Use storytelling to create memorable emails (Email workshop series part 3) | Ep.32 Content Magic with Lindsay Smith

Welcome back to part 3 of my special 5-episode series, How to Have a Love Affair with Email Marketing. If you're just tuning in, go back to episode #30 and start from the beginning! And, don't forget to grab your free workbook. 

Today, I'm getting into one my fave content tactics, storytelling. As a former journalist, this is something I excel at. And I'm giving you a couple tips to make it work for you and why you should even care how to do this. 
 
Telling a story in your emails allows your readers and subscribers to connect to you, remember you and look forward to more emails from you. 

I'm also using children's books as an example to make telling stories in your emails super easy. Plus, the power of observation and putting your journalism hat on. This is your permission to go out and people watch! 

Don't miss this one. 

Freebie: Workbook
New program: The Email Lab

Lindsay [00:00:00]:
Like, the reason we tell stories in our content is because it makes our content more memorable. And perhaps even more importantly, it makes it more relatable. If you have an online business, you're creating content. And the way you create content is more important than ever. It's really noisy out there, and learning to stand out is the only way. Hey, I'm Lindsay and I'm the host of the content Magic podcast, all about being an entrepreneur and creating kick ass content to market yourself and your business. I have a not so secret superpower for copywriting, marketing and content, and I've helped hundreds of folks just like you show up with a ton of confidence in the online space. I've been doing this content thing for 20 years, and I believe the real magic is a combo of intuition, creativity and strategy.

Lindsay [00:00:52]:
You can create content for your business without losing your mind, I promise. So tune in every week for tangible content tips, inspiring guests, and some real spicy opinions. Ready to dive in? Let's go. Well, hello and welcome back to the podcast. And this is the third episode in my special five episode series called how to start a love affair with evil marketing. And if you're just tuning in, I'm going to encourage you to go back to the beginning, to episode 30, and start from the beginning. And today we're going to talk about storytelling. If you have not downloaded the workbook yet, I'm going to encourage you to do that too.

Lindsay [00:01:36]:
You can do it on my website, lindsaysmithcreative CA workbook. And that is going to help you as we move through this series. Come up with your own email strategy, and also come up with a bunch of ideas of stuff that you can send to your list. Okay? So now, storytelling is what I talked about in the first episode is we're essentially moving through this system. Build, nurture, maintain. So storytelling is kind of nurture, but it's also maintained. So what I mean when I talk about storytelling is that you are legit telling a story, like once upon a time. And the reason that we use this type of stuff, like the reason we tell stories in our content, is because it makes our content more memorable.

Lindsay [00:02:34]:
And perhaps even more importantly, it makes it more relatable. So here's an exercise. I want you to think about your favorite movie or your favorite book. Actually, I stick with movies. So if you are the same age as me, I bet you can tell me the I want you to think about Dirty dancing the movie. So if you're like in your mid forties or almost 50, I'm going to guess that you watched Dirty dancing many, many times. So can you tell me the story of Dirty Dancing? I'm just going to wait a minute. And I bet you can.

Lindsay [00:03:12]:
And I bet you remember the story because it had an impact on you. Yes. Yes. So, and here's another thing I want. So if you have children, I'm going to guess that there was a time, if they're still little, I'm going to guess that you probably read them the same books over and over and over again. Or if you don't have kids, I'm going to think. I'm going to ask you to think about your favorite book as a kid, either like a picture book or a chapter book. So for me as a kid, the Roald Dahl books were ones that I loved and I don't think these exist anymore.

Lindsay [00:03:51]:
But there were these, like, choose your own adventure books. Does anybody remember those? And I remember looking for those type of, that type of stuff for my ten year old anyways, so those, those are two things. So there was one, my oldest is ten now, but when she was little, there was this book about a penguin and he wandered off and lost his family. And we had to read that book so many times, we still have it. It's like all folded up, probably like, has fingerprints in it, grubby little fingerprints. We had to read that book over and over and over again. So when we talk about storytelling in your content, in your emails, this is the kind of stuff I want you to think about. And honestly, when you're writing a story for your email list, if it can start with Once upon a time, then you've got it right.

Lindsay [00:04:54]:
So, for example, so at the time of this recording, my son, who's seven, he's been home for three weeks with a broken arm. He hasn't been to school because of where the break is. It's just like not covered up by the cast. So it's kind of dangerous if he falls or someone grabs his arm or whatever, it's just not great. So I'm just. And I'm thinking this up on the spot. Ps. So, okay, so sometimes when I tell a story in my email, I often work backwards, which means I will take some sort of life event and I'll work backwards.

Lindsay [00:05:29]:
So I'll work in some sort of lesson or some sort of takeaway for my audience, working backwards. So I'll take the life event first and then figure out what the lesson is from that. So, for example, let's say, okay, so he's been home for three weeks and something I've been thinking about actually is like, so if I had a job out in the world where I worked for somebody else and I did not have this my own business and I was not an entrepreneur, what would we have done with my son? Because he couldn't go to school. Either I would have had to pay a babysitter, or, you know, my husband and I would have had to figure out how to take time off, the two of us together, someone to stay with him or, you know, have my mom come a couple days a week. Have his mom come a couple days a week. So. Right. So this is something I've been thinking about.

Lindsay [00:06:27]:
If I did not have my own business, I probably would have been fired from my job where I worked for somebody else. So that's an example, right? And that's an example of something that's been happening in my life. And I could say, you know, one of the greatest blessings of my son breaking his arm or one of the greatest blessings of having my own business is that the flexibility of being able to stay with my son, stay home with my son while his arm heals. So, like, you and this. And this requires a bit of, like, telling these stories in your emails. It requires you to kind of put your journalism hat on a little bit. And what I mean by that is, and they even told us this in journalism school, you have to be a really good observer. So this means, usually means you have to sort of, like, it's this idea of, like, creating versus documenting your content.

Lindsay [00:07:35]:
So. And this is really, like, this falls under the category of documenting. So I don't know, for example, you know, if you've been hanging around, you know that I walk my dog a lot, and so she always wants to, like, chase the squirrels. She got a super high prey drive. She always wants to chase the squirrels. So I always joke that it's called squirrel tv or something. So, you know, I would start with that story, and then just to kind of, like, then I would find a way that there was some sort of takeaway from my audience either. Like, obviously, I'm a copywriter and a content strategist, so, you know, that's what my niche is.

Lindsay [00:08:14]:
So I would usually find some sort of takeaway in the content space or copywriting space, but sometimes the takeaway was just in the entrepreneurial space. So also, back to the children's book. So I want you to think about either your favorite children's book or something that you've read to your own kids, and they're a perfect example, because usually this is the way it works with a book, right? With any story, with any book, with any movie, with any book. In fact, like, you know, this is the arc that it follows. You introduce the characters, there's some sort of struggle, and then there's always, like, a moral at the end. So if you're canadian, you probably know all of the Robert Munch stories. There's always some sort of, like, moral at the end. Well, not his silly books, but more like his serious books.

Lindsay [00:09:01]:
So if you think about that, right, and most stories follow that kind of arc. There's like, you introduce the characters, there's some, like, at the top of the arc, there's some sort of struggle, and then at the bottom of the arc, there's some sort of moral of the story. So usually that's how I tell stories in my emails. Right? Okay. I introduce the main character, whatever it is. Could be my dog, could be my son, could be me, and then I introduce the struggle, and then I introduce the lesson, and then that lesson relates it back to my business in some way. And then I essentially put a bow on it and then wrap it all up. So this is one sort of, this is kind of like half copywriter, half journalist.

Lindsay [00:09:49]:
This is just one way that you can write emails. And I like, and I did a training on this a while ago, and I used a couple of examples from emails that I got. And I remember a friend wrote an email, and it was. And I remember this because she. The way she introduced it was, you know, she talked about how. And it was super relatable. She talked about how she felt put on the spot. Her, you know, she knew it was her turn to speak and her armpits were sweating.

Lindsay [00:10:23]:
And her hands were sweating. You know, she. She was on a stage, da da da da da da da. And then she said, you know, and so, and I feel like we can all relate to that, right? Like, we can all relate to feeling put on the spot. We can all relate to our nerves going crazy. We can all relate to. I feel like we can all relate to sweaty armpits and sweaty hands and being nervous and having to be the one to talk. And so then, you know, she's the main character.

Lindsay [00:10:53]:
She introduces the struggle. It was a networking group. And then she says, actually, it was an online networking group. It wasn't even in person. And then I honestly forget what she was talking about. Oh, I think she was. I think she was talking about a conference. Anyways, so using those kinds of details, the sweaty hands and sweaty armpits, using those kinds of details makes it relatable.

Lindsay [00:11:22]:
And similarly, you know, if, let's say your, you know, let's say your ideal audience are moms, right? So what do moms have in common? You know, most of us know what it's like to be sleep deprived, so there's that. So all of us, I feel like anytime somebody talks about, well, moms of young, like toddlers and babies, we all know what it's like to feel sleep deprived. So that's like something that's relatable. There was another email from someone else who talked about, you know, she had teenagers and she was saying, oh, actually, this happened this week with my ten year old. You know, she was saying how her son, you know, the morning of was like, oh, I have a, or it was the night before, 09:00 p.m. oh, mom, I have a project due tomorrow and this happened this week, actually, my daughter forgot she had a project due and so my husband helped her do it the morning of. So, and then so she talked about, you know, having to start to help her son start this project. 09:00 p.m.

Lindsay [00:12:31]:
da da da da, you know, and she said to him, ugh, why don't, why can't you just manage your time better? And so then it, so that, so she introduces the character, her son. The struggle was he had this project due and he only figured it out at 09:00 p.m. and then she, and what happened in this email was she was an affiliate for, you know, a program that taught time management or something. So then she, then that's how she tied it up with a bow, right? So she relate, she told the character struggle lesson, relate back to the business. So that's kind of the formula for it. And like I said, you kind of have to put your journalism hat on you. Kind of. It's the idea of documenting versus creating.

Lindsay [00:13:20]:
And I can tell you, and here's where journalism Lindsay is coming in. I can tell you that you're not going to find those stories by looking at your phone or sitting at your desk. So you often have to. And this is, and for my canadian friends, I used to work for CBC radio and that's what the producers used to tell me. They'd say, Lindsay, you're not going to find any story ideas sitting at your desk. So I'd take the whatever, CBC car whatever and I'd go out and find the stories. And the same is true for us, finding those stories, it means getting away from your desk, going and doing something and putting on your observation hat. And you know what? And I feel like, depending on where you live, even people watching.

Lindsay [00:14:16]:
So this morning, again, when I was out with the dog, I've noticed some other dog owners in my neighborhood, like, you know, this, like, sort of this thing where dog owners look like they're their pet. Okay. So I've seen two examples of this in my neighborhood. There's, like, an older gentleman with, like, a senior sheepdog. And then I noticed somebody today had a basset hound and the owner looked a lot like the basset hound. So those are two, those. That's two examples of observations I made this morning just from walking the dog for 30 minutes. Is that a story we're telling? I don't know.

Lindsay [00:14:57]:
Like, maybe. It might take me a minute. So I think a couple things I want you to remember here. If you can start your email with once upon a time. Awesome. That means it's a story. Two, think about dirty dancing, a favorite movie, a favorite book, especially a children's book because they're written much simpler. And I want you to think about working backwards.

Lindsay [00:15:28]:
So instead of, like, trying to force something into your email, tell the story first and then find the lesson, then find the takeaway. And it's even better if you can put them in, like, point form, like, one, two, three. Like, here's, you know, like, I remember writing something about, like, I broke my own arm a year and a half ago. And so as a copywriter, that's very tricky for most of what I do, right. It's typing, so it was my left arm, but still. And I remember, like, I did tell a story about it, right? And the lesson, the way I wrapped it up in a bow was that I was forced to rest. So as somebody who is super ambitious and always has a ton of ideas and always wants to do stuff, being forced to rest was a very hard lesson. So I've given you a couple of examples of my own life, some from this morning.

Lindsay [00:16:28]:
So I want you to think about, one, what stories can you tell? And two, how can you turn that story into some sort of lesson? So often this takes, like, you know, it takes some sort of reflection. And listen, it's not to say you have to, like, tell everybody about your whole entire life. It's just about observation skills and figuring out how to, like, segue that into some sort of lesson or takeaway that's valuable to your audience. And listen, if you want to know more about how to do this, you're going to want to check out my brand new program. The email lab. And in this, this is like a membership, so there's a lot of flexibility with this program. You can join month to month or you can join for the whole year. And what it is, is what I'm talking about this week more in depth.

Lindsay [00:17:37]:
And even I'm going to teach you how to write emails as fast as I do so you don't have to like second guess it all the time and worry about it's not going to take you like an hour and a half to write an email. And you also get some prompts and some templates that are going to help you. And it's like a lot of fill in the blanks kind of. So you're going to get these prompts and templates for certain types of emails where all you have to do is put it into your own brand voice. So the idea of this program is to make the whole email marketing thing super easy. You're going to learn how to write your emails faster. You're going to learn how to write emails that convert because we want the money coming in. Yes.

Lindsay [00:18:29]:
And you're going to learn how to be super focused with every email that you write. So you're never going to open this, your blank email template and just be like, oh my God, what am I going to put out here? You're always going to have a plan. So you can check out that program at lindsaysmithcreative, CA email and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask. You can write me an email or send me a DM and join us for the next episode where we are chatting about subject lines. So I love talking about subject lines like Legit nerd on subject lines and how those are sort of like the window to getting super high open rates. Thanks for joining us, guys, and we'll see you next time. Thank you so much for listening. If you loved what you heard, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review or share this episode on social media.

Lindsay [00:19:31]:
And don't forget to tag me on Instagram at lindsaysmithcreative. And if you do all three, I'll be your best friend forever and invite you to all my birthday parties. That's it for today and I'll see you next time.