mornin' merrymakers 📬🧃💅🌶️🧠

starting this newsletter has been my best entrepreneurial decision to date.

it's never been easier or cheaper to build a direct line to the people who actually want to hear from you. no algo deciding if you're worthy. you write something good, hit send, & it lands in someone's inbox. that's it. i’m a user, investor & big believer beehiiv, but other platforms work too.

i’m not saying this isn’t to brag.

instead i want to raise a red flag about how many brands & vendors are completely botching how they show up in this precious, intimate space of their customer’s lives. no share

this isn’t because they don't have something interesting to say.

they do.

it’s because they're out here sending the same beige, logo-on-top, product-photo-in-the-middle email templates that worked a decade ago. all "buy now." zero storytelling. bare minimum personality. little to no education.

customers don’t hand over their email address so you can spam them with promos twice a week. they did it because they’re curious about your brand.

email is your chance to reward that curiosity & engage your community.

the brands winning in email right now aren't winning because they have better subject lines or prettier templates although the marketing gurus would love for you to believe that so you buy their services or course.

the brands winning are building a world and sharing their local lore.

promo emails with pressure to buy now work…. until they don't.

the first few times a customer sees a discount code, great. they open it, they might even buy. but after the fifth consecutive subject line that's some variation of "don't miss out," something shifts. they start skimming past you. then ignoring you. then filtering you to promotions without a second thought.

what most brands miss is that every unopened email is a signal. inbox algorithms track engagement. low open rates tank your deliverability over time. the brands that blast hardest end up reaching the fewest people.

the more you spray, the less anyone sees.

email is not a broadcast channel, especially in the era of social media.

email is a relationship channel. and like any relationship, if all you ever do is ask for something, people stop giving and eventually stop picking up.

here's the reframe:

your email list doesn't want to be marketed to.

she wants to feel understood by your brand.

she wants to feel seen.

the brands building real loyalty in their inboxes right now are doing 3 things most brands skip completely.

that's not a campaign strategy. it's a conversation strategy. and conversations build something no pixel perfect image or discount code ever will.

for this to happen, it requires your brand to have a point of view.

not just on your products but on your neighborhood, your industry, your customer's life. what conversations do you want to be part of beyond what you sell. the brands that answer that question clearly are the ones people consistently open emails from.

one good email gets opened once. a series gets anticipated.

when your subscribers know that every first tuesday of the month you're dropping a neighborhood guide, or every newsletter has a staff pick, or every issue spotlights a local maker, they start looking for it. they notice when it's missing. that's the difference between a list and a community.

it’s like tuning into a tv show they love to watch to stay in the know.

here's what an episodic email strategy actually looks like in practice:

📍 the local lens

what's happening in your neighborhood or city this month. events, openings, things your customers would want to know about. position your brand as the most plugged-in local in the room.

👯‍♀️ the team moment

a recurring staff feature. what they're obsessed with, what they'd recommend, what they've been loving lately. customers buy from people. this is how you remind them there are real ones behind your brand.

🔍 behind the brand

an ongoing series educating on what makes your product, services, or brand unique. remember people need to see things at least 7 times to remember.

✏ the honest take:

a recurring editorial note. a trend you're watching, something that surprised you, a question you're sitting with about your own business. this is the one that makes people hit reply.

🎉 build the buzz

your standing community calendar. events, workshops, pop-ups, in-store moments worth knowing about. not "come spend money." more "we're doing something worth showing up for."

📊 the pretty poll

too many businesses are just guessing what customers want, when an email allows you to ask via polls or reply for exactly what they think. cool way to get people excited for launches too.

on that note, please take 2 seconds to respond to this poll if you haven’t already 😇

you don’t need to include all of these, just select a few.

make it an easy, enjoyable, engaging, & educational open.

the goal isn't to stop promoting. selling still has a very important place in your business. the goal is to earn enough trust and build enough anticipation, that when you do ask for the sale, people are actually paying attention.

most importantly, remember that consistency beats perfection here.

a simple, locally-rooted, point-of-view-driven email once or twice a month will do more for your retention than weekly blasts of beige emails that rarely get opened.

as i was writing this email, i realized this might be a formal service i could provide. helping retail brands build a monthly email series with a real voice, a local angle, and content their customers actually look forward to. or helping vendors stay meaningfully top of mind with their retail clients between pitches, instead of only showing up when it's time to renew. i know it would work.

so if either of those sounds like exactly what you need, reply back & let's chat.

p.s. come join me & these much more famous ppl on the best newsie platform 👇