His biggest insight?

In his experience working with hundreds of companies and building thousands of funnels, there are only 3 types of lead magnets that actually work.

Let me break them down for you.

Type 1: Reveal a Problem

The goal here is to show your prospects what they’re doing wrong.

So you want to give people something that exposes a hidden mistake - an audit, a quiz, a checklist, an assessment.

When someone discovers they have a problem they didn’t know about, two things happen:

1. They instantly trust you (because you revealed it)

2. They see you as the logical solution (because you clearly understand the problem)

Hormozi’s example:

“7 Mistakes Homeowners Make When Fixing Their HVAC”

Simple. Easy to create. And it positions you as the expert who can fix it.

You reveal the pain. You own the painkiller.

Other examples of this type:

• “Free website audit - see what’s killing your conversions”

• “The 5 resume mistakes that get you auto-rejected”

• “Quiz: Is your sales process costing you deals?”

Type 2: Trial of the Solution

This one’s very interesting.

The goal is let your prospects feel the result before they pay.

You want to give people a real taste of the actual outcome - for free.

When someone experiences the result firsthand, selling becomes effortless. You’re not convincing them it works. They already know it does.

You’re just selling continuation.

Hormozi’s example:

A company that gets local businesses ranked #1, #2, or #3 on Google Maps.

Their lead magnet?

“We’ll get you ranked for free. Then we’ll call you in 7 days and ask if you want to keep it.”

Not surprisingly, they’re crushing it.

Because by the time they call to follow up, the prospect has already seen the result. The sale is basically made.

Other examples of this type:

• “Free first lesson” (for a course or coaching program)

• “We’ll write your first email for free” (for an email agency)

• “Free trial week” (for a gym or membership)

Type 3: One Step of a Multi-Step

The play here:

“Extract” a single high-value component from your full paid service and automate it as a free lead magnet.

(I personally call this method the “Unbundling Approach.”)

This is way more compelling than “request a quote” or “book a call.”

Because you’re giving people a tangible deliverable.

Hormozi’s example:

A fashion consultant who used to say “book a call for an assessment.”

She switched to offering a free color palette analysis — what colors you should wear based on your skin tone and personality.

One small piece of her full service. Fully automated. Now converts 10x better.

Other examples of this type:

• “Free brand voice guide” (from a full branding service)

• “Free keyword research report” (from a full SEO service)

• “Free meal plan for your first week” (from a full nutrition coaching program)

The Big Takeaway

If you only remember one thing after reading this post, let it be this:

The more real your lead magnet (the more it costs you to deliver it), the more likely it is to work.

Most businesses are still running ads to a page that says “request a quote.”

But no one wants to request a quote.

So, give people something they actually want (i.e. a result, an insight, etc.).

Then build your conversion process around that.

Now, as usual, I want to make it as easy as possible for you to execute this framework.

So with that in mind, I’ve created…

The Hormozi Lead Magnet AI Generator

This prompt is designed to generate 12 personalized lead magnet ideas for your business - 4 for each of Hormozi’s 3 types.

Just copy/paste the prompt, answer a few questions, and get some dope lead magnet ideas.

Read more

It’s still in the works.

Yet, she already has 800+ people waiting for it.

Here’s how (and when it makes sense for you to do something similar):

Quick context

Our client is a tech creator with 300k followers and 40k email subscribers.

We’re building her a full email course funnel = a free mini-course designed to help her audience take the first step towards breaking into a specific area of tech.

So we can then position her flagship course as the next logical step.

Now, as I mentioned, the funnel isn’t done yet.

But we never wait until everything is ready to start driving traffic ;)

So while we were still building it, we did 2 things:

Step 1: Waitlist announcement email

We wrote a simple email and sent it to her existing list.

The premise was super simple:

“Hey, I’m building something new. Here’s what it is. Want early access? Here’s the link to the landing page.”

All people had to do to sign up?

Click on the landing page link and opt-in.

That’s it.

This is already a big win, but if you want to take it a step further, you can also…

Step 2: Social post (optional)

After blasting out the email, we compressed that same announcement into a social post for her to publish across her platforms.

Same idea, just shorter and better formatted for social.

(CTA was the same -> Click on the landing page link and opt-in.)

Why this works so well (and when does it make sense to use it)

Now, just by doing these 2 simple things, we’ve been able to get 800+ subscribers who are ready to dive into the lead magnet once it’s live.

Another stat worth noting: We’ve had an 80%+ opt-in rate on the landing page… even though the asset isn’t even ready yet.

The takeaway?

Your audience doesn’t need a finished product to raise their hand and show interest.

They just need two things:

1. A compelling promise

2. A simple place to opt in

That’s it.

A waitlist does both.

• It lets people signal interest before you’ve built anything.

• And it gives you a built-in audience to launch to when the thing is actually ready.

Now, even though this can work extremely well, you don’t want to use it for every single lead magnet you create.

Typically, this works best when you’re building something bigger - like:

• A new email course

• A super comprehensive guide

• A massive swipe file/list of curated resources

Basically, anything that takes more than a few days to create.

Instead of going dark while you build, announce early and let people opt into the waitlist.

By the time you’re ready to launch, you’ll have a warm audience waiting.

Now, as usual, here’s an AI prompt to help you execute this strategy with a fraction of the time & the effort :)

The Waitlist Announcement Email Writer Prompt

This is the exact prompt we use to draft our waitlist announcement emails.

Just copy/paste it into your favorite LLM so it can interview you, gather the context it needs for the email, and then draft it for you.

(And don’t worry - It will also help you generate copy for the social post AND the landing page. You’re welcome :)

# Waitlist Announcement Email Writer

You are an email copywriter helping a creator or business announce a new lead magnet, product, or offer before it's ready — using a waitlist strategy to build demand early.

## Objective

Interview the user about what they're building, then generate:
1. A waitlist announcement email to send to their existing list
2. A compressed social post version of the announcement
3. Waitlist landing page copy

---

## Interview Process

Ask these questions ONE AT A TIME. Wait for the user's response before asking the next question.

1. "What are you building? (Email course, lead magnet, product, program, etc.)"

2. "Who is it for? Who's your ideal audience for this thing?"

3. "What problem does it solve or what outcome does it help people achieve?"

4. "What makes this different or special? Why should someone be excited about it?"

5. "When do you expect it to be ready? (Rough timeframe is fine — 'next few weeks' works.)"

6. "What do waitlist subscribers get? (Early access, discount, bonus, first dibs, etc.)"

7. "Do you have an existing email list or audience you'll announce this to? If so, how would you describe your relationship with them — formal, casual, friendly? What do you call them?"

8. "What's your name and how do you sign your emails?"

9. "What's the link to your waitlist landing page?"

---

## Output

After completing the interview, generate all three outputs using the exact templates below. Fill in every [BRACKET] using the answers from the interview. Do not change the structure — only swap out the variables.

---

### OUTPUT 1: WAITLIST ANNOUNCEMENT EMAIL

Follow this exact template. Replace every [BRACKET] with the user's information.

---

**Subject Line:** [Announcement] Free [NUMBER]-day [CONTENT TYPE] coming soon
**Preview Text:** (join the waitlist for early access)

---

Hey there!

Exciting announcement:

In the next [TIMEFRAME], I'm launching a brand new, completely free [CONTENT TYPE] for you:

**The [LEAD MAGNET NAME]: [LEAD MAGNET SUBTITLE — How To Go From "X" To "Y"]**

My goal with this [CONTENT TYPE] is to help you stop just *thinking* about [DESIRED OUTCOME] and start actually *doing* something about it.

Here's a quick sneak peek of what we'll cover:

- [Tease one of the topics/themes covered in the resource with a "fascination" style bullet]
- [Tease one of the topics/themes covered in the resource with a "fascination" style bullet]
- [Tease one of the topics/themes covered in the resource with a "fascination" style bullet]

And a whole lot more.

Because you're already part of my [newsletter name] audience, I wanted to give you first dibs.

[Click here to join the waitlist for The [LEAD MAGNET NAME]](WAITLIST LINK)

I'm SO excited about this one. 

More details coming soon!

[YOUR NAME]

P.S. — If you've been wanting to [ACHIEVE GOAL] but keep getting stuck on [PAIN POINT], this [CONTENT TYPE] is literally built for you.

[Join the waitlist so you don't miss it.](WAITLIST LINK)

---

**Template notes:**
- Keep the email under 200 words in the body (not counting subject/preview)
- Tone should match the user's audience relationship — casual and warm by default
- The 3 bullet points should each tease a specific insight, not just a topic
- Generate 3 alternative subject line options at the end

---

### OUTPUT 2: SOCIAL POST VERSION

A compressed version of the announcement, formatted for LinkedIn or Twitter/X:

- Hook in the first line (curiosity or bold claim)
- What you're building in 1–2 sentences
- Who it's for
- 3 quick bullet points on what they'll learn or get
- CTA: comment a keyword or click the link to join the waitlist
- Keep it skimmable — short sentences, white space, no fluff

---

### OUTPUT 3: WAITLIST LANDING PAGE COPY

Follow this exact template. Replace every [BRACKET] with the user's information.

---

**[Headshot or brand image]**

**FREE [NICHE] [CONTENT TYPE]

Subscribe below for early access

---

This month, I'm launching a new **FREE [CONTENT TYPE]** to help you **[BENEFIT 1] ** and **[BENEFIT 2] **. Join the waitlist for early access

[Email Address field]
**[Join The Waitlist]** ← CTA button

*We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe at any time.*

---

**Template notes:**
- Headline leads with FREE — that's the hook
- Body copy is 1–2 sentences max — this page should convert on simplicity, not length
- Bold the most compelling benefit phrases
- CTA button text should be action-forward (avoid "Submit" or "Sign Up")
- The trust line is non-negotiable — always include it

---

## Guidelines

- Follow the templates exactly — structure is the strategy
- Only swap the [BRACKETS] — do not reorder sections or add new ones
- Keep the email SHORT — this is an announcement, not a sales page
- The tone should match the user's relationship with their audience
- Create urgency through exclusivity ("early access") not fake scarcity
- The landing page should be simple — just enough to get the opt-in
- Don't oversell something that doesn't exist yet — focus on the promise and the early access benefit
- Social post should be punchy and skimmable
- After generating all three outputs, ask: "Would you like me to adjust the tone, swap any bullet points, or generate alternative subject lines?"

Start the interview now.

And that’s it!

Next time you’re building something big, don’t wait until it’s perfect.

Announce it early (using this prompt). Build a waitlist. Launch to a warm audience.

Hope this helps.

Talk soon,

Daniel

In case you’re not familiar, he’s the co-founder of ScoreApp - a quiz funnel tool used across 150+ industries.

Here’s the exact 3-part framework he uses to create high-converting quizzes (plus an AI prompt to build your next quiz in a fraction of the time):

Part 1: Contact Information (Questions 1-4)

Name, email, phone (optional), and location (captured automatically via IP).

He collects this information upfront - so even partial completions become leads.

This is key.

Most people put contact info at the end. But if someone drops off at question 8, you’ve got nothing.

That’s why asking for this information first is so crucial.

Now even a 50% completion rate still gives you the lead.

Part 2: Best Practices Questions (Questions 5-14)

These are 10 yes/no questions about whether they’re doing the things they should be doing.

For example, if it’s a fitness quiz, you’d ask someone things like:

• Do you track your calories?

• Do you work out 3-4 times per week?

• Do you get 7+ hours of sleep?

These questions do two things:

1. Generate their score (e.g. 75 out of 100)

2. Tell you exactly where they’re struggling

If someone answers “no” to tracking calories but “yes” to everything else, you know exactly what to focus on when you follow up.

Part 3: The Big 5 Qualification Questions (Questions 15-19)

This is where the real magic happens.

These are the questions that will help you assess whether or not someone is a good fit for your offer (or which of your different offers makes the most sense for them, if you have multiple).

Let me walk you through each of them real quick:

Question 1: Which best describes your current situation?

Give them 4-5 options.

For example, if you’re building a quiz targeting professionals who want to become better public speakers, your options could be:

Student, First 5 years of career, Manager, Senior leader, Executive.

Now you immediately know their starting point and experience level.

Question 2: Which describes your desired outcome in the next 90 days?

Again - give them a list of specific outcomes to choose from.

They’ll tell you exactly what’s driving their decision right now.

(Note the question is anchored to a specific timeframe, by the way. That’s intentional and very important.)

Question 3: What obstacle is stopping you? Or what have you tried that hasn’t worked?

Once again - give them 3-4 common obstacles to choose from.

This question will allow you to discover their biggest pain point AND what solutions they’ve already tried before (which can be extremely helpful once you try to address potential objections later on in the process).

Question 4: Which solution would suit you best?

This is a subtle but very powerful question.

Because it reveals their budget without asking the question directly.

It also gives you a sense of the level of help/access/support they’re looking for (which can then inform the specific offer you present).

Some of the options you could include here:

Education/training, One-to-one coaching, Software, Done-for-you service.

Obviously, if you don’t sell services, for example, you don’t want to include that as an option (the key is to include the different levels of support that you actually offer).

Question 5: Is there anything else we need to know?

Lastly, this is an open text box question - and it should be optional.

Now, a lot of people don’t really use but some others reveal super valuable info that would otherwise miss out on (things like “I have budget but need to spend it by end of month.”).

So, it’s definitely worth having.

Now, you might be wondering…

“What happens after someone completes the quiz?”

Great question!

The Results Page

After someone has answered all 20 questions, they get a customized results page based on their answers:

• Their overall score

• 3 personalized insights (based on their goals/pain points)

• Next steps tailored to their qualification level

Now, here are some of the examples of the different CTAs someone might (depending on how they answered the few final questions):

• A high-qualified lead gets offered a call.

• A mid-qualified lead gets invited to a webinar.

• A low-qualified lead gets free content.

The entire experience takes 3 minutes.

And according to Daniel, 20-40% of people who land on one of his pages complete the whole quiz (which is wild).

Why This Works

Now, here are a few things make this framework so effective:

1. Contact info first — You capture the lead even if they don’t finish

2. Yes/no questions — Low friction, easy to answer, keeps momentum

3. Score-based results — People love knowing where they stand

4. Qualification built in — You know exactly who’s worth your time before you ever talk to them

5. Personalized next steps — The CTA matches their pain points and readiness to buy

Which means you have a whole lead qualification system disguised as a quiz (that people actually get value from).

Now, as usual, I’ve put together a whole prompt to help you implement this framework in a fraction of the time :)

The Quiz Funnel Builder Prompt

Here’s a prompt to help you build using Daniel’s exact framework:

Read more

They’re generating around $100k/year from paid subscriptions.

But they know they are leaving a LOT of money on the table.

The problem is…

They have no idea what product to create next.

They’ve tried a few things but nothing has really stuck.

So, here’s the framework I shared with them.

It’s a 3-step process to find validated digital product ideas without having to create anything first.

Step 1: Run a survey

Before you build anything, you need data.

And the easiest way to get that data is by asking your audience directly.

(That’s one of the big and most underrated benefits of having an email list!)

Now, you don’t need crazy amounts of data in order to start validating product ideas.

There’s just 4 big things you need to know:

1. Who they are - What’s their role? What industry? What stage of business or career? (The way you frame this question will depend on your specific niche.)

2. Their biggest challenge - What’s the #1 thing they’re struggling with right now (related to your topic)?

3. Their biggest goal - What are they trying to achieve in the next 6-12 months?

4. Context-specific question - Anything else that could be super high leverage for you to know based on your niche. For example: If I were running this, I might want to know which email marketing tool they’re using for their newsletter.

That’s it.

Literally 3-4 questions max.

All you’re trying to do is identify patterns - common problems, common goals, common archetypes.

So once you’ve built your survey, send a quick email to your list asking them to fill it out.

Now, I have 2 pro tips for you here:

• Send at least 2-3 emails about the survey. Most people won’t see or act on the first one. Also, tell them you’re trying to better understand what they’re struggling with so you can better serve them with your content and future products. People appreciate that.

• Incentivize completion. Give away something valuable for free to anyone who fills it out. Maybe a paid resource you normally charge for, or exclusive access to something. This dramatically increases completion rates.

Step 2: Analyze the data

Once you’ve sent your survey to your email list, wait a few days.

Keep reminding people to fill it out. (Remember: 2-3 emails minimum.)

Then, after a handful of days, you should have enough data to run an analysis.

Here’s my recommended approach:

First, dig into the data yourself (manually!).

Go through the responses and see what patterns or interesting trends you notice.

• What problems keep coming up?

• What goals are most common?

• Are there any surprises?

This manual pass is important because you’ll pick up on nuances that AI might miss.

Then, use AI to go deeper.

Export your survey results as a CSV file and upload it to ChatGPT or Claude.

Ask it to analyze the data and identify:

• Common pain points and challenges

• Recurring goals and aspirations

• Patterns in who your audience is (roles, industries, stages)

• Potential product opportunities based on what you’re seeing

Here’s the key:

Don’t jump straight to brainstorming products.

First, focus on identifying problems worth solving.

Once you’ve identified the most common and most painful problems your audience has - that’s when you start brainstorming product ideas that could help them solve those problems.

Quick side note: If you want help figuring out which product formats to start with, check out the 10K Product Accelerator guide I put together. It breaks down different product formats and how to think about which one makes sense for your situation.

But here’s the thing:

Even once you’ve identified problems and brainstormed some product ideas...

You do NOT want to jump straight to building yet.

Instead, do this first:

Step 3: Test with an affiliate offer

This is the part most people skip.

Once you have the survey data and you’ve identified a potential product idea...

Don’t build it yet.

Instead, find someone in a similar niche who has already created a similar product.

Then run an affiliate campaign for their product to your list.

This is way better than rushing to create your own product because:

• You get to test offer-market fit without building anything

• You still monetize your list (affiliate commission)

• You see exactly how your audience reacts to the offer

• You learn what messaging resonates (and what doesn’t)

If the affiliate offer bombs, you just saved yourself months of work building something nobody wanted.

If it sells well, you now have validation that your audience has an appetite for that type of product - and you can go build your own version.

Either way, you win.

Now, just one pro tip here:

Look for offers that are easy to track.

Courses and digital products work great.

Service-based affiliates (like agencies), on the other hand, are harder to track and have more friction.

The prompt

Here’s a prompt to help you create your survey questions AND draft the email to send to your list:

Read more

• 7 LinkedIn posts

• 1 new lead magnet

• 4 emails newsletters

All while working with 8+ different agency clients at the same time.

Now, one of the biggest reasons I’m able to produce so much is because of my Content Growth Operator (CGO).

We’ve been working together for over a year now.

When we started, he was primarily helping me with LinkedIn stuff.

But as my email list grew and we built out our LinkedIn systems, he also started to take on more work on the email front.

So today I want to share 4 things he helps me with each week on the newsletter/email side.

That way, you can get a better sense of what to delegate to your assistant (or other team members) as your newsletter grows.

Task 1: Drafting templated emails

Every week, my CGO helps me draft 2 types of emails:

• Weekly roundup emails. These have a very clear and repeatable format. So he drafts them using our templates and AI prompts. Then I QC and edit before we send them out.

• Welcome/delivery emails for new lead magnets. As I mentioned, we publish a new lead magnet every week. And as part of this workflow, we always set up a delivery email so people can get access to the asset after they sign up. So he helps me draft all of these using our templates and prompts as well.

Here’s the key insight:

First, you need to create email templates for your recurring emails (weekly roundups, delivery emails, etc.).

These templates should outline the structure, tone, and key sections.

You also want to create AI prompts that your CGO can use to help draft these emails efficiently.

Once that’s in place, here’s the workflow:

1. CGO drafts the emails using your templates and prompts

2. You review & edit (this gets faster over time as they learn your style)

3. Approve & hand off for scheduling

Pretty straightforward!

Task 2: Uploading & scheduling emails

I use ConvertKit for most of our emails.

We generally batch create all our content for the week ahead on Sundays, and then he uploads and schedules all the emails on Mondays.

We also have a paid newsletter on Substack that we send once per week.

I write those emails entirely by myself, but he helps me upload them to Substack as well.

Here’s the workflow:

1. I batch create all the email content on Sundays

2. CGO uploads to the email platform (ConvertKit, Substack, etc.)

3. CGO schedules each email for the appropriate day and time

Pretty straightforward.

But the time savings add up fast when you’re doing this every single week.

Task 3: Researching & drafting lead magnets

We have a series of prompts to brainstorm new lead magnet ideas, so each week he ideates new potential assets we could create.

Once I’ve decided on the idea we want to sprint on, he helps me:

• Curate resources

• Draft some of the content using existing material (if we have it)

• Do research that I can then use to create the final content

Here’s the 5-step process:

1. Ideate new lead magnet concepts - Your CGO uses AI prompts to brainstorm 3-5 potential lead magnet ideas each week

2. Select the concept to pursue - You review the ideas and choose which one to create

3. CGO curates resources & examples - They gather all relevant resources and organize everything

4. CGO drafts initial content - When possible, they draft sections using your existing content (LinkedIn posts, newsletter issues, etc.)

5. You finalize the asset - You add your unique insights, refine the messaging, and create the final version

Important note: I still create 80-90% of my free assets myself.

But having my CGO handle the research, curation, and first-draft compilation saves me hours each week.

What used to take 8-10 hours now takes 1-2 hours per week.

Task 4: Building landing pages & automations

Lastly, my CGO also helps me build landing pages and automation flows in ConvertKit.

We use these flows to capture email subscribers from our lead magnets and deliver the assets via email after someone subscribes.

Here’s the workflow:

1. Create your templates & SOPs - First, you build your standard landing page template and automation sequence template. Document the process with screenshots and clear instructions. This is a one-time investment.

2. CGO clones & customizes landing page - When you have a new lead magnet, your CGO clones your template and customizes it (headline, benefits, preview image, opt-in form)

3. CGO sets up the automation - They clone your template automation sequence and customize it for the new lead magnet (delivery email, follow-up emails, subscriber tagging, etc.)

4. Test & QC the full flow - Your CGO tests the entire flow, then you do a final QC review before launching

Important note: At first, you’ll need to own this whole part of the process.

However, after a rep or two, you can create templates and an SOP so that your CGO can take these tasks off your plate.

That’s exactly what I did.

And just like all the other tasks we’ve covered so far, this saves me a few valuable hours each month.

How to find YOUR delegation opportunities

Now, here’s the thing.

These are the 4 tasks that made sense for me to delegate.

But your email marketing workflow might look totally different.

So I created an AI prompt that will help you identify the tasks YOU could templatize, systematize, and eventually delegate to your own assistant or CGO.

Here’s the framework it follows:

• Step 0: Identify tasks - The first step is to identify potential opportunities for you to create systems and delegate repeatable tasks. That’s why we start with an interview.

• Step 1: Create templates - The next step to building efficiency is to create templates for yourself. This forces you to document your process.

• Step 2: Do it faster yourself - Once you have templates, you can do the tasks faster and more easily, without thinking about it.

• Step 3: Delegate - And once it’s templatized, it becomes much easier to hand off to someone else (whether that’s a CGO, VA, or even AI).

Here’s the prompt:

Read more

40+ pieces total.

And it was a game-changer.

See, I already batch my content writing every week.

But I used to show up to those writing sessions without knowing what I was going to create.

So as a result, I’d spend the first 30-60 minutes just deciding what to write about.

No bueno.

So I made an upgrade to my process:

Instead of figuring out the “what” each week, I now batch the planning and decision-making for the entire month upfront.

That way, when I show up to my weekly writing sessions, I can skip straight to writing.

Now you might be wondering:

“Where do you get all these content ideas from?”

Well, these are the 4 places I check to mine ideas I can actually use to grow my audience AND my business:

Source 1: My Daily Journal

Every day, I ask myself a few reflection questions in Notion.

One of them is:

“What’s 1 thing I did yesterday that I could write about today?”

This captures tactics and systems I’ve been working on while they’re fresh.

Then, when I’m looking for content ideas, I always have tons of potential good ones waiting for me in my journal.

Here’s the thing most people miss:

If you’re a subject matter expert (or you’ve been working in an industry for a while), there’s a VERY high likelihood you spend your days working on interesting things you could turn into content.

The problem is... we take all that expertise, experiences, and insights for granted.

This simple journaling prompt fixes that.

Source 2: My To-Do List

This is another super helpful bucket.

By reviewing the things I’ve been working on over the past few weeks, I can always find stuff I’m already doing and thinking about - and share it as content.

Documenting what you’re working on is one of the best ways to create content without taking a lot of time.

And the nice part?

This type of content usually generates business results - because it forces you to demonstrate your expertise.

Look for:

• Recurring weekly tasks

• Big projects you’re wrapping up

• New, shiny projects you’re starting to work on

This will give you an awesome mix of (1) frameworks you use all the time, (2) fresh insights & learnings from big endeavors, and (3) exciting build-in-public updates.

Source 3: My LinkedIn Content

I export my posts from the past 90-120 days (with engagement metrics).

Now, these are the things I always look for:

• Trends or topics that are performing well. From there, I try to ideate similar angles I could experiment with.

• Posts I made 90+ days ago that I could potentially repurpose. A lot of people don’t realize this, but your best content from 3+ months ago can (and should) absolutely be reposted.

Most of your audience didn’t see it the first time anyway.

Source 4: Sales Call Transcripts

Lastly, I review recent sales calls and look for patterns:

• Questions prospects keep asking

• Objections that come up repeatedly

• Problems they describe in their own words

• Frameworks I find myself explaining over and over

If I’m explaining something on every call, that’s a signal I should write about it.

The best part?

I know these ideas are valuable because I was able to “validate” them live as I shared them on the call.

The Big Unlock

Now, this isn’t necessarily a super revolutionary idea.

You could’ve done all of this manually before.

But here’s what changed for me:

I was able to run this entire workflow in a much smoother way than ever before.

All because of 2 new Claude features:

1. Claude Cowork

2. Claude Skills

Let me explain both.

How Claude Cowork Works

Cowork is a Claude feature that lets you connect your apps - like Notion, Google Drive, etc.

Once connected, you can just tell Claude to look for your pages and documents and extract information from there.

This is extremely nice because you suddenly get rid of all the copy-pasting and file uploading.

You just connect Claude to your “source of truth” and it finds the information you’re looking for.

For this workflow, I connected my Notion account.

Then I told Claude to:

• Pull from my daily journal entries

• Review my to-do list and recent tasks

• Analyze my LinkedIn content tracker

• Extract patterns from my sales call notes

And it just... did it.

Without having to copy-paste or upload any files.

Even better…

Once I decided what I was going to write for the month, Claude actually created the content shells inside my Notion tracker for me.

(Yes, it can also create and do things for you inside your other tools.)

Now, here’s the second unlock:

How Claude Skills Work

The easiest way to think of a Skill:

It’s a “downloadable” prompt that you can install into your Claude account once - and then it works forever.

Instead of having to copy/paste the same prompt every time, you just “install” the Skill and Claude knows how to run the workflow whenever you ask.

So after completing this content ideation process once, I turned it into a Skill that you and I can use to effortlessly run this workflow over and over again in the future.

And of course - I’m going to share it with you :)

The Content Ideation Skill

This skill with:

• Ask you clarifying questions ONE AT A TIME

• Mine 5-10 ideas from each of the 4 sources I explained above

• Present ideas with rationale so you can flag your favorites

• Compile a master list organized by format (newsletter vs LinkedIn)

• Confirm your final ideas for the month

Click here to install my Content Ideation Skill into your own Claude account.

Don’t forget to connect your Notion account beforehand so you can run this workflow!

Now, go give it a try and let me know how it goes.

Talk soon,

Daniel

And the problem is almost always the same:

The copy lacks “emotional specificity.”

It don’t trigger any emotions or desires.

So people read them, nod along, and then... never buy.

Luckily, there’s one simple framework that can help you solve this problem for good:

It’s called “The Pain is the Pitch” and I learned it from Alex Hormozi.

And today, I’m going to walk you through exactly how you can use it to improve the effectiveness (and conversion rates!) of all your emails.

Let’s dig in.

What’s “The Pain is the Pitch” even mean?

The framework is simple.

Whenever you’re writing copy, you fundamentally have 2 main tools:

• Pain - Promise less bad stuff (avoiding losses, preventing problems, eliminating frustration)

• Pleasure - Promise more good stuff (benefits, outcomes, transformation)

And of course, you want to use them both.

But here’s what most copywriters get wrong:

They over-emphasize promise and under-emphasize pain.

But pain creates a level of urgency that promise alone cannot.

And as Hormozi puts it:

“If you can articulate the pain a prospect is feeling accurately, they will almost always buy what you are offering.”

Now, you might be thinking…

“Okay, so I should just write about pain. Got it.”

Not so fast.

There are 2 crucial tactical aspects you need to get the best results.

Tactic #1: Timing (when to sell)

You want to sell at the point of greatest deprivation, not at the point of greatest satisfaction.

Hormozi illustrates this with a perfect example:

If you ask someone after they have eaten a steak (point of satisfaction):

“Do you want another steak?”

The likely response you’ll get is “No, I’m good.”

Even though they LOVED the steak, they won’t buy it because they’re satisfied.

So if you want to sell a steak to someone, the right time to pitch them on buying it is when they’re starving - not when they’re already full.

Same product.

Different timing.

Dramatically different response.

This is why emails that address an active pain point convert better than emails that just list benefits.

Tactic #2: Specificity (what to say)

As Hormozi says:

“Pain happens in moments.”

There’s a direct correlation between your ability to describe someone’s problems vividly... and how likely they are to buy your things.

Because if you show someone you understand their problems well, they assume you must have the solution.

The problem is - most copy stays stays at the surface level.

For example:

• “I was overweight” → Vague, generic, forgettable.

• “I wore a cover-up at the beach and avoided photos” → Specific, visceral, emotionally resonant.

See the difference?

The second one paints a picture.

It captures a moment where the pain was vivid and real.

And that’s what makes people feel something (and buy your stuff).

When you describe pain with extreme accuracy, readers make an unconscious inference:

“This person couldn’t possibly know my exact experience unless they’ve lived it OR solved it for many people.”

This creates instant credibility and trust.

And trust + acute pain = high likelihood of purchase.

How to apply “The Pain is the Pitch” to your emails (step-by-step)

Okay, so you get the theory.

But how do you actually use this framework to improve your own copy?

Here’s the exact step-by-step process:

Step 1: Identify vague sections in your copy

Go through your email draft and highlight any section that feels generic or doesn’t trigger an emotional response.

Look for phrases like:

• “Save money”

• “Improve your confidence”

• “Struggling with email marketing”

These are all too broad.

Step 2: Dig deeper and get specific

For each vague section, dig deeper.

Picture yourself as your target customer.

What do they hope to achieve?

When do they feel this pain most intensely?

What specific situation do they experience?

For example:

• Instead of “Save money” → “Cut your monthly expenses by 20% and finally afford that dream vacation.”

• Instead of “Improve your confidence at work” → “Feel so confident that you’ll look forward to speaking up in meetings and sharing your ideas.”

• Instead of “Struggling with email marketing?” → “Staring at a blank screen for 2 hours trying to write one email?”

Step 3: Describe the sensory and tangible details

Now, add the details that make it real.

What does it look like? Feel like? Sound like?

The more specific, the better.

For example:

• Specific: “Staring at a blank screen for 2 hours trying to write one email”

• Hyper-specific: “It’s 11 PM. You’ve been staring at a blank Google Doc for 2 hours. Your eyes hurt. Your coffee’s cold. And you still haven’t written a single word of tomorrow’s email.”

(See how much more vivid the second version is is?)

Then read it out loud.

Does it make you feel something?

Does it make you picture the moment clearly?

Keep working on it until the answer is “Yes!”

Now, luckily, you don’t have to do all of this manually anymore.

Because we have AI :)

And I’ve put together an awesome prompt you can just plug-and-play to start rewriting your emails with a fraction of the time and the effort.

The “Pain Is The Pitch” AI Prompt

This prompt is designed to:

• Identify parts of your copy that are too general or vague

• Suggest 3 specific, emotionally engaging rewrites for each identified section

• Transform your bland copy into pain-driven messaging that connects deeply with readers

Just paste any sales or promotional email along with specific goals or target audience, and the AI will analyze it using Hormozi’s “Pain is the Pitch” framework.

Then, it’ll rewrite any vague sections it finds with specific, tangible alternatives that trigger emotions and drive action.

Here you go:

Read more

Then, I spend 2 hours sorting through all of them (so you don’t have to).

The result:

A list curating the 10 best subject lines I saw last month - broken down with the framework behind each one, plus a template you can steal.

Here’s January’s edition:

Subject Line #1

“How I got 32% of my life back in 5 minutes” — Nick Saraev

Why it works:

• Creates curiosity by teasing an oddly specific measurable win (32%?! From what?!).

• Grabs attention by promising massive results from minimal effort (5 minutes? That’s it?).

The template:

How I [specific, measurable outcome] in [short timeframe]

Example in another niche:

“How I increased my email open rates by 30% in 15 minutes”

Subject Line #2

“is Boston worth the hype?” — Coach Claire

Why it works:

• Grabs attention by using a short, direct question that challenges a trend.

The template:

Is [specific person/place/event] worth the hype?

Example in another niche:

“Is Substack worth the hype?”

Subject Line #3

“I got rejected by a brand this week” — Justin Moore

Why it works:

• Creates curiosity by teasing a real (and vulnerable) experience from someone operating at a high level.

The template:

I [vulnerable/negative niche outcome] [timeframe or context]

Example in another niche:

“I f*cked up my client’s email launch last week”

Subject Line #4

“There’s no such thing as ‘boring’ industry” — Lara Acosta

Why it works:

• Creates curiosity by challenging a common belief or misconception in a niche/industry.

The template:

There’s no such thing as “[common limiting belief]

Example in another niche:

“There’s no such thing as ‘sending too many emails”

Subject Line #5

“This is how much money GA made from ChatGPT” — Andrew Warner

Why it works:

• Grabs attention by teasing a specific number/result without revealing it.

• Creates curiosity by attributing the result to a new tool/trend/technique.

The template:

This is how much money [person/org] made from [hot tactic/trend/tool]

Example in another niche:

“This is how much money we made from TikTok shops”

Subject Line #6

“I’m lazy… so I started another YouTube channel” — Olly Richards

Why it works:

• Grabs attention by leading with a self-deprecating flaw (”I’m lazy”).

• Creates curiosity by teasing a seemingly contradictory announcement.

The template:

I’m [undesirable trait or limitation]… so I [unexpectedly ambitious action]

Example in another niche:

“I’m terrible at writing… so I started a daily newsletter”

Subject Line #7

“Early readers are giving it ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐” — Tim Grahl

Why it works:

• Creates curiosity by implying that a new thing is crushing (without revealing what it is).

• Grabs attention by using a visual that stands out.

The template:

[Credible niche group] are giving it [visual ranking]

Example in another niche:

“Our first students said it was 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥”

Subject Line #8

“our weirdest launch ever (full breakdown)” — Daniel Bustamante

Why it works:

• Grabs attention by teasing a unique tactic/strategy (”weirdest launch”).

• Creates curiosity by promising a practical/in-depth breakdown.

The template:

My weirdest [niche event/tactic/strategy] ever ([practical teaser])

Example in another niche:

“My weirdest sales page ever (full breakdown)”

Subject Line #9

“ChatGPT now tracks your health — and Gmail’s AI infusion” — William Nutt

Why it works

• Creates curiosity by teasing a new, unexpected capability from a popular tool (ChatGPT tracking your health?!).

• Grabs attention by stacking two trend-driven insights.

The template:

[Hot tool] now does [unexpected thing] — and [2nd update/news]

Example in another niche:

“Notion now completes your to-do list — plus Zoom’s new AI assistant”

Subject Line #10

“Made $535,625 in 30 Days… Here’s How” — Darren Lee

Why it works:

• Grabs attention and creates curiosity by dropping a massive, oddly specific result (while teasing how they pulled it off).

The template:

[Hit major milestone/result] in [timeframe]… here’s how

Example in another niche:

“Got 20k new followers in 24 hours… here’s how”

And that’s it!

Which one are you stealing first?

Hit reply and let me know.

Daniel

PS - Your email can be incredible.

But if your subject line sucks, no one’s opening it.

So I put together a free crash course with 6 rules for writing irresistible subject lines (after writing 1,000+ emails).

You can grab it here.

The highest-grossing one?

Over $650,000 in revenue.

And while every launch is different, the email strategy we use is almost always the same.

So today, I’m breaking down the exact 4-part framework we use for our own launches and for our clients - email by email.

Let’s get into it.

The 4 Parts Of Our Email Launch Playbook

Before we dive into the nitty gritty, here’s a high-level overview of what we’re going to be digging into:

• Part 1: Pre-Launch Emails — Build anticipation before doors open

• Part 2: Launch Emails — Drive sales during launch week

• Part 3: Objection-Handling Emails — Convert high-intent fence-sitters

• Part 4: Abandoned Cart Sequence — Recover people who almost bought

Each part has a specific job.

But they all play a key role in maximizing results.

Now, let me break down each part.

Part 1: Pre-Launch Emails (5-7 emails)

The goal of your Pre-Launch Emails is to drive waitlist signups and build anticipation before the launch even begins.

Think about it.

If you launch cold, you’re catching your audience off guard.

You’re asking them to buy something out of nowhere without any anticipation or built-up demand.

But if you do your pre-launch right, a lot of people should already be ready to buy as soon as the actual launch begins.

The waitlist also creates psychological commitment - people who opt in are invested before they even see the offer.

When to send these emails

You can send these emails 1-2 weeks before your cart opens.

And you can send them consecutively (i.e. one email per day) or you can stagger them a little bit and send them every other day.

Personally, I prefer to send 5-7 consecutive emails the week before the cart opens.

The strategy

Sell the methodology, not the product.

Your Pre-Launch Emails should educate your audience on the approach or philosophy behind your offer.

By the time you open the cart, they should already believe in the method - so buying feels like the logical next step.

For example: If you’re launching a course on email marketing, your pre-launch emails might teach why email beats social, or why most email strategies fail.

But you’re not pitching the course yet.

Instead, you’re making the case for the worldview the course is built on.

Part 2: Launch Emails (10 emails over 7 days)

The goal of your Launch Emails is simple:

Drive people to your sales page and get as many of them as possible to buy your product.

Now, of course, you can do that in a bunch of different ways.

But these are our 10 “staple” themes we always go back to when building a Launch Sequence:

1. Announcement — Doors are open. Here’s what it is, who it’s for, and how to get it.

2. Bump — Short follow-up for people who missed the first email. “In case you missed it” type of deal.

3. Success Story — Feature one specific student or client transformation. Make it relatable and aspirational. Show the reader what’s possible.

4. Forward-Leaning Email — Paint the picture of life after the transformation. Help them visualize the future version of themselves (if they take action right now).

5. Bonuses Overview — Stack the value. Show everything they get beyond the core offer. Make the deal feel like a no-brainer.

6. Testimonial Roundup — Share a roundup of testimonials in one email. Different archetypes of people, different results. More proof = more trust.

7. FAQ Email — Answer the most common questions people have before buying your program.

8. Last Chance #1 — Last-day urgency begins. Cart closes soon. Remind them what they’ll miss if they don’t act.

9. Last Chance #2 — Reinforce scarcity or minimize the perceived risk. Add a new angle or reason to buy now.

10. Last Chance #3 (Final Hours) — Final push. Door closes tonight. This is often the highest-converting email of the entire launch.

When to send these emails

Our last launches are typically 7 days long.

So what we do is - we send an email every day of the launch (in the morning) and we double it (or triple it) up on the first and last day:

• On the first day, we send emails 1 & 2

• And on the last day, we send emails 8, 9, & 10

The rest of the days we just send 1 email.

Now, you might be thinking…

“Daniel… 10 emails is a LOT, isn’t it?”

But here’s the thing you need to realize:

Not everyone opens every email.

You need multiple touchpoints to reach as many people as possible in your audience.

Plus, each email serves a different purpose - speaking to a different buyer psychology, a different objection, etc.

And if I’ve learned anything is this:

There’s a direct correlation between the amount of emails you send during a launch and the amount of revenue you generate.

So, do with that what you will.

Part 3: Objection-Handling Emails (4 PM sends)

Alright, we’re getting into advanced territory here.

(99% of founders and creators don’t even know this is a thing!)

The goal of this next sequence is to address hesitations from your highest-intent prospects - people who’ve clicked on your sales page (or joined the waitlist during the pre-launch period) but haven’t bought yet.

These people have already shown interest.

But if they haven’t bought is because there’s something holding them back.

And that’s where these emails come in.

When to send these emails

As you probably remember, once the cart opens, you’re sending daily launch emails to your whole list each morning.

Which is why we want to wait until the afternoon/evening to send these.

(Yes, we also send these every day of the launch - except for Days 1 & 7 when we are sending multiple launch emails.)

Now, here’s the key thing to keep in mind:

You’re only sending these “extra” daily emails to people who’ve shown intent (not to your full list).

The strategy

Each product/offer comes with its own bag of objections.

But after selling all sorts of digital products (in a bunch of different niches), I can tell you there are 3 universal objections you always want to address:

• Pricing — Reframe investment vs. cost - what’s the ROI of solving this problem? And what does it cost them to not solve this?

• “Will it work for me?” — Show that this works for people like them and reduce the “I’m different” objection with hyper targeted examples.

• Comparison to alternatives — Why this over other courses, coaches, or DIY approaches What makes your method different or better?

So, make sure to always cover these 3 bases.

Part 4: Abandoned Cart Sequence (Automated)

OK, we’re almost done here!

So the goal of this final sequence is to give your highest-intent, most engaged prospects a final nudge to buy.

And unlike your Objection-Handling Sequence, you only want to send your Abandoned Cart Emails to people who’ve clicked on your sales page (without buying) at least twice.

It’s hyper targeted.

Which is why a well-executed Abandoned Cart Sequence can help you get an extra 10-20% of sales you’d likely lose otherwise.

When to send these emails

These emails are meant to be sent automatically.

Here’s how it usually works:

• Somebody clicks on your sales page for the second time

• You put them on hold for 20-30 mins (to see if they buy)

• If they don’t buy, they’re added to the sequence and the follow-ups begins.

The other cool thing is:

Once you have this system set up, you can re-use for all your future launches with minimal tweaks.

The strategy

Our Objection-Handling Sequence typically has 3 emails (with the third email changing based on the specific reason why the prospect is on the fence).

Here’s a quick breakdown:

Email 1: Nudge Email (Story-Based)

This first email aims to get people to buy by telling a story:

• Why you created this

• A moment of realization

• The problem you were trying to solve

And it reminds them that they showed interest, with a link back to checkout.

Email 2: Survey Email (Self-Segmentation)

The whole purpose of this email is to gather data (not to sell).

Basically, we’re asking the reader:

“Hey, what’s holding you back?”

But instead of just leaving it up for them to respond manually, we include 3 clickable links - each one representing a common objection:

• “It’s the price”

• “I don’t have time right now”

• “I’m not sure it’s for me”

When they click, they self-segment into a more targeted follow-up email.

This works very well because they are the ones telling what’s holding them back.

Email 3: Targeted Objection Emails

Lastly, based on which link they clicked, you send them a final, hyper-targeted follow-up email:

• “It’s the price” → ROI breakdown, payment plan options, cost of inaction

• “I don’t have time” → Time-saving angle, quick wins, “less time than you think” framing

• “I’m not ready” → Handle the limiting belief directly. Waiting often makes the problem worse. Action creates readiness.

Phew, we’ve covered a lot!

Now, as you can see, this is a pretty comprehensive playbook.

And if you’ve never executed a launch of this caliber before, the process can easily get overwhelming.

So I’ve created an AI mega-prompt to help you with that.

The AI Email Launch Strategist

Copy/paste this prompt in your favorite LLM/AI tool.

(No need to fill in any information.)

Your AI will interview you, gather all the details about your offer and your launch timeline, and then map out your entire launch email strategy - all 4 sequneces with suggested themes, cadence, etc. based on the framework I just walked you thorugh.

Here you go:

Read more

• A Pillar Lead Magnet

• One-Off Lead Magnets

What’s the difference?

Here’s the nutshell:

Your pillar lead magnet is a polished, comprehensive asset that’s strategically designed to drive conversions of your main offer.

These are the type of assets that can take a few weeks (sometimes even months) to put together.

A one-off lead magnet, on the other hand, is usually more casual, more timely, and smaller in scope.

And they don’t necessarily have to be perfectly aligned with your paid offer (because they’re more timely and less timeless).

Now, you might be wondering…

“Daniel, do I really need both?”

Yes, you do!

Here’s why:

Having both types of lead magnets allows you to continue to drive conversions AND grow your email list without fatiguing your audience with the same CTA over and over.

Think about it:

If every post and every email you publish promotes the same lead magnet, people will eventually tune out.

One-off lead magnets give you variety - fresh hooks, new angles, different entry points into your world.

Now, over the past year, I’ve created plenty of prompts and resources to help you ideate and build one-off lead magnets.

So today, I want to focus on the other bucket:

Pillar Lead Magnets.

Specifically - the format I think works best.

The most effective format for your Pillar Lead Magnet

Over the past 4-5 years, I’ve seen, consumed, and built hundreds of lead magnets.

And in my experience, there’s one format that beats everything else when it comes to Pillar Lead Magnets:

Email Courses.

An email course is an evergreen marketing asset that educates readers on a topic and/or helps them solve a specific problem through a series of consecutive email-based lessons.

Think of it as a very intentional, high-value email sequence.

Now, here’s why email courses are so effective:

• Reason #1: They’re digestible by default. Unlike a 50-page PDF or a 5-hour video course, email courses drip out the content over time. No one has to block off 3 hours to consume it. They just... read their emails.

• Reason #2: They meet people where they already are. Email courses are meant to be consumed in the place they check every single day: their inbox. Not a course platform they have to log into. Or in a PDF sitting in their downloads folder.

• Reason #3: They train your readers to open your emails. This is the sneaky long-term benefit. When someone goes through a 5-day email course from you, they’re building a habit of opening your emails. That pays dividends for months (even years) after.

So with all this in mind, here’s my recommendation:

If you’re going to invest serious time into a pillar lead magnet, make it an email course.

How to come up with your email course idea

Now, the hardest part of building an email course is figuring out what it should actually be.

• What’s the value prop?

• What’s the promise?

• What do the 5 days cover?

Now, based on my experience, there are two main ways to achieve this:

Approach 1: The Unbundling Approach

This is when you take your paid offer and “unbundle” ONE specific module or component (usually something foundational).

You give a compressed but complete version of that ONE piece through a 5-day email course.

This creates a natural curiosity gap - once they learn and put into practice this first piece, they realize they need the other pieces too.

Now, this approach works best when: (1) that module is a “gateway concept” everyone can relate to, (2) it has 3-5 subtopics that map cleanly to 5 emails, and (3) completing it naturally leads to wanting what comes next.

For example: Imagine our paid offer is a full self-paced course on how to create money-making lead magnets. A great module/section to unbundle would be one of the initial sections where we talk about strategy and/or ideation.

Because once people have brainstormed a great lead magnet idea (which is a win), they’ll want help with the rest of the steps.

Approach 2: The Buffet Approach

This is when you give a high-level preview or sample of EVERYTHING covered in the paid offer.

Each email touches on a different pillar or module at a surface level, building awareness of the full scope and creating desire to “dig deeper” into all parts.

This works best when your offer has distinct pillars that each stand alone as valuable teasers.

Now, let’s take the same paid offer example we used earlier:

A self-paced course on how to create money-making lead magnets.

If we wanted to use the Buffet Approach for this offer, we’d give the reader a full (but high-level) overview of the different steps & frameworks we teach inside the course (rather than just giving them a comprehensive crash course on Step 1).

The key distinction:

• Unbundling goes DEEP on ONE narrow problem.

• Buffet goes WIDE across ALL the pieces.

Make sense?

Cool!

Now, let me share with you a tool that’ll help you streamline this whole process.

The Email Course Value Prop Generator

As usual, I’ve put together a full AI prompt to help you implement this week’s framework with as little time and effort as possible.

The prompt is designed to interview you, gather some context about your offer, help you decide which approach best fits your specific situation, and then brainstorm 3-5 email course ideas with working titles and day-by-day outlines.

Here it is:

Read more

My paid newsletter, AI Email Marketing Prompts, hit 100 paid newsletter subscribers

And while it’s been an awesome journey, it hasn’t been easy… at ALL.

So I wanted to share a few (hard) lessons that most people don’t talk about (if you’re thinking of launching a paid newsletter this year).

And in case I don’t talk you out of it (lol), I’m also including an AI prompt to help you avoid one of the biggest paid newsletter mistakes writers make.

Let’s dig in.

1. There’s nothing “passive” about a paid newsletter

A lot of people think paid newsletters are passive - you “just create content and start charging money for it.”

But the reality is that, just like any other business, it takes a LOT of work:

And here’s the other thing:

It requires volume.

Typically, paid newsletters are low-ticket products. You’re not charging more than $50 or even $100 for a monthly subscription (and that’s being generous).

Which means that to make the numbers work (and generate meaningful income), you need thousands of paying subscribers.

And you don’t get that level of customer base without having a big organic audience or running a lot of paid ads.

2. Selling a cheap but ongoing subscription is often harder than selling a more expensive one-off product

I don’t have a super science-backed explanation here, but I’ve seen this firsthand.

By definition, a subscription implies commitment.

And people are generally wary of commitments.

Which is why they’re usually harder to sell than a one-off purchase - even if the price is higher.

But also, there’s subscription fatigue.

People have been paying for subscriptions they don’t use for a long time (software, streaming, etc.) and it’s almost like subscriptions are getting a bad reputation.

Example: Last year, I saw a lot of big SaaS tools started to offer pay-as-you-go or usage-based tiers rather than the classic monthly subscription

3. You’re not in the business of selling content. You’re in the business of selling outcomes

This is a big one.

People often start a paid newsletter thinking they’re in the business of selling premium content. But you’re not.

You’re in the business of selling outcomes - just like when you’re selling anything else.

It seems like a small nuance, but when you understand that you’re selling outcomes (not just premium content), the way you treat your product completely changes.

You start to really think about how to make it easier for people to get value and results as quickly as possible.

In my case, I don’t just help people learn new frameworks and strategies. I also make it extremely easy for them to implement those strategies and get results fast.

This is why the best and most successful paid newsletters are not positioned as newsletters. They’re positioned and feel like products that deliver specific outcomes.

4. There isn’t a perfect platform for paid newsletters yet (and that’s OK)

Throughout the year, I evaluated 3 different platform options for hosting & running my paid newsletter - and I ended using two of them.

In the very beginning, I tried building a custom solution using Zapier and other tools like ConvertKit, ThriveCart, etc.

And let me tell you:

That was an absolute nightmare lol.

Things were constantly breaking, I had to manually give people access to content and community, endless unnecessary work.

So when I got tired of that, I switched to a platform built for paid newsletters out of the box.

The 2 options I considered were Substack and Beehiiv.

But neither were perfect or had all the things I wanted:

• Basic payment/subscription functionality (check)

• Monetization tools like funnels, upsells, order bumps (missing or basic)

• Automation functionality (Beehiiv was better, Substack is very basic)

I ended up choosing Substack because of the simplicity.

(Sometimes that’s both a bug and a feature!)

Plus, I was interested in Substack’s built-in distribution with their social network component.

The takeaway:

You just have to choose one and be okay with the trade-offs.

5. Don’t paywall all the good stuff

I’ve known this intuitively but it really clicked last year for me when I heard this story from David Senra, the guy behind Founders podcast.

In the beginning, he didn’t know how to monetize his podcast.

So he put all of his amazing content behind a paywall.

And he didn’t realize it was a mistake until a friend told him:

“Dude, I’ve been trying to share your podcast with everyone because I love it, but it’s behind a paywall. I’ve had to gift subscriptions to people just so they can check it out.”

That’s when he realized he was making it very hard for people to experience his product.

Now, obviously - if you’re running a paid subscription, you need to charge for something.

But it’s about finding a balance of:

• Giving enough free value that people want to stay subscribed (otherwise they’ll just unsubscribe if you’re only spamming them to upgrade)

• And making the free content good enough that it creates curiosity and desire to upgrade

In my case, I share all the frameworks and examples for free. But I paywall the AI prompts - which is the part that really helps with implementation.

6. Recurring revenue = recurring work

This ties back to my first lesson, but it’s worth emphasizing.

Unlike other digital products, paid newsletters require ongoing work.

By definition, you’re selling something ongoing.

And whenever people talk about recurring revenue, they often glorify it.

Which is fine - it can definitely be awesome, especially if you have a SaaS business (where the tech does most of the work).

But if you’re running a paid newsletter or membership, YOU are the one fulfilling the work.

So, recurring revenue means recurring work.

And again - there’s nothing inherently wrong with that.

The same is true with agencies, for example.

You just need to be aware of that trade-off.

Because a newsletter is not like a SaaS where the tech takes care of all the work. You’re doing all of the work, consistently, every single week.

Now, before I let you go…

I have some goodies for ya!

As I mentioned earlier, one of the biggest mistakes people make when launching a paid newsletter is thinking they’re in the business of selling content.

But as you now know, you’re actually in the business of selling outcomes.

So I want to share a prompt I use to help people nail their paid newsletter value proposition from the very beginning.

This is based on a framework I learned from my business partner, Nicolas Cole, who built one of the largest Substack newsletters (Write with AI).

NOTE: The prompt is designed to immediately start the conversation without you having to fill in any placeholder. Just copy and paste the prompt and then let your AI interview you to get things going.

You are an expert in paid newsletter strategy, specializing in helping creators develop value propositions that convert free readers into paying subscribers.

Your approach is built on one core principle: **tangibility**.

---

### The Tangibility Principle

Readers value tangible assets more than intangible explanations.

- ❌ INTANGIBLE: "I'll explain how to build a paid newsletter"
- ✅ TANGIBLE: "Each week, you get my 6-step checklist for building a $100K+ newsletter"

Same topic. Different perceived value. The first is abstract. The second is a digital object—something collectible and usable.

**Why it works:** Tangible value propositions create clear mental trades. "I give you $20/month → You give me weekly [specific asset]." The best paid newsletters aren't selling writing—they're selling collectible assets readers want to accumulate forever.

---

### The Core Question

> **"What OBJECT might each reader value?"**

Tangible assets are: **Holdable** (feels like something you could save/print), **Collectible** (readers want more over time), **Specific** (named format), **Usable** (directly applicable), and **Repeatable** (you can create new versions indefinitely).

---

### Tangible Asset Categories

| Category | Examples |
|----------|----------|
| **Analysis** | Heat maps, teardowns, scorecards, audits, trend reports |
| **Instructional** | Checklists, playbooks, frameworks, annotation guides, decision trees |
| **Ready-to-Use** | Templates, scripts, prompts, swipe files, formulas |
| **Curation** | Databases, directories, purchase lists, reading lists, vendor shortlists |
| **Tracking** | Trackers, calendars, dashboards, roadmaps |

---

### Value Proposition Formula

> **[Frequency] + [Tangible Asset] + [Specific Benefit] + [For Whom]**

**Examples:**
- "Weekly ChatGPT prompts that help writers create better content faster"
- "Weekly heat maps revealing profitable Kindle subcategory keywords"
- "Weekly annotation guides for classic Russian novels"
- "Weekly itemized purchase lists to recreate stunning kitchen designs"

---

### The Infinite Collectibility Test

> **"Would readers want 1 of these? 5? 10? Or NEW versions forever?"**

If the answer isn't "forever," the asset isn't collectible enough.

- ✅ Weekly AI prompts → Writers always want new prompts
- ❌ "A guide to starting your newsletter" → They only need one

---

## YOUR PROCESS

**Step 1: Interview the User**

Before providing recommendations, gather the context you need by asking the user these questions ONE AT A TIME (wait for each response before asking the next):

1. **Newsletter Topic/Niche:** "What topic or niche does your newsletter cover (or will it cover)?"
2. **Target Audience:** "Who is your ideal reader? Tell me about their skill level, goals, and biggest pain points."
3. **Your Unique Angle/Expertise:** "What unique perspective, experience, or expertise do you bring to this topic?"

Once you have all three inputs, confirm them back to the user and ask if anything needs adjustment before proceeding.

**Step 2: Generate Recommendations**

After gathering context, deliver:

1. **5 Tangible Asset Ideas** — Different collectible formats for their niche with brief rationale
2. **Value Proposition Statements** — One-liner for each using the formula
3. **Infinite Collectibility Rating** — High/Medium/Low for each with reasoning
4. **Top Recommendation** — Best fit for their niche and audience, with explanation
5. **Paywall Strategy** — Where to place the cliffhanger (give explanation free → paywall right before delivering the tangible asset)

---

**Begin by introducing yourself briefly, then ask the first interview question.**

Hope this helps!

And if you have any questions, just reply to this email.

I read every response.

Talk soon,

Daniel

We launched a LinkedIn lead magnet together.

The goal was simple:

Maximize email subscribers while minimizing the effort to create the actual asset.

And considering we drove 500+ subscribers in just a few days, I’d say it worked pretty well.

So today, I’m going to walk you through exactly how we did it - step by step - so you can do the same.

But first, let me explain the strategy from a high level:

The Lead Magnet Collab Strategy

If you’ve spent any time on LinkedIn over the past year, you’ve probably seen people use what I call the viral LinkedIn giveaway strategy:

• They create a lead magnet

• Then they make a LinkedIn post offering access to the asset (in exchange for leaving a comment on the post, which then creates an engagement flywheel)

• Lastly, they send you a DM with an opt-in page link to actually get the asset

This strategy is great because, when it works, it allows you to grow your LinkedIn audience and your email list at the same time.

Now, what my friend and I did was a variation of this:

We created a lead magnet together.

Then I made a LinkedIn post offering access to the asset to my audience.

But then we took it a step further:

Since I was the one who published the post, my friend sent an email to his email list driving traffic to my LinkedIn post.

This helped the post get traction faster - and ultimately drive more comments & email subscribers than we would have otherwise.

Make sense?

Cool!

Now, let me show you how you could replicate this for yourself:

Step 1: Find someone to collab with

I’d been thinking about this idea for a while, so I texted my friend, Matthew, about it.

We’re friends and both run the LinkedIn lead magnet strategy regularly.

Plus, there’s a good level of overlap between the things we write content about.

So naturally, we were a good fit.

For you: Find someone at your level (or a bit higher) who’s also creating content and building their audience.

Then, pitch them on the idea.

If you already have a relationship with them, even better.

Step 2: Come up with your gameplan

Once they say yes, these are the key decisions you need to make upfront:

• What lead magnet will you create? (Find alignment between your content niches)

• How do you divide & conquer the work? (Who creates what, who builds the landing page, etc.)

• How do you divide & conquer the promotion? (Who makes the post vs who sends the email)

• Who handles delivery? (DMing people the download link)

Pro tip: Start brainstorming lead magnet concepts before you reach out to any potential partners.

When I first ran the idea by Matthew, I already had a specific lead magnet concept in mind.

That helped streamline the process a lot (because we didn’t have to waste time ideating).

Step 3: Divide and conquer the build

This took us about 4-5 days total.

Here’s how we split it:

• Matthew outlined the asset using existing content from both of us

• I finalized it with his resources + my frameworks

• Matthew gave feedback, we iterated

• I created the landing page for the asset

It was a fairly smooth process.

Obviously, the caveat is: We’re friends and we’ve collaborated on similar projects before.

But if you make all the decisions early on, then the actual build should be relatively straightforward.

Step 4: Divide and conquer the launch

Once your asset is ready, it’s time to promote it!

The goal here is to add distribution without duplicating effort.

In our case:

• I posted on LinkedIn promoting the asset (he helped me work the post hook and copy as well)

• And Matthew emailed his list driving traffic to my post

This maximized visibility & ultimately led to more sign-ups.

So, as an easy rule of thumb:

One of the partners should publish the LinkedIn post and then the other partner should send the email.

And in case you’re curious, here’s the LinkedIn post we used for this specific launch.

Step 5: Grow your list

Lastly, once we started getting comments, my team and I took care of sending DMs to everyone who engaged with the post.

All subscribers initially went to my list (since the landing page was on my ESP).

But a few days later, once all the engagement died off, I shared a CSV with Matthew so he could import all the subs into his list as well.

The results

These were the final results of this launch:

• 2,300+ comments

• 69,000+ views on the post

• 570+ new email subscribers in 3 days

Now, full transparency:

This wasn’t our best-performing lead magnet ever.

But it was top 80th percentile performance while taking LESS time and effort (because of the collaboration).

So I was pretty pleased with the results.

Now, the hardest part of this whole thing is figuring out what to create together.

So I put together a prompt to help you brainstorm collab lead magnet ideas that leverage both creators’ strengths.

Your Lead Magnet Collaboration Strategy AI Assistant

Just paste the prompt below into ChatGPT or Claude, fill in the details about you and your potential partner, and let it generate 10 potential lead magnet ideas organized by effort level.

Here’s the prompt:

Read more

And after running dozens of webinar experiments, we found a landing page formula that consistently hits 60-70% opt-in rates.

So today, I want to walk you through:

• My 6-Figure Webinar Landing Page Copywriting Formula — The exact landing page structure we use on every webinar.

• 3 Webinar CRO Tips — A handful of proven tactics that can push your opt-in (and overall conversion) rates even higher.

• A Real-World Example — A full breakdown of one of our highest-converting landing pages (70%+ opt-in rate) so you can see the framework in action.

• My Webinar Landing Page AI Mega Prompt — A plug-and-play prompt trained on this framework (to help you draft your own webinar landing pages in minutes instead of hours).

Lastly, I’lm also including a downloadable “Skill” version of this prompt so you can literally install this framework into your Claude workspace once - and then use it over and over again.

Let’s get into it.

My 3-Part Webinar Landing Page Formula

After testing a few different layouts, we’ve found that the most effective landing pages tend to also be the simplest.

So these are the 3 sections we always include:

Section #1 — The Hero

This is where you stop the scroll.

You’ve got about 3 seconds to convince the reader that this webinar is worth their time.

So the goal of this section is to communicate 3 things as fast as possible:

1. What the webinar is about

2. What they’re going to walk away with

3. Why they should care

Here are the different copy components we use to accomplish that:

• Pre-headline: Calls out your audience, creates curiosity, or frames the event format (e.g., “FREE Ghostwriting Workshop”)

• Headline: Leads with the benefit or transformation they’ll get

• Whisper: A parenthetical that handles objections or creates FOMO

• Sub-headline: Explains what they’ll walk away with

• Social proof elements: Date/time, duration, previous registrant count — builds credibility and reduces friction

• CTA button + countdown timer: Creates urgency and gives them a clear next step

Section #2 — The Overview

This is the first section below the fold.

The goal here is to sell the “what” - what are people actually going to learn or walk away with from this webinar?

But you don’t need 47 bullet points to accomplish that.

You just need to share 3 things (e.g. frameworks, strategies, key takeaways, etc.) that give the reader an accurate overview of what they can expect to learn.

The key, though, is to frame each of these bullets in a way that feels compelling and enticing.

So with that in mind, this is the way we normally structure our overview bullets:

{Framework Name}: {Description connecting the topic to a tangible outcome. Bold the most compelling phrase.}

That’s it.

They create a curiosity gap. They’re scannable. And they’re benefit-driven.

This section can also mention:

• Additional details about the format and duration of the webinar itself

• A special bonus to incentivize registrations or live attendance (or both). We’ll cover this more in the CRO Tips section.

Section #3 — Instructor Credibility

This is where you answer the question:

“Why should I listen to you?”

Here’s what you should include here:

• Bolded quantifiable credentials — for example: revenue generated, students taught, years of experience, companies worked with, etc.

• Photo(s) — this shows you’re a real person & helps build trust and affinity before the webinar has even begun.

• Final CTA button — one more chance to convert before they leave

Remember:

The goal of this section isn’t to share your whole life story.

But to give people just enough proof to trust you know what you’re talking about.

A couple more pro tips:

• Lead with your most impressive or relevant credential

• Use numbers whenever possible (not “helped many people” but “helped 1,400+ people”)

• Keep it to 2-4 sentences max - if they’ve scrolled this far, they’re already interested

Now let’s see how all 3 sections come together on a real page.

Example Breakdown

As we headed into 2026, we wanted to run a timely webinar (rather than our usual pillar presentation).

So we put together a goal-setting workshop for both experienced & aspiring ghostwriters.

These were the results:

• 70%+ opt-in rate

• 3,000+ registrations

• And 100+ discovery calls booked

Here’s a full screenshot of the landing page:

Let’s break down why each of the different pieces worked so well:

The Hero Section

• Pre-headline: “FREE Ghostwriting Workshop” — immediately frames the event and removes the price objection

• Headline: Benefit-focused, future-paced (“Make 2026 the year you finally…”)

• The word “finally” — implies they’ve been struggling, creates emotional resonance

• Sub-headline: Explains exactly what they’ll walk away with (“a proven goal-setting system”)

• Contrast: “I hope this works” → “I know exactly what to do” — feels like a tangible transformation

The Overview Section

• “Here’s what you’re going to get out of this (free) masterclass…” — simple, clear, benefit-focused header

• 3 Frameworks, not 10 — keeps the copy scannable

• Each framework has a name/title + tangible outcome — “End-Of-Year Review,” “Operationalizing Success,” “2026 Ghostwriting Trends”

• Bold phrases make it dead easy for the reader to pay attention to the most important parts of the copy — “double down on what worked (and ditch what didn’t),” “simple, repeatable actions,” “new ways to monetize your skills”

• Bonus creates urgency to register AND attend — “if you show up live, you’ll get…” incentivizes attendance, not just registration

• CTA — another chance to convert before they scroll further

The Credibility Section:

• Quantifiable credentials in bold — “$2M ARR,” “24 full-time employees,” “300+ industry leaders,” “1,400+ people”

• Relevant proof only — Digital Press, the book, PGA. Not his full life story.

• Photo builds trust — he’s a real person!

• Final CTA + form — captures the conversion right there

Now, that’s the core framework.

But there are a few additional tweaks that can push your conversion rate even higher - which we’ll cover next.

3 CRO Tips To Help You Maximize Your Opt-In (And Overall Conversion) Rates

Our 3-part framework is the foundation.

But here are a few additional tactics we’ve used to squeeze even more conversions out of our webinars:

Tip #1: A/B test different headlines

More often than not, the first headline you try won’t be the best one.

And the only way to find out if you’re sitting on a winner is to A/B test.

We typically test 2-3 headline variations for all our webinar landing pages. Each variation uses a different psychological angle - curiosity, pain, benefit, us vs. them.

Then, we let the data tell us which one resonates most.

Tip #2: Incentivize both registration and live attendance

You can offer bonuses for registering, bonuses for showing up live, or both.

So if you have the bandwidth, we recommend doing both.

Why?

Because you don’t want people to just register - you also want them to show up.

A registration bonus (like a free resource) can increase the chances people sign up.

And a live attendance bonus (like a worksheet or exclusive Q&A) gives them a reason to block their calendar and be there in real time.

Example: On our goal-setting webinar, we offered a “2026 Goal-Setting Worksheet” that we’d walk through live.

Tip #3: Use your Thank You page to pitch the next step

Here’s a big lesson we learned this year:

People are more likely to take action right after they’ve already taken an action.

This is why we always include a CTA on our Thank You pages.

For example, after someone registers for one of our webinars, we have a soft pitch to apply to join PGA.

And as a result, we usually book dozens of calls before the webinar even begins.

So yes, it works!

My 6-Figure Webinar Landing Page AI Prompt

Below you can find an AI Mega Prompt trained on the exact framework I just walked you through.

Just start a conversation with your go-to AI tool (I like using Claude) and let it interview you for context before it starts working on your landing page copy.

One quick heads up:

This prompt is designed to brainstorm 5 different hero section variations for you. That way, you have a few different options to choose from (or even AB test if you want to find out which angle resonates most with your audience).

Read more

We need to be reminded more than we need to be taught.

Over the past 12 months, I’ve created 50+ AI Prompts to help you:

• Grow your email list faster

• Turn casual readers into loyal fans

• And drive more email revenue (with a fraction of the time & the effort)

But chances are - you missed some of the best frameworks I shared throughout the year.

So today, I’d like to do a little recap and share with you 6 of my most popular AI Email Marketing Prompts of 2025 (plus one of the most value-packed mini-courses I created this year!).

That way, you can have them handy as you think about your Email & Newsletter Strategy for the New Year.

So, let’s dig in, shall we?

Prompt #1: 30-Day Content Series Brainstormer

Tired of waking up every day wondering “what the heck should I post today?”

This prompt helps you escape the Daily Content Roulette by designing a 30-day content series that compounds into social posts, newsletter content, lead magnets, and even paid products.

Just plug in your niche and offer, and it’ll generate 10 custom series ideas with built-in viral hooks and daily formats.

Check out the full issue here

Prompt #2: Hyper-Congruent Lead Magnet Ideator

Most creators use the same generic lead magnet for every piece of content they publish.

Greg Isenberg does the opposite - and it’s one of the reasons he’s been able to grow his email list so quickly.

This prompt helps you brainstorm 10 lead magnet ideas that are perfectly aligned with any specific piece of content you create.

The result?

More clicks, more opt-ins, and more juice out of every post, video, or newsletter you publish.

Check out the full issue here

Prompt #3: Sales Page Generator

Your emails can be incredible - but if your sales page doesn’t seal the deal, then all your hard work goes to waste.

Now, the thing is…

Writing a good sales page can take tens of hours of intense, focused work.

Luckily, with this prompt you can get your first draft ready in 20 minutes (instead of 20 hours).

It’s built on the exact 11-part framework we’ve used to write sales pages for multiple 6-figure launches—including one that generated $211,000+ in just 7 days.

Check out the full issue here

Prompt #4: On-The-Go Newsletter Generator

I used to spend almost 2 hours writing one newsletter each week.

Now it takes me 30-40 minutes - and I do most of the heavy lifting while I’m on a walk.

(Seriously!)

This issue breaks down my entire “voice-first” writing workflow and includes a prompt to create a custom copywriting style guide (so your AI can actually write in your voice).

Check out the full issue here

Prompt #5: LinkedIn Post To Newsletter Expander

If you’re posting on LinkedIn but struggling to figure out what to write in your newsletter, you’re sitting on a goldmine.

Every one of your best-performing posts could easily be repurposed as a newsletter - most of your subscribers probably never saw them anyway.

This prompt helps you brainstorm 10 ways to expand any LinkedIn post into a valuable email in 10-15 minutes.

Check out the full issue here

Prompt #6: Newsletter Positioning Mastermind

The newsletter trend I’m most bullish on going into 2026:

Newsletters that don’t feel like newsletters.

Leila Hormozi is a great example.

She recently repositioned her newsletter with a tiny tweak, and now her emails feel 10x more valuable (even though the actual content didn’t change as much).

This 2-part prompt helps you brainstorm a unique positioning angle for your newsletter - and then translate it into compelling value propositions that make people actually want to subscribe.

Check out the full issue here

(Bonus!) Lead Magnet Ideation Mastery

This year, I grew my email list to 10,000+ email subscribers.

And none of this would have been possible without my lead magnets.

So I put together an entire mini-course to help you brainstorm, validate, and create lead magnets that actually grow your email list and your business.

Inside, I walk you through my 7 go-to techniques for coming up with lead magnet ideas—each with a real example and an AI prompt you can use to brainstorm your own.

If growing your email list is a priority for 2026, be sure to bookmark this one.

Check out the full mini-course here

And that’s a wrap!

Thank you for being part of this journey - whether you’ve been here since Day 1 or you just recently discovered this newsletter, I want to say…

THANK YOU!

I appreciate you reading. It really means the world. And I hope you’ve been getting value from all these resources.

That said, I’m already cooking up a ton of new prompts for 2026, and I’d love your input.

Drop a comment (or hit reply) and let me know:

• What was your favorite prompt from this year?

• OR… what’s a prompt you’d love me to create in the New Year?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Daniel

• Great content

• Awesome insights

• Consistent delivery

But if you mess up this ONE email, none of that matters.

I’m talking about your Welcome Email.

Think about it:

This is the first email your readers get from you. The first impression. And it’s also the moment they decide whether they made a good decision (or a mistake) by subscribing.

So if you don’t nail it, the long-term implications can be brutal:

• Lower open rates (because they never learned to expect your emails)

• Worse deliverability (because they never replied or engaged)

• Higher unsubscribe rates (because they forgot why they signed up)

Your welcome email sets the tone for your entire relationship with your readers.

So yeah… it’s kind of a big deal.

Luckily, after studying 50+ newsletters, I’ve come up with a simple 6-step formula to nail your welcome email every time.

And in this email, I’m going to walk you through with real examples from my own Funnel Breakdowns welcome email so you can see exactly how this works.

(I’ll also include a template & an AI prompt to make this whole process even easier for you - so make sure to read till the end so you can see those!)

Step 1: Reinforce their decision to subscribe

First things first - give your reader a warm welcome and make them feel like they made a smart choice.

I like to do this by combining a friendly greeting with some social proof:

“Hey, welcome to Funnel Breakdowns!

And congrats - you just joined a select group of 10,500+ savvy creators & solopreneurs learning the ins and outs of building money-making email funnels every week.”

See what’s happening here?

I’m not just saying “thanks for subscribing.” I’m reinforcing that they joined something valuable - a “select group” of people who’re also looking to improve their email funnels.

Step 2: Remind them what’s in it for them

Right after welcoming the reader, restate your value proposition.

Yes, even if they just read it on your landing page.

This is very subtle but you want to constantly remind people of what’s in it for them:

“Every Friday, you’ll get a new, hand-crafted Funnel Breakdowns edition right in your inbox.

Each of these is absolutely jam-packed with actionable, real-world tactics to help you:

• Grow your email list faster

• Turn new subscribers into loyal readers

• And make more sales of your digital products & services on autopilot”

This removes any ambiguity about what they signed up for - and builds anticipation for what’s coming.

Step 3: Set clear expectations

Now, walk them through the logistics.

You want to clearly tell people when and how often you’ll be emailing them. This eliminates any uncertainty and builds anticipation for your next send.

Now, if you read the previous quote closely, you’ll notice I hit on both of these steps in the same blurb:

• I tell them when they’ll get the emails (”every Friday, you’ll get a new…”)

• I tell what what they’ll get out of each email (”real-world tactics to help you…”)

So there’s nothing wrong with tackling each of these steps in different “sections.” But if you can kill 2 birds with 1 stone, go for it.

Pro tip: If you can genuinely make a claim like this, share how much time you invest into each email you send. This builds perceived value & signals that you take your reader’s attention seriously.

For example:

“Just for context: I spend 15-20 hours each week researching, editing, & writing these Breakdowns so you can steal the best email funnel tactics from other successful creators in just a few minutes.”

Step 4: Ask for a reply

This is crucial for deliverability.

When someone replies to your email, email providers (think: Gmail, Outlook, etc.) learn that you’re a trusted sender.

This improves your “sender reputation” and increases the odds that your emails land in the primary inbox - for everyone on your email list.

So, here’s how I handle this part:

“If all of this sounds good, there’s just 2 quick things you need to do (to make sure you never, ever miss one of our Breakdowns):

1. Reply to this email with the word “sushi”

2. Make sure to move this email to your primary inbox (only if the email Gods tried to hide it from you by putting it in your spam or promotions folder).

Obviously, I don’t expect you to lift a finger without offering anything in return...

So as a thank you for doing this, I’ll send you a lil’ surprise welcome gift ;)”

Pro tip: Offering an incentive (like a surprise gift) dramatically increases reply rates.

Step 5: Make it easy for them to get instant value

This is a step a lot of people forget about.

Don’t make new readers wait until your next email to start getting value.

Otherwise, they might not open your next email.

So, here’s how I ensure new readers have a chance to immediately get some dopamine:

“P.S. If you’re eager to start leveling up your funnels (while we cook up your welcome gift), you can find a curation of some of our best Funnel Breakdowns here.”

You can link to a curation of your best content, a free bonus resource, or even an invite to a community.

The key is giving them something valuable right now.

(Bonus) Step 6: Present a special welcome offer

If you have a low-ticket product, you could consider offering a limited-time discount or bonus to new subscribers.

This is another way to provide quick value (while also increasing your lifetime value).

It’s a more advanced technique, though, but definitely worth testing if you have something to offer.

Make sense?

Cool!

Now, to make this even easier to implement…

I’ve put together two resources for you:

1. A plug-and-play template you can customize in minutes

2. And an AI prompt that generates a fully personalized welcome email based on your inputs AND my proven template

Let’s start with the template.

The Welcome Email Template

Here’s a plug-and-play template you can customize for your own newsletter:

Subject line: You’re in! What’s next...

Preview text: Ready to [unlock niche outcome]?

Hey, welcome to [Your Newsletter Name]!

And congrats - you just joined a select group of [number] [your audience description] learning [main topic/benefit] every [frequency].

Now, I want to be respectful of your time & attention so I’ll cut to the chase...

### Here’s why you’ll never want to go another [day/week/month] without reading [Your Newsletter Name]

Every [day of week/frequency], you’ll get a new, hand-crafted [Newsletter Name] edition right in your inbox.

Each of these is absolutely jam-packed with [what you share in your newsletter] to help you:

- [Key benefit #1]
- [Key benefit #2]
- [Key benefit #3]

Sweet, huh?

Just for context: I spend [time investment] each [timeframe] researching, editing, & writing these [Newsletter Name] so you can [core value proposition] in just a few minutes.

### What’s next...

If all of this sounds good, there’s just 2 quick things you need to do (to make sure you never, ever miss one of our [Newsletter Name]):

1. Reply to this email with the word “[whatever word you want to use]”
2. Make sure to move this email to your primary inbox if it landed in spam.

Obviously, I don’t expect you to lift a finger without offering anything in return...

So as a thank you for doing this, I’ll send you [incentive/reward for taking action] ;)

Deal?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

[Your Name]

[Your Title/Description]

P.S. If you’re eager to start [achieving main benefit] (while we [reference to incentive]), you can find [resource suggestion] here.

The AI Prompt

And if you want to generate a custom welcome email tailored to your specific newsletter, here’s a prompt that’ll do the heavy lifting for you:

Read more

And honestly, I think it’s GENIUS.

Thanks to this tiny tweak, her emails now feel more unique, valuable, and special - even though the content hasn’t changed that much.

This move is an absolute masterclass in the power of packaging.

So let me walk you through what she did (and how you could do the same with some AI help).

Some context…

In the past, Leila would send an email every week if you were part of the broader Acquisition.com mailing list.

Now, even though the emails were great (actionable, story-driven, etc.), for some reason the newsletter didn’t really feel special.

It almost felt like reading any other newsletter.

But now, with this positioning change, the perceived value of her emails has increased a TON - even though it’s a very subtle & small tweak.

So, what was the change?

Basically, ~3 weeks ago, she sent an email explaining this:

Then she goes on to explain what you’ll “get” inside of these emails:

Smart, huh?

Now honestly, the content can be the same (not saying it is, just saying it could be) but just because of how she’s framing her newsletter now, these emails feel much more special & worth reading.

And that, my friend, is the whole name of the game.

Because…

The best newsletters don’t feel like newsletters. They feel like paid products you happen to get for free.

That’s what makes people actually want to read them.

And that’s what Leila nailed.

She didn’t change her content strategy.

She changed the container.

This is positioning in action.

And the cool part is - “internal memos” is just ONE way to do it.

There many other “angles” you could use depending on your specific niche or industry.

Some examples:

• Lab Reports — A fitness coach sharing experiments they’re running on themselves and clients. What’s working, what’s not, real data.

• Case Files — A freelance copywriter breaking down anonymized client projects. The brief, the approach, the results.

• Field Notes — A SaaS founder documenting real-time lessons from building their company. Raw, unfiltered lessons and observations (rather than polished advice).

• Stolen From My Paid Stuff — An agency owner sending checklists & SOPs they normally charge clients thousands for.

See the pattern?

None of these feel like “content I create for subscribers.”

They feel like “something valuable that you happen to get access to as a subscriber.”

It’s a subtle but important shift.

Another (personal) example

I’m currently working on a new “newsletter vertical” (can’t reveal the name yet 👀) and I wanted to make sure it didn’t feel like “just another email newsletter.”

So I’ve been using a new AI prompt (which I’m going to share with you in a sec) to think through the positioning of this new newsletter.

Here’s the working draft of the landing page (please ignore the image I’m using along with the copy, it’s just a placeholder):

Now, notice what’s happening here:

The word “newsletter” doesn’t appear anywhere.

Not once.

Instead, the newsletter is framed as “behind the scenes access” to playbooks we’re actively using - not stuff we learned years ago, but what’s working right now across our portfolio of businesses and agency clients.

That’s a completely different value proposition than just “sign up for weekly email tips.”

And that’s exactly what these AI prompts will help you figure out for your own newsletter.

But first…

One important caveat!

Here’s the thing about positioning:

You actually have to deliver on the promise.

If you say you’re sharing “lab reports,” you better be running real experiments - not just repackaging generic advice and slapping a new label on it.

If you’re doing the “stolen from my paid stuff” angle, you better be sharing the SOPs and templates you actually use with your paying clients.

The reframe isn’t just a marketing trick.

It’s a commitment.

Leila’s “internal memos” work because she’s actually writing memos to her team and letting subscribers peek behind the curtain.

The positioning gets people in the door.

But delivering on that subtle promise you’re making is what builds trust over time.

So when you’re brainstorming your own angle, don’t just ask “what sounds good?”

Instead, ask:

“What can I actually deliver on, consistently, that would feel valuable if people had to pay for it?”

That’s the real filter.

Now, onto the prompt!

This week’s AI prompts

As I said, I’ve put together a 2-part AI prompt to help you nail your positioning.

Prompt #1: The Newsletter Repositioning Brainstorm.

This prompt helps you brainstorm 6 different ways you could reposition your newsletter so it feels like something otherthan a typical newsletter.

You’ll feed it some details about your audience, your expertise, and your business - and it’ll generate 6 repositioning angles tailored to your situation.

Each one includes the positioning concept, how it works, why it fits you, and example framing you could use.

Then it’ll give you its top recommendation based on your inputs.

Prompt #2: The Value Proposition Generator.

Once you’ve picked your favorite repositioning angle from Prompt #1, this prompt helps you translate it into compelling value propositions.

It’ll generate 8-10 variations of how you could describe your newsletter to potential subscribers - leading with the reframe, making the benefit clear, and making the whole thing feel exclusive.

Then it picks its top 3 favorites and explains why each one works.

Here’s Prompt #1:

## ROLE

**You’re a Conversion Newsletter Strategist who’s helped dozens of businesses generate millions in revenue via email.**

Your specialty is helping creators and business owners reposition their newsletters so they don’t *feel* like newsletters at all - but rather like exclusive access to something more valuable, more special, and more compelling.

The best newsletters don’t compete with other newsletters. They compete with products, memberships, and insider access - because that’s how they’re positioned.

**My goal:** I need your help brainstorming a unique positioning angle for my newsletter that makes it feel less like “content I create for subscribers” and more like “something valuable that subscribers get access to.”

## INSTRUCTIONS

**Here’s what I need from you:**

Brainstorm 6 different ways I could reposition my newsletter so it feels like something *other* than a typical newsletter.

For each reframe, provide:

- **The positioning angle** (what the newsletter “actually is”)
- **How it works** (1-2 sentences explaining the concept)
- **Why it fits me** (why this might resonate with my specific audience and situation)
- **Example framing** (a one-sentence example of how I might describe this to a potential subscriber)

### EXAMPLES

Use these example reframe categories as inspiration (but don’t limit yourself to them):

- **Internal Memos** — Content you create for your team/yourself that subscribers get to see
- **Private Briefings** — Curated intel you’d normally only share with clients or inner circle
- **Field Notes** — Real-time observations and lessons from your ongoing work
- **Lab Reports** — Experiments you’re running, with honest results (wins AND failures)
- **Deal Flow / Opportunity Alerts** — Actionable opportunities you’re spotting in your area of expertise
- **The Playbook** — The actual systems, templates, and frameworks you use in your business
- **Case Files** — Anonymized breakdowns of real client/customer situations and how you approached them
- **Stolen From My Paid Stuff** — Content pulled directly from your courses, programs, or client work

After presenting all 6 options, give me your top recommendation based on my specific inputs and explain why you think it’s the strongest fit.

## INPUT

Lastly, here’s some key details about my newsletter concept:

- My target audience: [YOUR ANSWER]
- My expertise/background: [YOUR ANSWER]
- The main topic/focus: [YOUR ANSWER]
- How often I plan to send it: [YOUR ANSWER]
- My product/service (if applicable): [YOUR ANSWER]
- The main transformation/benefit I want to help my readers achieve: [YOUR ANSWER]
- Any unique assets, processes, or “behind-the-scenes” elements from my work that might be interesting to my audience: [YOUR ANSWER]	

And here’s Prompt #2:

Ok, here’s my chosen repositioning angle:

[PASTE THE REFRAME YOU SELECTED FROM PROMPT 1]

**Now I need your help translating this repositioning angle into compelling value propositions.**

Generate 8-10 value proposition variations using this flexible structure as a starting point:

*”Every [frequency], I share [the reframed content] so you can [specific benefit] — without [pain point].”*

Adjust the structure as needed to sound natural and compelling. The formula is a guide, not a straitjacket. 

Some variations can be shorter, some longer. Some can flip the order. The goal is variety.

Each value proposition should:

- Lead with the reframe (what makes this NOT feel like a typical newsletter)
- Make the benefit and transformation crystal clear
- Be specific enough that I can consistently deliver on the promise
- Feel exclusive, valuable, and worth protecting (not just “more content”)

After presenting all 8-10 options, select your top 3 favorites and explain why you think each one works well for my specific situation.

PS - Also keep in mind the information I shared before about my newsletter concept, niche, etc.

And that’s it!

You now have a simple system to reposition your newsletter so it doesn’t feel like… well, a newsletter.

So run through both prompts, pick your angle, and start using it in your welcome emails, landing pages, and content.

You might be surprised how much a simple reframe changes the way people perceive your stuff.

And if you try this out, hit reply and let me know what angle you landed on.

I’d love to hear it.

Until next week,

Daniel

Chief AI Funnel Ninja

You probably know the feeling…

You’re about to hit send on a promo email, and something feels off.

• “Should I add another benefit?”

• “Maybe I need to handle one more objection?”

• “Is this enough to get people to buy?”

So you add more context, more proof, more “value.”

And look—that instinct isn’t wrong.

Long-form sales emails can absolutely crush. I’ve written (and seen) plenty of 800-word emails that absolutely print money.

But here’s what most people miss:

Sometimes the opposite approach can work even better.

I’m talking about hyper-short, plain-text emails.

The kind of email that feel almost too simple to send. Or that makes you think “there’s no way this is enough”...

And then it outperforms everything else you’ve sent that month.

So today, I want to show you exactly when and why these hyper-short emails work so well - and give you a plug-and-play AI prompt to create them in seconds.

Let’s get into it.

But first… the receipts!

Just to show you I’m not making this up, here are a few real-world examples of hyper-short emails that have crushed it.

Example #1: Texas Snax (Buc-ee’s Reseller)

Chris Koerner has been A/B testing marketing emails across multiple Shopify brands for over 12 years. Both B2B and D2C.

His takeaway?

“The ugly, short, 1-link plain text email WINS EVERY SINGLE TIME.”

Here’s one of his top performers:

That’s it.

No images or any fancy designs. Just a short & straightforward email with one link.

Example #2: Sticker Mule

This one’s a classic from Sticker Mule.

This email literally has 13 words lol.

That’s the whole thing.

Example #3: Connor Gross

Here’s one more example for you.

Connor runs an e-commerce brand that did over $1M in email revenue in a single month.

Now, guess what their 2 top performing emails for that month had in common?

Yup. They were both plain text emails

Now, after he posted that, somebody asked him if he could share the copy he used for one of those emails - and he shared a screenshot of his second best-performing one:

The email uses a simple good news/bad news framework, gives one link, and creates urgency without being pushy.

Now, it’s pretty clear that these emails work.

So the better question is…

“Why do they work?”

Why do these ridiculously simple emails outperform the ones you spent 2 hours crafting?

Here’s why:

The people who are closest to buying are usually the ones who need the least convincing.

They already know who you are. They already want what you’re selling. They’ve probably been thinking about it for a while.

They don’t need another 800-word sales letter walking them through EVERY single benefit and reason why they should buy.

They just need a nudge.

A reminder that your thing exists.

And a reason to act now.

(That last bit is important ^^^)

There’s a quote I love:

“80% of marketing is just reminding busy people you exist.”

These hyper-short emails are the epitome of that principle.

You’re not trying to persuade. You’re just making it easy for people who are already leaning in to take the next step.

Now, here’s the counterintuitive part…

Writing these crazy short emails is often harder than writing a long one.

Because you have to be ruthlessly concise.

Every word has to earn its place.

As Mark Twain once said:

“If I had more time, I’d have written a shorter letter.”

So to make this easier, I’ve put together an AI prompt specifically designed to create hyper-short plain-text promo emails.

The AI Prompt

Just paste the prompt below into ChatGPT or Claude, answer the questions it’s going to ask you, and then watch it write up 5 hyper-short email variations you can test.

(This prompt is intentionally designed so your AI can interview you and you don’t have to fill in any “placeholders” before you get started!)

Here you go:

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Here’re 10 copywriting tips plus one AI prompt to instantly make your emails more engaging (after writing & editing 1,000+ emails):

Tip #1: Write at least 10 variations of your subject line

It doesn’t matter how good your email is if nobody opens it in the first place.

That’s why your subject line is so important.

Now, it’s impossible to come up with a banger subject line on the first try.

Which is why I always like to brainstorm AT LEAST 10 subject line variations for each email I write.

Luckily, you can use AI to do this 10x faster.

One final pro tip: Always Keep your subject lines under 42 characters.

That’s the cutoff for most mobile screens - anything longer gets chopped off, and your reader only sees half your hook.

Tip #2: Write the intro of your emails the same way you’d write a hook for a LinkedIn post

Just because someone is reading your stuff in their inbox doesn’t mean you’re not competing for attention.

So skip the long greetings - and instead, aim to capture attention immediately.

For example, this was the introduction of this email you’re reading this:

“I make a living writing emails for 7, 8, and 9 figure founders.

Here’re 10 copywriting tips to instantly make your emails more engaging (after writing & editing 1,000+ emails):”

Now, here’s what a weaker intro for this email could have looked like:

“Hey there! Hope you’re having a great week. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about email marketing and what separates the emails that get opened and read from the ones that get ignored. After years of working with some of the biggest creators and founders in the game, I’ve compiled a list of my top tips that I think you’ll find really valuable…”

See the difference?

Tip #3: Speak directly to the reader

A lot of people write their emails as if they’re speaking to a big audience.

But the best emails feel like you’re having a 1:1 conversation with the writer.

Here’re 2 easy ways to make sure you don’t make this mistake:

• First, look for any instance where you’re clearly speaking to a crowd. “Hey everyone” → “Hey” or “Hey [name].”

• Second, aim for 80% or more of your email to be written in second person. If you’re using “I” or “they” more than “you,” you’re probably not speaking directly to the reader enough.

Tip #4: Edit your emails on your phone

Oftentimes, an email might look clean on desktop but feel overwhelming on mobile.

And that’s where most people will read your stuff.

That’s why I like to always edit my emails from my phone before I send them.

The main thing to look for:

Blocky paragraphs.

If you’ve got a long paragraph with 2-3 sentences, add some line-breaks and break it up in 1-sentence paragraphs.

That simple tweak will fix most mobile formatting issues.

Tip #5: Copywork your favorite emails

Copywork is the most effective way to internalize what good emails look and feel like.

The idea is simple:

Manually transcribe the best emails and sales letters you come across (yes, with pen and paper!).

A few classics worth doing copywork on:

• “The Tale of Two Young Men” (Wall Street Journal)

• “The Boron Letters” by Gary Halbert

• “Do You Make These Mistakes in English?”

If you want a structured way to build this habit, I put together a 21-day copywork challenge called 21 Days to Better Copy.

Each day, you get a new piece of iconic copy to study and transcribe - so you can improve your copywriting skills without having to “think about it.”

Tip #6: Read your emails aloud

This one is pretty straightforward.

The problem is - most people simply don’t do it.

But if you actually take the time to read your emails out loud, you’ll immediately notice the parts that sound clunky, the sentences that don’t flow well, and the sections that feel boring.

Highly recommend giving it a try.

Tip #7: Use sub-heads to make the piece skimmable

Most readers don’t read - they skim.

Sub-heads give them signposts to quickly scan and understand what your email covers without having to read every word.

2 rules of thumbs I live by:

• If you’re writing a listicle (like this email), make each “item” its own sub-head.

• If you’re not writing a listicle, aim for at least 3-5 sub-heads. Find key sentences that drive a point home or mark the beginning of a new idea and turn them into a sub-head.

Tip #8: Always include a PS

It’s counterintuitive, but the PS is one of the most-read sections of any email.

Which makes it prime real estate.

3 ways you can leverage your PS:

• If you’re sending a value newsletter with no CTA in the body, use the PS for a soft, contextual call-to-action. The email stays valuable, but you still get to make an ask.

• If you’re writing a sales email, use the PS to address a common objection. Tackle the reason someone might hesitate to buy.

• Also for sales emails: Use the PS as a reminder. When does the offer expire? What’s the bonus if they act now? The PS is a great place to reinforce urgency.

Tip #9: Always make your CTAs contextual

If your CTA feels “out of place,” it won’t convert.

Now, there’re 2 levers you can push/pull to make sure your CTAs are contextual:

• Placing. What’s the most relevant section of the email for you to add the CTA you’re looking to plug?

• Phrasing. How can you frame your CTA copy in a way that feels natural and congruent with the rest of the section (or even the full email)?

Remember the CTA earlier in this email for 21 Days to Better Copy?

That’s an example of a contextual CTA :)

Tip #10: Turn blocky paragraphs into bulleted lists

If reading your email feels like work, nobody will read it.

Luckily, bullets make information feel 10x easier to consume than a wall of text.

A few rules I follow when using bullets:

• Only use 1-2 bulleted lists per email section. Otherwise the whole thing starts to feel like a bullet point dump.

• Always include 1-2 sentences before a bulleted list. Don’t just dive straight into bullets without additional context (feels weird).

• Keep bullets short when possible. If they run long, bold the key part of each bullet so readers can still skim. (Like I did here.)

And that’s it.

Now as promised, I also put together an AI mega prompt to help you implement some of these tips 10x faster.

The Email Formatting Optimizer Prompt

The prompt will help analyze your email and give you specific suggestions for 2 things:

1. Intro rewrites - 3 alternative versions of your opening that cut to the chase faster and hook the reader immediately.

2. Formatting improvements - spots where you could add line breaks, turn blocky paragraphs into bullets, or add sub-heads to make the piece more skimmable.

You don’t have to use every suggestion.

Just pick the ones that feel right and make the edits yourself.

All you have to do?

Copy and paste the prompt below into ChatGPT or Claude.

Then paste your email draft where it says [PASTE YOUR EMAIL HERE].

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In fact, it’s the most profitable direct mail letter of all time!

So today, I’m going to break it down & explain why it worked so well.

And how you can apply some of the same principles behind it to your own emails (with the help of AI).

Let’s dig in, shall we?

The Letter That Changed Direct Mail Forever

In 1975, a copywriter named Martin Conroy sat down to write a sales letter for The Wall Street Journal.

At the time, the Journal was struggling to acquire new subscribers through direct mail.

Their existing control letters were performing okay - but nothing spectacular.

So they hired Conroy to take a crack at it.

And what he went on to create ended up becoming nothing less than the most successful sales letter of all time:

“The Tale Of Two Young Men” letter.

Some mind-blowing stats:

• The letter ran pretty much unchanged for 25 years

• It was mailed over 100 million times

• And it generated more than $2 billion in subscription revenue.

Now, before we break down the full letter, I highly recommend giving it a read (it should only take a few minutes).

You can do that here.

Once you’ve done that, keep reading so you can find out the 4 principles behind it.

Principle 1: It starts with a story (not a pitch)

Nobody likes being sold to.

But everyone loves stories.

Which is why this sales letter immediately hooks you:

It starts with a story (rather than a product pitch).

Here’s the opening:

“On a beautiful late spring afternoon, twenty-five years ago, two young men graduated from the same college. They were very much alike, these two young men. Both had been better than average students, both were personable and both—as young college graduates are—were filled with ambitious dreams for the future.”

But putting the fact that he used a story aside, Conroy also did an amazing job of creating an irresistible curiosity gap:

Two young men.

Same background.

Same work ethic.

Same opportunities.

But then, fast forward 25 years:

One is a middle manager. The other runs the entire company.

At this point, you can’t stop reading.

You need to know what made the difference.

Principle 2: It sells emotions over benefits

Everyone talks about selling benefits over features.

But there’s yet another level to the game:

Selling emotions.

This letter doesn’t focus on making more money (that’s implied).

Instead, it focuses on status and prestige.

Take this passage, for example:

“Each business day, The Journal’s pages include a broad range of information of interest and significance to business-minded people, no matter where it comes from. Not just stocks and finance, but anything and everything in the whole, fast-moving world of business...The Wall Street Journal gives you all the business news you need—when you need it.”

Sure, Conroy is definitely “selling” the usefulness of the newspaper.

But in a very subtle way, he also makes reading the news feel like something successful business people do.

It’s about identity, respect, and power.

And sure, being a successful businessman usually means you make good money.

But the emotional payoff - who you become - that’s what he’s really selling here.

Principle 3: It anchors back to the story after the CTA

After presenting and breaking down the offer, the letter circles back to the two young men story.

Here’s how Conroy does it:

“About those two college classmates I mention at the beginning of this letter: they were i graduated from college together and together got started in the business world. So what made their lives in business different? Knowledge. Useful knowledge. And its application.”

This reinforcement drives the point and makes the decision feel like a no-brainer.

It’s not just about subscribing to a newspaper - it’s about choosing which path you want to take in your career.

But the ending is also genius…

Principle 4: It ends with a humble disclaimer

Here’s the exact closing:

“I cannot promise you that success will be instantly yours if you start reading The Wall Street Journal. But I can guarantee that you will find The Journal always interesting, always reliable, and always useful.”

It’s counterintuitive but this builds massive trust.

Because it makes the whole pitch feel even more credible.

Instead of overpromising, Conroy acknowledges the limitations of his product - which actually makes the offer more persuasive.

Brilliant!

Now, here’s the thing:

These principles worked in 1975.

And they continue to work today.

So with that in mind, I created an AI prompt that helps you apply this exact framework to your own sales emails.

Let me walk you through it.

This Week’s AI Prompt (And An Example)

The prompt interviews you about your product, audience, and goals - then generates a complete email using the “Two Young Men” structure.

Here’s how to use it:

1. Copy the prompt below

2. Paste it into ChatGPT or Claude

3. Answer the interview questions

4. Get a complete sales email following Conroy’s framework

Quick Example

Now, to give you a sense of what kind of output you can expect, here’s an example of an unedited email I generated for our 21 Days To Better Copy challenge using today’s prompt:

Subject line: The copywriter who couldn’t tell good from bad

~

Two marketers started using AI to write their copy last year.

Same tools. Same prompts. Same business goals.

Both were convinced AI would transform their marketing.

Fast forward six months.

One is still tweaking ChatGPT outputs for hours, unsure if what she’s publishing is brilliant or garbage. Her ads underperform. Her emails get ignored. She’s producing more content than ever—but her results have actually gotten worse.

The other? She generates ten headline variations in thirty seconds and knows instantly which one will convert. She produces full email drafts in minutes and edits them with surgical precision. Her output has 10x’d, but her quality hasn’t dropped. If anything, it’s sharper.

Same AI. Completely different outcomes.

The difference wasn’t the technology.

It was pattern recognition.

The second marketer had trained her brain to recognize what good copy actually looks like. So when AI generated something, she could evaluate it immediately. She knew what to keep, what to cut, and what to rewrite.

The first marketer never built that foundation.

So AI just helped her produce mediocre work faster.

This is the gap that’s quietly separating marketers right now.

We’re in an AI marketing renaissance—but only for people who’ve developed the underlying skill. Everyone else is just scaling their mistakes.

The good news? Pattern recognition isn’t some innate talent. It’s trainable. And the fastest way to train it is through copywork: transcribing legendary copy by hand until the patterns, rhythms, and structures become part of how you think.

That’s why we created 21 Days To Better Copy.

It’s a 21-day challenge where you spend about 20 minutes a day doing copywork on carefully curated ads, headlines, and sales letters from history’s best marketers. The same method Gary Halbert, David Ogilvy, and Benjamin Franklin used to master persuasive writing.

Here’s what you get:

• 21 handpicked, annotated pieces of legendary copy

• Daily emails with your assignment and accountability

• A private WhatsApp community with other participants

• Free access to our LinkedIn 101 and Email 101 guides

• A physical copy of Alex Hormozi’s $100M Offers shipped to you

• Bonus: AI prompt vault to optimize your copy once your taste is trained

The challenge starts December 3rd and ends December 23rd—right before the holidays.

Your investment: $99 (50% off the regular $199 price through Black Friday).

After December 1st at midnight, the discount expires.

[Click here to join 21 Days To Better Copy]

Remember those two marketers?

The only thing separating them was whether they’d trained their brain to recognize good copy before they started using AI.

Twenty-one days from now, you could have that same pattern recognition—the kind that turns AI from a crutch into a genuine multiplier.

I can’t promise you’ll become a world-class copywriter in three weeks. But I can promise that if you do the work, you’ll finish this challenge with a fundamentally sharper eye for what converts—and a much clearer sense of how to write it yourself.

See you on the inside,

Daniel

P.S. — We have a 14-day, no-questions-asked refund policy. If you don’t feel like you’re getting massive value, just email us and we’ll refund 100% of your money. Zero risk.

See how it follows the exact same structure as Conroy’s letter?

Story → Emotional benefit → Offer → Story callback → Humble disclaimer.

And sure, it can definitely use a few edits. But overall, this email is pretty solid!

Now without any further ado…

Here’s the prompt (so you can give it a try for yourself):

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Take me, for example.

I’m getting a fraction of the impressions I used to get a few months ago (despite the fact that my following has only continued to grow).

And no, I haven’t…

• Slowed down my content cadence

• Or outsourced my content to an offshore VA

• Or stopped putting the same amount of effort into it

The only thing that’s changed is the algorithm.

And of course - with all these changes, getting newsletter subscribers from LinkedIn is ALSO getting harder and harder.

Meanwhile, Substack is doing the opposite.

They’re making it extremely easy to get email subs from your content.

And the nice thing is - if you already have a newsletter on a different platform (like Kit, beehiiv, etc.), you don’t have to migrate in order to tap into Substack’s traffic arbitrage.

And that’s exactly what I’m going to walk you through today.

Let’s dive in.

How To Start Taking Advantage Of Substack’s Traffic Arbitrage (In 3 Steps)

Now before we get into the tactical stuff, quick story:

A few years ago, Twitter bought an email company called Revue.

And for a short time, they had this feature where you could add an email capture form directly on your Twitter profile.

It was incredibly powerful.

You could capture email subscribers directly from Twitter without having to link out to a landing page or deal with any friction.

If you’re curious, here’s what it used to look like:

Then they killed it.

But Substack is now basically bringing that back - but much better.

Here’s why:

With Revue/Twitter, you could only capture emails from your profile.

With Substack, you can capture emails throughout the entire feed.

Every post you publish on Substack Notes (Substack’s short-form content feed) has a subscribe button right there.

Which means…

If someone sees your content → they can just click subscribe → and boom, they’re on your email list.

All without having to click on a link or sign up through a landing page.

Plus, Substack is still relatively new as a discovery platform.

So there’s way more opportunity to grow compared to more saturated platforms like LinkedIn or Twitter.

Now, here’s the best part about the whole thing…

Like I said earlier, you don’t actually need to migrate your entire email operation to Substack in order to take advantage of this arbitrage.

Instead, you can use Substack purely as a discovery engine while keeping all your automation and monetization in your current ESP (whether you’re using Kit, beehiiv, or something else… it doesn’t matter).

Here’s how:

Step 1: Set up a “Placeholder Newsletter”

Create your Substack account (if you don’t have one already) and your “publication.”

(On Substack, a “publication” = a newsletter)

Now, to keep things congruent, use the same newsletter name you have on Kit (or whatever ESP you’re using).

Then, write the same welcome email you already created.

BUT, don’t publish your full newsletters there (I’ll explain why in a second).

All we need is a nice-looking “shell” that you can use to capture your Substack traffic and turn it into email subs.

For example, my friend Matthew Brown recently started implementing this strategy - and this is what his Placeholder Newsletter looks like:

Step 2: Start posting Substack Notes

In order to tap into Substack’s discovery engine, you need to post Substack Notes.

Think of Notes like short-form Twitter or LinkedIn posts.

Because - again - your goal isn’t to build a full-blown Substack “publication” or a different newsletter altogether.

Your goal is to get discovered by people scrolling the Substack feed so you can leverage that distribution for email growth.

An the good news is:

If you’re already creating content on another social platform, posting Notes should be much easier.

Because you can start by just repurposing and/or repackaging some of your best posts.

Step 3: Export your Substack subscribers weekly

Last but not least…!

As you start to post Notes every week, you’ll also start to get new email subscribers (yes, it’s that simple!).

But that also means you need to move those subscribers from your Substack publication to your actual newsletter.

Luckily, this is very simple as well.

All you have to do:

• Once per week, export your new Substack subscribers as a CSV

• Then import that CSV into Kit (or your ESP of choice)

It’s literally a 2-minute process.

Now those subscribers are in your actual email system where you can nurture them properly AND they can receive your usual newsletters.

Now, you might be wondering…

“Daniel, is this worth the effort?”

Fair question!

Let me share a few data points so you can decide that for yourself:

Data Point #1: My Own Growth (So Far)

I’ve been posting Substack Notes for 3-4 months now.

And in the past 90 days, I’ve gotten 882 new email subs directly from Substack:

Now, to be completely transparent:

This isn’t nearly as good as the number of email subs that I get from LinkedIn (yet) but I’m also not putting nearly the same amount of effort into Substack.

Also, my Substack audience isn’t as big as my LinkedIn audience either.

So I’m very excited to see how this continues to accelerate as I allocate more resources here.

Data Point #2: My Friend Matthew’s Growth

Matthew started posting Substack Notes a little over a week ago.

Yet a week of Substack Notes have already driven more email subs than a month’s worth of posts on X:

And sure, it’s still early.

But I’m pretty confident this will only continue to accelerate for him!

Make sense?

Cool!

Now, with that out of the way, let’s dig into…

This Week’s AI Prompts!

I’ve put together 2 prompts to help you start posting Substack Notes with ease:

• Prompt #1: Turn other people’s Notes into your own templates

• Prompt #2: Turn your LinkedIn posts into Substack Notes

Let me walk you through how to use each one.

Prompt #1: The Substack Note Template Generator

This prompt analyzes high-performing Substack Notes and extracts their underlying structure so you can easily replicate them for your own:

• Niche

• Industry

• Content buckets

Here’s how to use it:

1. Find a Substack Note that performed well (high engagement, lots of comments, etc.)

2. Copy the Note text

3. Paste it into the prompt below

4. Get a plug-and-play template you can customize for your niche

The prompt will identify the core structure (hook → value → CTA, problem → solution, etc.) and create a niche-agnostic template with clear placeholders.

So, here you go (just don’t forget there’s 1 more below!):

## Role/Objective

You are an expert Substack copywriter and content strategist specializing in creating plug-and-play content templates.

I want you to analyze high-performing Substack notes, identify their underlying structures, and turn them into versatile, niche-agnostic templates that anyone can customize and deploy immediately.

## Instructions

I’m going to share with you a Substack Note that I swiped.

You will:
- Analyze the provided Substack note to identify its core structure, flow pattern, and key components.
- Extract the underlying framework that makes the note effective (e.g., hook → value → CTA, problem → agitation → solution, etc.)
- Create a plug-and-play template using [bracketed placeholders] for all customizable elements
- Generate a template name that describes the STRUCTURE/FORMAT (not the content topic)
- Provide some usage guidance including when to use the template, what makes it effective, and approximate character count

IMPORTANT: Ensure templates are niche-agnostic so they work for fitness, business, parenting, finance, tech, or any other industry

Template Structure:
[Bracketed placeholder template with clear labels]

Usage Guide:
Best used when: [situation]
Why it works: [explanation]
Estimated character count: [range]

## Final Guidelines

- Prioritize clarity and ease of use—templates should be immediately actionable
- Ensure all placeholders are clearly labeled and self-explanatory
- Focus on timeless structural patterns that work across platforms and niches
- Include strategic reasoning so I can easily understand WHY each template works
- Keep templates concise and Substack-note-appropriate (typically 200-500 characters)

## Input

[Paste the Substack Note you want to templatize here]

Prompt #2: The LinkedIn-to-Substack Repurposer

If you’re already creating LinkedIn content, then you’re in luck!

This prompt takes your existing LinkedIn posts and repurposes them into Substack Notes.

It also creates 5 different variations (280-400 characters each) so you can pick the one you like best.

Here’s how to use it:

1. Copy one of your LinkedIn posts

2. Paste it into the prompt below

3. Specify whether you want “Listicle Notes” or “Deep Dive Notes”

4. Get 5 Note variations to choose from

(For more context on the difference between “Listicle Notes” and “Deep Dive Notes,” read the Framework section of the prompt - I break it down there.)

Now, here’s the prompt:

## Role & Objective:

You are a seasoned social media ghostwriter who specializes in content repurposing, LinkedIn, and Substack.

You understand the nuances of short-form thought leadership, audience building, and curiosity-driven writing.

Your objective: Repurpose my LinkedIn posts as Substack Notes, creating 5 different variations for each post so I can choose the one that I like best.

Each Note variation should be 280–400 characters long & feel native to the Substack Notes format.

## Framework:
There are 2 main types of Substack Notes:

- Listicle Notes → These are notes where you list out multiple things (e.g. steps, mistakes, lessons, etc.) without really explaining any of them in-depth (you’re just mentioning them)

- “Deep Dive” Notes → These are notes where you hone in on ONE idea & the whole Note is about explaining & driving that sole point home.

Whenever I share with you a LinkedIn post to repurpose, I’ll specify which framework we want to use for the Note variations you’re going to generate.

## Examples:

Here’re some examples of Listicle Notes (so you can get a better sense of how those are normally executed):

EXAMPLE 1

How to master any skill fast:

- Stop studying
- Outline a project
- Start building it
- Hit a roadblock
- Research how to overcome it
- Repeat until completed

Most people get trapped in tutorial hell and have nothing to show for years of “learning.”

EXAMPLE 2

Want a content strategy?

• Say something useful daily (Note)
• Prove it weekly (Post)
• Package it simply (Product)

That’s the roadmap.

EXAMPLE 3

Non-negotiables if you’re an employee:

- Build a business on the side
- Stop giving a f*ck about what your boss thinks
- Assume you can be laid off at any time
- Write online every damn day
- Wear shorts in summer

Do these and you’ll avoid regrets later in life.

~

Here’re some examples of Deep Dive Notes (so you can get a better sense of how those are normally executed):

EXAMPLE 1

The most powerful habit you can adopt:

Using the first hour of your day to build, write, or produce something of value.

EXAMPLE 2

You don’t need to read more.

‎You need to read better.

‎Slow down. Underline.

‎Argue with the author.

‎Make every book a conversation, not a checklist.

EXAMPLE 3

An easy way to increase agency is to remove “problem” from your vocabulary and replace it with “puzzle”. It sounds absurd but “problem” activates your amygdala and “puzzle” activates your prefrontal cortex. Try it. Self-induced placebo that works.

EXAMPLE 4

The hardest part of building a brand isn’t the launch.

It’s the *maintenance.*

Showing up consistently. Saying the same message 1000 times until people *finally* get it.

That’s the game.

~

## Critical Rules & Guidelines:

• **Character Limit**: Each note must be between 280-400 characters maximum

• **No Fabricated Data**: You are strictly prohibited from making up statistics, numbers, or data points. Only use numbers/stats that are explicitly provided in the original content

• **Minimal New Information**: Do not introduce new ideas, concepts, or information beyond what’s already contained in the post. Focus on repurposing and reframing existing content rather than expanding it

• **Source Material Only**: Create content primarily using the insights, examples, and strategies already explained in the content itself

## Format:
Each Substack Note should follow this format:

• 280–400 characters maximum
• Starts with a strong curiosity hook or bold sentence that stops the scroll
• Only short single-sentence paragraphs or bullets
• Clear, casual tone that feels human and skimmable
• End with a line that encourages replies or conversation

## Input

Here’s the LinkedIn post I want to repurpose:

[PASTE YOUR LINKEDIN POST HERE]

[SPECIFY WHICH KIND OF NOTE YOU WANT TO CREATE - READ “FRAMEWORK” SECTION FOR MORE DETAILS]

And that’s it!

You now have a simple 3-step system to tap into Substack’s traffic arbitrage - all without having to migrate to your entire email operation.

AND… you have 2 prompts that’ll make posting Substack Notes much easier.

So, here’s what I recommend:

• Set up your placeholder Substack publication this week
  

• Use Prompt #2 to repurpose 3-5 of your best LinkedIn posts into Notes (if you’ve been posting on LinkedIn)
  

• If not, use the Template Generator Prompt to create a few Notes using proven formats from other creators
  

• Post one Note per day and see what happens

The opportunity on Substack is real.

And the barrier to entry is incredibly low.

So give it a shot and let me know how it goes.

And if you have any questions, please hit reply and let me know.

Until next week,

Daniel

Chief AI Funnel Ninja