you that itis not good enough, right?
Thoughts like this isn't goingto resonate. Pop up or what if
no one likes this, those pop upfor me too. And literally,
copywriting is my full time job.
So when that happens, remindyourself to trust the process.
The goal is to get the wordsout, not write a masterpiece on
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the first try, editing andreframing the emails comes and
our last step, which I'll giveyou right now. So once the
initial writing is done, then Iadd in the subject lines, the
hooks, the CTAs and the linksand the proper first name
trigger, right? We don't want tomake that embarrassing mistake,
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so I don't worry about thesethings at all during the writing
process. If a great hook comesto me, or if a great subject
line just like jumps out to mewhile I'm writing. Sure I'll add
it in there. But it's notsomething I'm stressing over
during the writing process. Allof this stuff is super important
so it comes out at the end. OnceI reach through I finish writing
each email, I read through eachone out loud. Then that's when I
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edit it. I say, Okay, what am Ireally trying to say? How can I
say this more concisely? Whatcan I take out of this and
still, you know, get the messageacross. How can I make this more
enticing of a hook of a subjectline? Does this logically lead
to my call to action? You know,is that call to action linked
if, if, you know, there needs tobe a link. So all of that stuff
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gets added in at the very end,and then when I'm done, I just
tag my VA to schedule it in myemail service provider. And this
saves me, again, time fromgetting bogged down and
scheduling tasks, and justallows me to truly focus where
my brain needs to focus. So thisis why email writing
Productivity Process. This iswhy it works, even with Mom
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Brain or whatever else thatyou're working with, I know as a
mom of two little ones, my brainoften feels pulled in a million
directions, and writing fiveemails in under an hour feels
like an impossible task atfirst, even for someone who does
this for a living, but, but.
Following this process, I madeit happen consistently month
after month. This is what I do,and this is how long it takes
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me. The key is knowing yourmessaging really well and having
a streamlined workflow, insteadof operating from inspiration
air quotes there and focusing onthese email writing productivity
tips. So knowing your message asa business owner, I feel like is
not stressed enough. It's likehaving this well worn trail
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through the forest as you'rehiking. It gives you a clear
path to follow, and it cuts downon the time that you would spend
second guessing or wandering offcourse. Here's how it helps you
write faster. So one the clarityeliminates the overthinking, and
I think that is the number onekiller for the majority of us,
is we overthink things, and thedistractions get the best of us.
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So when you are crystal clear onyour core message, you don't
waste time wondering what to sayor how to say it. You already
know your key themes, youalready know your tone, your
values, all those things. Sothis means you can just sit down
and dive straight into thewriting, instead of getting
bogged down in so muchbrainstorming. And then having
this consistent voice also savesyou mental energy as well. Your
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message defines your voice andstyle with these guidelines in
place, you don't have toreinvent the wheel every time
you write. It's easier to draftcontent because you're working
within a framework that alreadyfeels natural, and then your
audience feels clearer, too.
When your message is welldefined, you know exactly who
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you're speaking to, and you knowexactly what they need to hear
to move them to action. Thiseliminates guesswork. It allows
you to tailor your writing toyour ideal client's struggles,
desires and questions rightaway.
Then you can streamline yourediting too. Knowing your
message gives you this clearbarometer for what fits and what
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doesn't this makes self editingso much faster, because you can
quickly eliminate anything thatstrays from your purpose by
anchoring your writing in cleara clear and well articulated
message, you free yourself fromthe mental clutter and emotional
overwhelm of figuring it all outon the spot. The result is
faster drafts, sharper contentand more time to focus on the
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big picture work that you love,right? You don't want to spend
your whole day writing emails orsales pages or whatever it is.
You want to get back to beingthe CEO visionary and serving
your clients in the way that youare meant to do. So we've got to
get these emails written. Solet's do it quickly, doing these
things. And so I talked a lotabout, like, the real key to
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this is knowing your message,and a lot of that comes with,
like, having a messaging guidewritten down. Don't let that
live in your head. If it's inyour head, Great. Now let's get
it down on paper, because one isgoing to bring so much more
clarity to you. And two, whenand if you ever decide to
delegate this in whatever form,done with you, done for you.
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Copywriting. It helps acopywriter so much. So so, so,
so, so much to have a messagingguide or brand voice guide
already in place to operatefrom. It makes it so much easier
for us to capture your authenticvoice, so that the writing feels
seamless in transition to mewriting it, versus you writing
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it, and then we can't tell thedifference who wrote it. That is
one of the key things. So thatis why it's also something
mandatory that I have you dowhen you join copy critique
club, I give you a template fora messaging brand voice guide,
if you don't have one already.
So it comes with your copycritique club membership, and
even if you just want themessaging guide to fill out like
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it's worth just the one month ofcopy critique club just to get
that and you can see how I thinkand do some of these things that
we've talked about today inaction as I loom video you in
copy critique club critiquing,you know, your sales page, your
email sequence, or whatever itis that you are working on. So
writing faster is not just aboutsaving time, though. Obviously
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that is huge. It also frees upso much mental space for the
other things that matter in yourlife, in business. So for me,
that's spending time with mykids, my family, serving my
clients, and showing up as thebest version of myself, not a
scatterbrain, you know, tryingto do all the things. So by
mastering a process like this,you can create content that
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connects with your audience,drive sales and builds your
business, all while buildingyour email writing skills.
Because, like I said at thebeginning, that is one of the
most important skills you candevelop as a business owner. So
if you want to experience.
Process, process in action. APower Hour is one of the best
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ways to do that. We can writeyour copy together. Here's what
happens. You tell me what needsto be written. So whether that's
your sales page, an emailsequence your website, you name
it, I send you my starter GoogleDoc. Literally how I start
writing for my multi six andseven figure done for you
clients. You brain dump on thedock all the things. Then we
meet on Zoom and start writingin flow together. These sessions
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are so much fun. I they light meup so much. And a typical
response at the end of thesesessions is, wow. I feel like I
am a much better copywriter now,seeing how you think in real
time, and I feel like I have somuch momentum to now take this
and do more copywriting on myown, because I see how you think
about it, and the ROI of thesesessions can look like $6,000
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from six emails, just like inthis case study that I'm linking
for you in the show notes thatwas back in episode nine. So
writing copy doesn't have tofeel overwhelming or time
consuming. It is totallypossible for you, even as not a
copywriter, to do this with theright process. It can even be,
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dare I say, fun. So what are youwaiting for? Set your timer,
grab your favorite drink andstart writing your email
productivity will thank you.
Thank you for tuning in to thecopywriting for coaches podcast.
If you've been enjoying theseepisodes, let me know that
you're listening and what youlove about it by clicking on the
copywriting for coaches show inApple podcasts and leaving me a
review. Be sure to subscribewhile you're there. So it's easy
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to catch new episodes every weekif you want digital resources to
finish that copy project you'vebeen working on, the links are
all waiting for you atcopywriting for coaches
podcast.com you.