Email Subject Lines That WORK!

According to Campaign Monitor, email marketing has an ROI of 4,400% with over 4 billion people using email. And according to Content Marketing Institute, content marketers rate email newsletters as their highest performing resource for securing and nurturing leads. Email marketing is the backbone of online business, especially if you're using the business model that I'm teaching that is automated to create passive income. Inside of your life, teaching the things that you know, love, and are good at. The only problem is that a lot of people don't have good enough subject lines in their emails to actually have people open them. They could have the best content, have awesome products, but if the email subject line sucks, people aren't going to click on the emails and want to open them. So especially when you have like so many different emails in people's inboxes, it's crazy. Now in my business, I have about 30% on average of an open rate, but sometimes I go up to 80% and in that range. So somewhere around 30 to 80%, people open up my emails on my email list and I just really put a lot of time into working on subject lines. So today I'm going to break down how I approach writing subject lines and give you some ideas on what really makes a tasty subject line that gets opened and makes everybody happy. It's not clickbait. So without further ado, let's dive in to email subject lines that get clicks. Welcome to episode number 15 of the Profit Your Knowledge podcast. I'm your host, James Allen, here to help you turn your knowledge, passions, and skills into an online business so you can be your own boss, build passive income in your life, and ultimately live a life of freedom. This is going to be a fun episode. Email subject lines, super important because again, you could have great content, you could have great products, and you're using email to market yourself. You can use other channels too, but email is tried and true. We should definitely focus on it. But if your subject lines suck, no one's going to want to open them. Now, I mentioned a little bit earlier that I teach a business model where it does rely on email. It's not the only way, but it's the best way in my opinion. It's the number one marketing channel that businesses use is email. So you should definitely still focus on email on top of the other social channels that we have at our disposal in today's world. But if you want to learn how to actually create passive income inside of your life, maybe you want to just start a business and you have no idea what to do first, second, or third, and you're just feeling a little lost. Maybe you have a lack of direction and you're looking at different options. This is going to be great for you. Or if you're someone who already has an established business teaching things that you know, maybe you're a fitness instructor or you do coaching of some kind or training online or just in your, in your life and you want to create more passive income, whether you are brick and mortar or not, I have a special gift for you. I created a 5-step action plan or action guide, if you will, and it breaks down the entire process into 5 simple steps that you can follow. It's super actionable. It's very concise. And there's some videos that I link inside of it. But even if you have no idea what you would build a business around, that's what the first step is. Okay, so it'll give you the steps, it'll give you things to do, things to work on. It's my gift to you. And yes, understanding email subject lines are going to be super helpful in building that business. But it's a tried and true method. I've learned it from my different mentors over the years. And I've fallen in love with it because I love passive income. It gives me the freedom in my life and it gives you the freedom in your life when you actually use it. So This is a clear-cut roadmap, gives you the action steps. It's my gift to you. To pick up your guide or action plan, just go to profityourknowledge.com/guide. There's also a link in the description of this episode. Excuse me. So let's jump into what makes tasty subject lines. What makes email subject lines that actually get clicked? There is a— underneath like us actually writing these, What's important is that you are building a quality list. Now I have other videos and other lessons on the podcast where I talk about how to actually like build your email list with lead magnets and all that kind of stuff. So if you haven't watched that or listened to that or you're not really familiar with it, do go check out those episodes. If you're on YouTube, I'll link one up in the corner somewhere. But that's really the first thing. If you, you can have great subject lines, but the people on your list just don't really care about your topic, obviously they're not going to click. So that's the first thing to really work on. Um, so check out those other episodes if that is you. If not, if you've been building up an email list, you got lead magnets, all that kind of stuff, you're getting some quality people on your list and you're just like, people just aren't really like opening these. It could just be that your email subject lines aren't very good. No offense, not picking on you, just being real. So what makes a tasty subject line? Tasty email subject lines are really just headings. They're titles or headlines, if you will. And a headline is really a promise. So we want to create prom— like if you, if you look at a blog, for example, or a newspaper or a magazine, and the headline is the big text at the top, it just hooks you in and makes you want to learn more. That's what an email subject line really is. Okay. Thinking about it like that really helped me because I thought email subject lines were like a completely different beast, but it's literally just a headline. So great subject lines or even headlines cause curiosity and intrigue while still keeping it real. Okay. So we want to have a subject line that is attention grabbing. It stands out and it speaks to a pain or desire that our target market has that's on our email list, one of our leads. But we want to avoid it being too clickbaity. Now, if you're not familiar, clickbait, um, isn't necessarily a bad thing. It has become bad over the years because they're powerful is using clickbait, but also there's a way to do it ethically. So good clickbait is where it's intriguing, the title or the subject line, it's very intriguing, it causes curiosity and it grabs attention, but it also delivers on the content. Okay, so it's all congruent. Bad clickbait is where it's intriguing, it's attention grabbing, it causes curiosity, but it doesn't deliver on the content. So here's an example. When YouTube was first getting big, they changed their algorithm since then, but they basically ranked videos on views. So if your video had more views and just clicks on the video, then you would rank higher in YouTube and then you could make money on YouTube. So YouTube caught on to this and switched it over to watch time. So now it's more about how long people are actually watching your videos for. And that's a way better approach, honestly, because people were using clickbait to actually just get more clicks really, and just ramp up the amount of clicks that they were getting. So for example, they would have a video of something intriguing for someone. It could be, I don't know, it could be like a how-to video or it could even be something like a bit taboo. Like, I don't know, like a naked lady or something. And it would, it would be like, oh, I want to see that. So people would click on it, but then it's like a cat video. Or what's the classic one? It's that guy dancing. I can't remember what the video is. If you know, let me know in a comment on YouTube. But you click on a video and then it switches over to this guy like dancing and it's like, never going to let you up, never going to let you. Yeah, but if you know, you know. That is an example of bad clickbait because the title, the headline is showing you that it's something that you may be interested in and then you click on it and then it's something completely different. So that's bad clickbait. That's not what we want to do. With any video or podcast or anything, we want to keep it on topic. Okay, but you can still do this strategically. So make sure that your subject lines are— they cause curiosity, they are intriguing, and they're attention-grabbing. All right. And that they deliver on the content. They keep it real. Also, we want to keep them straightforward. So if you can keep your subject lines really cut and dry, keep them short and just keep them direct. You can still have something that's direct, but also intriguing and attention grabbing. And I'll give you a couple of different ideas on how to do this. But a good rule of thumb is to keep your subject lines under 40 characters. So you can open up your document in like Google Docs and do a word count just to make sure you have like the right amount of characters or something like that. A great tool to actually use for this is something that I love to use when I'm using YouTube in particular, but I use thumbsup.tv. And actually shows you like a YouTube title that is under 50 characters really, but I try and keep them as short as possible. So that's a good tool that you could check out, thumbsup.tv. It's really cool, especially if you're into YouTube because you can type in your title and then put in the thumbnail that you want to have on your YouTube videos and they'll show you like different sizes to make sure your text isn't too long and that kind of stuff. But good rule of thumb, keep it under 40 characters. So keep it short, keep it intriguing, keep it attention grabbing. And then short and direct, obviously the best. But also think about emailing like you're emailing a friend, so it's less formal. What I mean by that is using lowercase letters. That's a great example. Instead of saying like email subject lines that get clicked and they're like the first letter of every word is capitalized, that's a little less formal. And actually, if you do too many capitalized words in your subject lines, then you're more likely to get sent over to spam. Or if you use salesy kind of words like sale or, you know, half off, or use that kind of that like sales jargon, then that can actually cause people or it can cause your emails to go into spam because these email providers use AI and they probably figure that, oh, you're just like trying to sell stuff. Strategy, that's what we're looking for. Another great thing, another great way of keeping it less formal, something I love to do and that I started pretty recently and it's actually really helped with my email opt-in or email open rates is to use emojis. Great little, uh, a great little tool. And if you're on a Mac or an Apple computer, you can just right-click in the, in the search bar or in the subject line bar, and it'll say select emoji. And then you can click there and you can pick whatever emoji you want to use. But if you don't have a Mac, you can always just check out Emojipedia, emojipedia.com. And you can literally type in any emoji you want to use. Great emojis are like a facepalm emoji or the stop sign emoji. Most people don't use emojis in their subject line, so if you get in the habit of using emojis that relate to the subject line and the core topic that you're creating your content around or whatever's inside of the email, then it really helps to stand out. Because if you look at like a wall of different emails that people have inside their inbox, people do not keep their inbox is very clean, so there's just tons of emails. It's hard to stand out. So if you add an emoji, that's just something that separates your email subject line from everybody else's. So you can use like the arm emoji if you're saying like, hey, time's running out for maybe a launch that you're doing, like it's coming down to the last day or something. You can use a little clock emoji or stopwatch emoji. Okay, that's kind of what I mean. So it's like lowercase letters, keeping it less formal, keeping it conversational like you'd be emailing a friend. And then using emojis. Those are great, great things that I've done that have really helped with open rates. So an example of this, one of the best email open rates that I had, I think it was at like 82%. I don't remember the exact number, but it was in the 80s. I said, I wish I knew this when I started, and I kept it all lowercase except for I, obviously. I wish I knew this when I started blank. So I wish I knew this when I started online business. And then I use the facepalm emoji. That was it. Super simple, super cut and dry. And the content that I gave them was literally about what I wish I knew when I first started, uh, my online business. And I think it was a weekly piece of content that I made, but that was one of my best subject lines that opened. That's just one example. Okay. So notice what I talked about. It's curious. It causes curiosity because people will think like, Well, what did he wish he knew when he first started his online business? Because the people on my email list are considering starting an online business or growing their online business. So it's intriguing. It's attention grabbing because I have the facepalm. There's drama because the facepalm, but also it's lowercase, formal, and it causes curiosity because people would love to know what I wish I knew before. Like if I had started in the beginning, it's always— that's just great content because for us as people that are consuming, we think, maybe I could learn something. Maybe it's something that I've been struggling with, or I don't want to avoid pitfalls. If someone's been further down the road than me, then I can avoid these pitfalls altogether. Okay, so I wish I knew this before I started blank. And then a facepalm emoji is great. You can literally fill that in with whatever it is that you, that you want. If you're teaching fitness, like, I wish I knew this before I started trying to lose weight. I wish I knew this before I started dating again, or before. Yeah, that's a great example. Okay. I wish I knew this before I started playing guitar. You have to play it to your audience. Okay. So curiosity, intrigue, it's attention grabbing. Okay. Emojis are great for that. Lowercase, straightforward, short, under 40 characters. So practice those different tips. Another thing I want to just kind of share with you is just to learn from successful email subject lines. Follow people that are your heroes. And, or people that you like that have good email marketing and they're consistent with it, you know, and you enjoy looking at their emails. Guaranteed you have at least one person that shows up in your inbox where you're like, I always click their emails because I love their content. Look at their subject lines and think to yourself, why does that make me want to click it? Maybe not every subject line does, but think about the ones that do make you want to click. What is it about it? It's probably because it causes curiosity inside your mind. It, it could be intriguing. It's maybe it's attention grabbing like we're talking about. Maybe it's short. It's just like it's a little clickbaity, but that's okay because they deliver on content. It's also because, you know, that this person you're following delivers on great content. They always deliver great content. So you're like, just the fact that it's them, I'm going to open it because you've built a relationship with them. Okay. But just think about that. Like when you're looking at titles and you're looking at subject lines, really just pause for a second, especially if you feel like the need or urge to click on it and think, why does it make me want to click? What is it about it that made me want to click on that email subject line and get curious? All right. Another, another great thing that I love to do is I just look up subject line examples for inspiration. Call it a cheat code, call it whatever you want. I don't steal it directly, but a great website that I have found, and I'll link this down in the description below, is from sendinblue.com. And it's, uh, it's 150 email subject lines, uh, with examples. And they, they also give you some tips on how to create better subject lines. But this is a great, like, fully up-to-date blog that I've had just the tab saved. So every time I go to send out a new piece of content or I'm creating subject lines, they literally categorize all this stuff for you. So they have like welcome email subject lines if people are just opting in for the first time. Like welcome to the family, fear of missing out, like FOMO subject lines. And what's cool is that they actually use companies like Uber or Guess or JetBlue and they show— or Airbnb. They use these like big reputable companies that still use email marketing because it's legit and it does work. And they show you different examples. So some examples of like FOMO subject lines that they have inside of here are click it or miss it, people. Click it or miss it, people. This is from J.Crew Factory. And then they have a colon, says over 500 styles under $25 is ending. Uber, it says grab a ride pass before they're gone. Where's a better one? You're missing out on points. Where's a good one? Oh no. Okay, here's more like personal subject lines. Those ones weren't that good, the FOMO ones. Weren't really relatable. I don't use all of these. I just kind of find some that work for me. But here's one by John Morrow. Super simple. Just says, quick favor with a question mark, or is this you? That's such a good subject line you could literally take if you're— so that's a great example. If you're going to like offer to book a call with you on your emails, you could say, is this you? And then the whole email is related to like who's right, who's wrong for signing up to book a call with you, who— if you're considering that. It has like qualifications inside of it, you know, or it could just be something totally relatable. So those are different examples. But again, I'm going to link this down below. 150 email subject lines that you can choose from. Super great resource. Every time I create subject lines, I run through it. Sometimes I don't because I just know that a good subject line came up inside of me. But that's really the biggest thing. Okay, so keeping it short, keeping it tasty. It's really just about short, straightforward, direct email subject lines. They cause curiosity. They're intriguing. They're attention-grabbing. Using things like emojis, keeping it conversational, lowercase letters, like all that stuff really helps with opening or getting emails to open. Don't, don't use a bunch of capitals. You may think that, oh, that's attention-grabbing. It's not. That's actually going to send you straight to a spam box. Keep it good clickbait so it can be intriguing, attention-grabbing, but always delivers on the content. It's not bad clickbait that doesn't deliver on the content. And then yeah, just look at great subject lines. This, this little blog post that I'm going to share with you, literally great example. They're from big, big companies that use email and it shows you exactly what their subject lines are and use that for inspiration. Okay. You'll be off to the races. Pretty straightforward. So again, if you're thinking about starting an online business or creating more passive income, maybe just as a side revenue with, your online business currently, then do check out the 5-step action plan. There is a link in the description, or you can always visit ProfitYourKnowledge.com/guide. And hey, if you got value from today's lesson, maybe try these out and then come back so you can actually really test out the information here. But this stuff works. I use it all the time. And again, I get like 30% to 80% email opt-in or email open rates. But if you got value from this, if it was helpful, please share it because it really helps grow this channel. And then yeah, leave a comment below, like the video, subscribe if you got value, all that kind of stuff, all that jazz, and definitely pick up the 5-step guide because I know that that is really going to help you. Bottom line, take what you learned here, get out there, start creating tasty, crafty subject lines that get opened, and I will see you in the next one.