The Fabled Collection vol. 3
Ashveille, NC 7:20 AM
Today is another type of Fable where you can learn and be entertained. Inside are ugly business truths to automate your marketing using lazy anime logic, cure your mental anxiety through simple biological motion, and destroy the pathetic self-help myths keeping you broke.
The Shawshank Automation
“No body reads emails anymore” ...
I hear this all the time.
or something along the lines of “Emailing daily would piss readers off”.
Again, the lack of faith really is annoying.
Your readers don’t read your emails because you’re not sending anything worth reading.
I’m willing to bet my last dollar, that you either go to ChatGPT or some other lame-brain AI to write for you.
Or you follow a blueprint you got off signing up on a list.
That’s so 2015...
According to the greats (Ben Settle, Dan Kennedy, Matt Furey... etc.)
All talk about emailing daily and these guys bring in a hoard of buyers.
But how?
They do it by telling stories and being themselves.
Being different, speaking your mind, and knowing your audience.
Like how you joined this list.
To know more about how to market, how to write better, and read a different perspective.
Or you’re just nosey and wanted to see what I’m up to.
Which, in about 30 days, those who haven’t opened my emails are kicked off and blacklisted.
Harsh?
Nah, just doing what’s responsible.
You see, your list is important and you must do everything to protect it.
But sometimes you end up screwing things and land in spam (like I’m doing-on purpose).
Remember the movie ‘Shawshank Redemption’?
Well, this is the ‘Shawshank Automation’ which is a step-by-step, handholding guide to break you out of email jail.
The Shawshank Automation: Breaking Out of Email Prison, Forcing Them Back into the Primary Inbox Placement, Reviving Dead Leads Who Stopped Clicking Months Ago, And Brings in A Brigade of Buyers Without Sounding Desperate or Salesy
“The Ruthless But Simple Inbox Domination System That Pulls Your Emails Out Of Spam & Promotions, Reactivates Dead Leads Who Stopped Clicking Long Ago, And Turns Every Campaign Into A Revenue Producing Machine Without Touching Your Subject Lines, Rebuilding Your Offer, Or Starting From Scratch”
166 pages of email jail escape plans
99+ ways to make money off your list
How to properly talk to business owners if you’re trying to write
Your List Diagnosis to accurately pinpoint the areas that need to be fixed
Email Reputation Wreckers No One Warned You About Until Now
Trigger Words That Sell and how to use them in a way that is like mind control
298+ Subject lines - eCommerce/b2c so that you never run out of things to say
Common Sense Marketing: Headlines, subject lines, and bullets so easy to use that a half-a-brain can do it without trouble
70+ Subject Lines and Email Formulas (B2B) to get the big wigs interested and invested in your offer
The High-Conversion Funnel that almost everyone overlooks, and when put together perfectly, your road to seven-figures is on its way
100 Winning Facebook Ad Hook Templates to get the buyers rolling in
It’s as much as a streaming subscription, but it can make you hundred times more than that.
Get the Shawshank Automation and the blueprints to bust out of the joint.
“To trust or not to trust”
And that is the question.
Yesterday there was an interesting company I had the pleasure of coming across.
One that can amplify your trust to the point you’re seen as a god amongst men in your current business...
...Bring in more and reoccurring buyers making the need for lead generation tool a thing of the past and eventually leaving others shocked in ‘awe’ on a genius idea...
... And is the beginning of how marketing with evolve in the next 5 years.
But first, we’ve all seen companies use ‘gift’ cards as a thank you.
Which is expensive to say the least.
Barry McDonald, the owner of SmallGyfts and outstanding guy gave me the breakdown during our meeting.
The meeting centered on strategies for converting networking conversations into customers, with a particular focus on the effectiveness of email lists for building relationships and trust.
Which was a typical “I have what you need” VS “You gotta prove it” scenerio.
(For further context, I shared expertise in nurturing email lists and offered resources on avoiding spam filters and engaging subscribers authentically, while Barry expressed skepticism about traditional marketing tactics and emphasized a more straightforward, trust-based approach to business)
And he’s not wrong... but not fully correct either.
Again, the whole time we’re focused on the topic of ‘TRUST’.
We talked about his business ‘SmallGyfts’ which a platform service that enables businesses, especially in home services, to reward customer loyalty and encourage referrals by allowing customers to direct small donations to local causes.
For example, a plumber can give a rewards card with a monetary value that the customer can donate to a cause like their church.
The platform aims to keep marketing dollars within the community, enhancing word-of-mouth referrals.
And ideal clients are home services professionals, especially those with a hyperlocal focus and a community-oriented mindset.
For businesses, this will be revolutionary.
And I’m pretty good at calling things before it happened... (like the whole AI goldrush hindering businesses from growth)
The prediction is this “Trust is worth more than gold and the law of reciprocity will be the link” and having a gift card for you buyers to encourage a deal and/or referral is big.
I’m not talking about the twenty-five-dollar gift card you get at the Dollar General or WallyWorld...
This is a customized and branded card that screams “LOOK AT ME” when your buyer take hold.
But, enough of the hype.
Check out SmallGyfts and show love to Barry for his amazing offer.
Such a refined way to build trust and establish the real connections that bring a community closer than ever before.
What do Trump, Hitler, and Gandhi have in common?
...
No, it’s not their obsessive power for control...
It’s their ability to influence.
Sure, their actions afterwards aren’t really up for public debate, because we can all see what happened.
Any who, their ability to charismatically influence a massive number of followers, who hang on to their every word.
I’m not here to glorify anyone or their actions; I do glorify their ability to weave their puppet strings into the hearts of the masses.
Imagine if you had that ability for your business.
What would that look like?
You being like the next Apple store, with a line mile long out the door with crazed buyers, feigning for your service.
Trump knows how to speak his truth, which everyone respects or despises.
Adolf knew how to spin the narrative to the point that it was brainwashing.
And Mahatma knew how to empathize with his following it persuaded the hearts of those who felt his message.
Notice how they never give anything away or bombard their followers with pitches or promotions.
And you should be like them (without repeating what they did, obviously)...
Connect with your buyers, empathize with their pain, and speak your truth, no matter what.
Be different. Be bold. Be contrarian. and Be YOU.
(note: I know the mention of their names and associating anything will piss people off, but that’s what I want - polarization)
And you can get everything you need to be a better writer, marketer, and business leader.
My Last Sniff…
Back in 2018 I had sniffed my last line of blow.
Now, I don’t normally share details.
But this is a special case.
You see, writing has been a huge passion for me since I was little.
Writing songs to vent my anger... pain... love... and hatred.
I wasn’t too bad at it.
Even made the schools newspaper a few times in high school by writing poems that captured the imagination.
Yet, none of what I said was explainable, except from the artist.
I spoke about the trees being giants who roam this earth, from inspiration of the stilt root tree - which is a tree that looks like it’s moving by using its roots.
There’s also the comparison of death being pale on a dark horse to the inner ambitions.
But that’s neither here nor there.
When you embrace your creativity, a new world of understanding comes to be.
The fact these emails might be in spam or promo.
Which is lame.
But it’s part of emailing a list.
I do hope that this somewhat inspires you.
If not, no worries.
Writing emails that don’t get seen is great practice.
Like doing a pushup.
It’s easy, but hard if you’ve never done it before.
The more you write the easier it becomes.
Hell, if you’re on the list last year, you’d see a major difference in writing.
Using college language... no one really understood what I was saying.
Now that I dropped it down to a 4th - 5th grade level.
It’s easier to understand me now.
It’s defiantly queer, and I don’t mean that in a sexual orientation type of way.
I’m speaking on term of it being weird... different... unheard of.
But on the flip side, check my shop to escape the email apocalypse.
Behold, the pale white horse!
And it’s coming your way...
But it’s not what you think.
Can you recall the last time you’ve ‘called out’ something before it happened?
... Like as if you’re the future-predicting oracle?
No?... really?... Just me then, huh?... Well... no matter.
About half a decade ago, FapGPT took the internet by storm.
Everyone started salivating at the thought of ‘less work’.
Which made more work for everyone, ironically.
A lot of wannabe marketers said it was the beginning of the end for copywriters and growth strategists.
Yet, the demand has never been higher.
AI-generated slop... (or as I like to say, a polished turd)... hinders businesses everywhere.
From lead gen to retention, the odds are stacked against you if you use AI.
Like in the cybersecurity niche, customers are opting out faster than a drug dealer knowing that he’s being set up.
The eComm industry is relying on discounts to bring in additional faces and ignore those who’ve already bought.
Listen...
I’m not here to tell you what you should or shouldn’t do when it comes to talking to your audience
The point is not relying on AI for your community-building adventures.
How would you like it if your parents had the nanny raise you for most of your childhood?
You’d f’n hate it.
Then you’d start resenting your parents for not being there.
On a weird f-cked up level, it’s the same concept when talking to your list.
They want to hear from YOU.
Not your sycophant robot.
Look, I’m not saying I’m against AI - in fact, it’s killer for target market research and analysis...
But for communication... Nah, you can miss me with that homeboy.
That is for the primates slapping their keyboard.
I’m right there with you, so don’t feel bad.
Okay, let’s switch gears for a sec.
Let’s say your emails are beautifully written emails and no one opens them...
Turns out that you’re landing in email jail.
How would you escape?
The solution is simple...
However, the process is equivalent to charging full speed into a brick wall headfirst.
It’s annoying, but it works.
Ric Forbes
Written by Ric Forbes with first-hand expertise. AI tools may be used for research and drafting assistance, but all content is reviewed, verified, and published by the author.