Have you been considering starting an email newsletter?

Or maybe you already have one…

But after their first email, they never heard from you again…?

This article is going to give you 5 email topics you can use to either:

A. Start an email list and create your welcome sequence

B. Re-engage with your email list (since it’s been a while)

Psst — are you more of a podcast girly? You’re welcome. 🤗👇🏼

Why Email Marketing?

I had the privilege of meeting with a local referral client this morning.

Originally, she wanted some guidance with using social media and writing (and running) ad copy.

[The following is a rundown of our meeting (summarized) + why we went the direction we did + the exact steps I gave her.]

Determining Your Goals

The questions we discussed:

What is your goal right now? Why are we meeting? 

(A: More leads + clients — currently booked out but wants to get ahead; more money right now)

How does your business work?

(A: Mostly referrals)

What are your current offers?

(A: In-person 1:1 (books out at 4/mo); 4wk intensive (books out at 2))

How do these offers work together?

(A: They do, but I don’t typically push them together.)

Do you want to use social media (primarily Instagram)?

(A: “No. But I know I have to. I also want to start a newsletter but I don’t even know where to start.”

👉🏼 This is where I realized this wasn’t going to be a discussion about social media or ad copy.

Immediately, I pressed into starting a newsletter.

What’s stopping you from having one?

If you did have one, what would you send?

How often would feel really good to send emails?

Is that something you’d be down to start if you knew how + what to do?

Now, if at any point an answer sounded uninterested, *heavy sighs*, or incompatible, we would’ve pivoted.

(Your business, your way.)

But I learned the only reason she didn’t have one is because:

• she didn’t know how (easy fix)

• she’d send monthly or weekly emails that include tips and availability updates (great gameplan)

• she would love to have some hands-free automation running while also keeping up with your primary email friends, too (ready)

She was soooo in, this is exactly where we needed to get for me to truly help.

And instead of selling ad copy or social support, we spent an hour building a game plan to start her newsletter, build out three automated sequences, and create a free or low-ticket offer to take some mundane info off her plate.

While these built out as her overall short-term goals, we took it even further:

What is the right now starting point? We decided to start her email list and get some emails scheduled that made sense for her community, personality, and offers.

Why This Matters

This is important to break down for both freelancers and other online business owners. 

I’m sure I could have sold her ad copy (like 100% sure). 

I’m also sure I could’ve sold her on ongoing social media support (also 100% sure). 

But, why would I? 

After a quick chat, it was super clear that social media and ads were not really fun for her, so why would we talk about that? 

Listen, my job is to make your life and business simpler. 

And sometimes, our clients are asking for something they think they need (in this case – social media/ads) – 

But it’s going to add more stress and less enjoyment instead of ease (which is ultimately what everyone wants).

Two lessons here: 

Businesses/Providers: Go deeper than an onboarding form. You are the expert, so ask questions then give your expert advice on their next steps. Sometimes this means working with you, and sometimes it doesn’t. Both are okay,

Clients: Get really clear on what you want, where you want your business to go, and the ways that feel really fun and interesting to get there…then hire to help you do that. Also, Don’t be afraid to ask questions!

If you aren’t sure what your next marketing strategy or step is, click here to book your 1:1 copy and marketing strategy call for $333.

End important riff *

How to Start Your Email List

Because she didn’t have an email list, we had to start at the bottom:

Choose your email platform.

Although my client had a website and payment software, she wasn’t sure if there was an option to start an email list.

So, the homework is to: 

1. Ask her customer support if she can connect an email list, and if so, what are the most compatible software? 

2. Watch a youtube video on 2-3 email platforms (or choose a recommended one), pick one, and create her account.

(Please just start. You can spend weeks or months comparing software, but at the end of the day, they all do the same thing.)

Choosing Your Email Sequences

Because my client has two primary offers, we knew immediately she would want two automated onboarding sequences so she could get all of the ‘prep’ info out of the way without manually sending the same exact emails and texts every day.

If you are wondering what to automate first: anything you send to every single client manually (like reminders, confirmations, extra info or questions…).

And because she is starting from the bottom, we decided to create a 5-part welcome sequence that would help her email friends, give more context on her and her business, and introduce her offers.

If you already have a list, I highly recommend implementing a solid welcome sequence!

If you already have a welcome sequence, use the following section to create a re-engagement sequence for your email friends.

Writing Your Welcome Or Re-Engagement Email Sequence

Logistical Point: You can choose to send your emails as frequently or not-frequently as you like.

At a minimum, I recommend weekly.

At best, I recommend sending your first email 1-3 hours post-subscription confirmation, then sending the remaining emails every 24 hours.

Another thing to think about when planning your welcome or welcome back emails is:

What is the point of this?

I’m sure it’s to give value, yes, but what else?

• Do you want to connect? To engage?
• Do you want to get more clicks to your longer-form content?
• Do you want to make sales?

Keep your answer(s) in mind as you write the following emails! (Don’t worry, I’ll guide you.)

My client wanted to give value, connect, and make sales/sign clients, so the following frameworks and suggestions are built with this in mind.

5 Emails for Your Welcome or Re-Engagement Sequence

Email 1: Immediate Value

Show how thankful you are for the humans joining your email family!

You can send over a pre-recorded welcome video, valuable pdf or worksheet, or a simple email with tips, industry secrets, or opinions they won’t find from you anywhere else.

(Want to go big? Give one of your offers for free. 🙊 Think low-ticket offers, courses you don’t really push ‘out loud’, etc.)

Email 2: More About Me

Think of this as the ‘about’ section of your welcome sequence.

But remember: your ‘about me’ is really still ‘for them’.

Totally cool if you want to talk about binging New Girl or snowboarding on the weekends…

But how does it relate?

(This could be as simple as feeling restorative and providing mental clarity to have more brain power for other things. Make the connection.)

Here are a few questions to ponder if you struggle writing about yourself:

• Why am I starting this email list?
• Why did I start this business?
• How did I start my business/what phase of life was I in?
• Why did I create X offer?

Here are a few prompts if you want to get creative and still stay relevant to your brand/biz:

• Where are you most creative? Bonus tips when you tie it in with creating your business or offers.

• If you could change one thing in your business, what would it be and why haven’t you changed it?

• How are you a hypocrite within your business? What’s something you do that you would cringe over if your client said they did it? (Lol, mine is publishing copy without re-reading it out loud. 😅😅)

Email 3: 3 Tips for (Niche Specific)

You can substitute ‘tips’ with ‘emails, must-haves, software, tools, accessories, etc’.)

This email is pretty straightforward –

Show them you know your sh!t!

Give them 3 (or however many you want – odd numbers do better #salespsychology) tips, pointers, or recommendations that they can implement right now and get results.

Keep it simple and clear: do not add all of the nuances, give the tips + context on why, and send.

If you want your community to engage with this email, more than opening it, ask for a reply back! 

Maybe something like, “Have you tried any of these? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Reply back so we can chat!” OR “Would you add any tips to this list? Reply with your recommendations!”

Email 4: Case Study

Now, I recommend, at the minimum, adding a P.S. line to every email with a way to hire you/work with you within your welcome sequence, but the case study is really your time to start selling…hard.

Think about your last three emails: value, about, value. 

Which offer makes the most sense to offer your community, knowing what you know they know? (lol)

For this email, use one of your testimonials to tell a story about where people are:

1. Before your offer
2. When working with your offfer
3. After your offer

The key here is to add nuance and context about the human you are telling a story about…

Without adding nuance or context about how ‘your offer is so different person to person and it can work with so many diff humans’ etc. < This will confuse (and possibly overwhelm) your new email friend.

Stick to one human, one story, one transformation.

And then offer your offer.

Here are a few call-to-actions to use for this email (again, just recommendations to get you thinking:

• If you resonate with this story, “this offer” may be for you. Click here to learn more.

• Now I can’t promise your story will look just like “client’s name”, but I’d love to talk more about what “this offer” could look like for you. Click here to book a call with me today.

• Click here to learn about “this offer”.

Email 5: The Offer Breakdown

Yes, we are selling in your welcome sequence.

Some gurus say not to, other gurus say sell as hard as you as often as you can in every email.

I say: If you don’t tell your people how to work with you and what that looks like, they won’t know. What a disservice.

So, in this offer breakdown email, I want you to think of it as a micro-sales page.

You’ve given them:

• Immediate value
• Your story
• More value and engagement
• Entertaining story and offer an introduction

Now it’s time to sell them on your mother freaking offer.

Here are some questions to consider answering in this email:

• What is your offer name + tagline?
• What are the logistics of this offer?
• Who are the top people fit for this offer? (this is an email – keep it around 3 bullet points)
• Why should they get inside this offer right now?
• What is a good indicator for them that it’s time to work with you?
• How much is the investment of this offer? (Huge fan of price transparency over here)
• What happens immediately after they invest/apply/enroll? (Think logistics + shifts/results)

Then, use a solid call-to-action, like the ones mentioned earlier, to invite them into your offer.

What Happens After The Welcome Sequence

Congratulations! You now have your welcome sequence flowing!

So what happens after they get through those five emails?

Well, naturally, they’ll land back on your regular list, and they will receive your weekly emails!

I’ll save the nuance of putting them into other automations for another day. If you want to read or hear more about that, send me a DM on Instagram or reply to one of my emails!

Scheduling Your Emails + What To Send

My client already knew she wanted an email newsletter that was helpful for her community and also brought in more leads and money now.

And even though she wasn’t very consistent with Instagram (her words, not mine…but I agree), she already had put a lot of effort into creating solid content.

How To Repurpose Content Into Emails

Instead of spending days trying to write new emails (since she’d be spending some time on her welcome sequence), we agreed on:

• culling through her IG content
• choosing 4-8 high-performing or valuable captions
• repurposing those into scheduled emails

Now, these are getting scheduled weekly, not into a sequence.

The difference is that these weekly emails go out on a set date, whereas sequences go out pending on actions (in the welcome sequence’s case – the action was subscribing)!

So if you’re wondering what weekly emails to send, whether you are starting an email list or re-engaging an email list, go back through the content you’ve already created and use it! 

Copy and paste it, make some tweaks, add some context, and schedule it.

This is a great way to get months ahead of weekly emails.

How To Create Fresh Emails

If you don’t have content to pull from, here are some ideas for your weekly emails (along with any iteration of your welcome sequence emails):

• Push to other ways to connect with you (preview a post, link your podcast, ask for relatable pics)

• Education-based emails: you’re not worried about an algorithm – say what you feel needs to be said

• Unpopular opinions about your industry that you agree OR disagree with (The previous point still stands)

• Exclusive tips (you don’t have an unlimited word count – give us your insider thoughts on what or how we should be doing things in regards to your industry)

• BTS of a work or ‘off’ day (what time did you get up today? How long did you work? What did you work on?)

How to Write Better Email Copy

You didn’t think I, a copywriter, would leave without telling you how to improve your email copy right of the bat, did you???

When writing emails, write like you’re talking to a best friend or current client!

You aren’t worried about getting shadowbanned, competing with an algorithm, SEO, or following a specific wordcount.

So don’t try to fit in some specific ‘email copy box’, and instead write emails your way.

3 Tips for Email Copywriting:

Read out loud before scheduling

This is for writing anything really –

When you read it out loud, you will see so many mistakes your eyes glaze over.

Plus, you’ll better edit your tone and brand voice.

Close the loops you open

If you ask a question, answer the question.

If you start a story, finish the story.

If you make a statement, give context.

Our brains want open AND closed loops.

Give a clear command

Whether you are pitching your offer, asking for a reply, or aiming for a click to other content, make it clear.

Similar to the call-to-actions already mentioned, do not leave your reader guessing on what to do next.

Want to get my eyes on your email copy?

<<< Click here to apply for a 1:1 copy audit of your email or email sequence for $333! >>>

Your Email Marketing News In Conclusion

At the end of our meeting, my client felt like she had a solid roadmap to not only starting her email list, but consistently creating emails that sold her offers and her brand.

You can use this roadmap to do the same!

Again, I recommend adding at least a minimum of a PS line offering ways to work with you (bc we’re humans and do need the ‘in-your-face’ reminders to make things easy).

But now you have it:

A welcome or welcome back sequence and plethora of weekly email ideas to either start your email list or re-engage your ghost town.

Now if I can just practice what I preach and implement the same for me and mine like I do for you and my clients. Haha, but not funny haha.

Here’s my promise to send at least half of these email prompts this year!

And if you want to become my email friend and get more behind-the-scene marketing updates, tips, and guidance like this, click here (or the image below) join It’s All Extra. <3

Frequently Asked Questions About Starting An Email List

Q: Should I start an email list?

A: Wow, that’s a big question without any context. As you saw with my client, so much can go into deciding the best marketing strategy for you.

That said, an email list never hurt anyone (that I know of).

If you aren’t sure what your next marketing strategy or step is, click here to book your 1:1 copy and marketing strategy call for $333.

Q: What are the benefits of having a consistent email marketing strategy?

A: A consistent email marketing strategy helps you stay top-of-mind with your community, make more money without socials, and have a relaxed marketing strategy that works.

Regular, value-driven emails keep your subscribers engaged, informed, and more likely to take action on your offers. 

It also allows you to showcase your expertise, share updates, and drive traffic to your website or other content platforms, ultimately boosting your sales and business growth.

Q: Can you help me start an email list if I have no prior experience?

A: Absolutely! You can use this article as a step-by-step guide on choosing the right email platform, setting up automated sequences, and crafting engaging welcome emails. 

This process leaves you with a strong foundation to build and grow your email list effectively.

Q: What does an email copy audit entail, and how can it benefit my business?

A: An email copy audit involves a thorough review of your existing email content.

First, you apply and provide (one) email or email sequence you would like feedback on.

Then, in a recorded video, I give line-by-line feedback on how to improve your email copy so you can get more open rates, click rates, and sales. 

You implement and make more money, honey.

Copy Audits are $333 per audit, and you can apply as much as you’d like. Click here to apply.

Q: What is included in your done-for-you copywriting services?

A: My done-for-you copywriting service includes

• Planning your email sequences and weekly emails
• Writing all of your emails
• Pre-scheduling your email copy
• Analyzing your analytics to improve your email conversions
• Guidance on maintaining your email list post-services 

Click here to apply for my done-for-you copywriting services so we can talk more about your email list, goals, and strategy!

Q: How do you tailor your marketing strategies to fit different businesses?

A: I start by understanding your business goals, target audience, and unique selling points through an onboarding form or initial consultation. 

From there, we build a customized marketing strategy that aligns with your brand’s voice, community, goals, and offers. 

Whether it’s email marketing, social media strategy, ad copy, or an entire sales funnel for your next launch, my approach is always tailored to land with your audience and get conversions ASAP.

Related Articles

Sales Page vs Landing Page

Copywriting Trends 2024-2025