Email Writing, an Easy Way to Get Your Foot in the Door
By Andrew Murray

Email writing is one of the easiest ways to get started as a copywriter.

After all …

• We’re all familiar with emails, and
• It’s an incredibly effective form of marketing, so demand for writers is high.

Combine those two and you have the ideal recipe … easy to get your foot in the door with companies, plus a high demand for email writers from marketers.

We’ll take a closer look at the opportunities available to you as an email writer. But first, we need to understand why email marketing is so successful. Once you understand this, you’ll see a world of opportunity as an email writer.

Why Use Email Marketing?

Email marketing has been around since 1978, way back when the Bee Gees were first topping the charts with “Stayin’ Alive.”

Email has successfully fended off many challengers over the years. Once social media spread its tentacles, many predicted the demise of email marketing. But it’s still here, as strong as ever.

Why?

To start with, it has an extraordinarily high Return on Investment — for every $1 spent, on average it returns $38, according to the DMA. An ROI of 3,700% is simply too good for any marketing manager to ignore.

Secondly, emails are personal. Your inbox is your private space. You invite businesses into this private space when you sign up for their list or buy something from them, so you’re more likely to form a bond with these companies.

When a business treats you with respect and respects your privacy, they gain your loyalty and trust. A relationship builds between the prospect and the business.

Finally, there’s one huge difference between email marketing and the countless social media marketing channels. A business owns their email list. They carefully build a subscriber base and actively grow it. They have complete freedom on how they choose to use the list.

In contrast, every one of us (including businesses) simply ‘rents’ space on the social media channels.

Social media channels can change their algorithm, decide to hide or delete your account, or place restrictions on how you communicate with your followers … and there’s not a single thing you can do about it.

A business is 100% in control of its email list. But a business is definitely not in control of its social media channels. Instead, the social media company is.

And this is why email marketing is so successful, year after year … it’s personal, consistent, reliable, and predictable.

The good news is, the most effective emails are low-key and conversational. You’re not expected to be “hype-y.”

Imagine you started using a new product, and you had a friend who could use the same product. You email them and mention the product. What words would you use? You certainly wouldn’t use hype. Instead you’d be helpful, low-key, friendly, and conversational.

That’s the style you want to follow.

This alone is one great reason why writers choose email writing as a niche. If you’d rather write hype-free copy, then email writing is a good place to start.

So what are your options as an email writer? Here are four types of email writing to get you started.

1. Autoresponders

Autoresponder emails automatically get sent to a user or prospect once they take an action. They can be as simple as a single email, sent after someone makes an online purchase.

Or they can comprise 10 or more emails. For example, if a person buys Product A, then this triggers a series of autoresponders. The first few emails teach them how to use Product A. Then the following emails might introduce the buyer to a similar product, Product B.

Companies love autoresponders because they don’t have to lift a finger. As soon as a prospect or buyer takes an action, this automatically triggers the appropriate autoresponder series.

Your job as an email writer is to write these evergreen autoresponder messages.

2. Promotional Emails

Many emails promote specific products or one-off special deals. They could go out every day or only occasionally when there’s a promotion.

Have a look at the promotional emails you receive in your inbox. Most likely, the ones which grab your attention are low-key and personal.

This is typically the style … a friendly email written in such a way as to make you feel like the business is doing you a favor. “Hey friend, just thought you might be interested in this.”

3. Welcome Emails

Welcome emails are a special type of autoresponder. They’re usually sent directly after a person signs up as a subscriber or enters their email address after making a purchase.

Typically, welcome emails thank the user for subscribing or buying and then introduce them to other products or services the company offers.

They build awareness about what the company does. At the same time, they open a dialogue and make the user feel like they’ve joined a family of like-minded people.

4. Cart Abandonment Emails

Cart abandonment emails encourage prospects to complete their purchase.

Here’s how it works … Say a person adds an item to a shopping cart, then leaves without buying. After a time period, smart businesses send the person an email reminding them they have an item sitting in their shopping cart.

Cart abandonment emails can be a single email or a series of three or more. Your job is to write these emails.

Getting Started

Because we’re all familiar with writing emails, email writing is an ideal way to get started as a copywriter.

And the demand is insane! According to Oberlo:

• Nine out of 10 marketers use emails as a way to stay in touch with prospects and clients.
• 81% of small and medium businesses use email to gain new customers, and 80% to retain those customers.
• Sending three cart abandonment emails increases sales by nearly 70%, compared to sending a single email.
• Nearly 50% of customers would like to receive weekly promotional emails from their favorite businesses.
• Around 300 billion emails are sent daily worldwide.

Now do you see why the demand for email writers is so high?

Get started by signing up to newsletters from businesses in your niche. Then take note of the ones who send regular email promotions. You’ll soon see gaps in their email strategy …

• maybe they don’t send regular promotions, or
• their Welcome email series might be boring and bland, or
• they don’t send cart abandonment emails.

Approach them and explain you’re an email writer who can help. Explain what you can help them with.

It’s highly likely they either don’t have the time or the resources to grow their email strategy. So if you come along and say, “Hey, I can help you. I understand what you need and I can do it,” then sooner or later one of these companies will say “Yes.”

Emails are low-risk, from a company’s point of view. They can get you to write a short email promotion with very little risk … if it doesn’t work out, their losses are minimal. But if it does, you’ll be a very valuable asset to the company.

Final Thoughts

Email writing is one of the easiest ways to get a foot in the door as a writer.

They’re fun to write, each project is short, and each project is different. So you’ll never be bored!

And the pay is good … around $250 per email, and up to $3,500 for a complete email series.

Then once you’ve proven yourself, see what other projects they need help with. This way, you’ll build up a healthy client list and a steady income in no time.

Ready to get started? Check out this new resource by one of the best email writers in the industry.

Do you have any questions about getting started as an Email Specialist? Please share in the comments so we can help.