Why people give up on email?

Several months ago, I got asked a variation of this question: “It currently takes me a while to write my emails. How do I write emails faster?” And my first thought was: “Does it really matter how long it takes you to write an email?” If it takes you 1 hour to write an email but you are GUARANTEED to make 100-thousand-dullarz from that email, would it bother you? Probably not. So the issue isn’t really how long it takes; it is that your emails are underperforming. Of course, you can drastically increase your writing speed while still getting great results, but ultimately, it comes down to result. And this is also why a lot of people give up on email… Their result is not commensurate with their effort. They are spending so much time designing beautiful emails, paying for autoresponders, crafting the perfect subject line, only to send the email and get … Crickets. Nothing. Nada. No sales, no call bookings, no customers. So they give up and hop onto whatever else is trending – social media, podcasting, affiliates, etc. Not saying those are bad, but if your email game is great, you wouldn’t need them. You can obviously use them if you want, but your business will have such healthy profits that you don’t need to depend on platforms you don’t own or control (and can be taken away from you at any time) for customers. Enter IKON Konsulting: It is a 90-minute consulting session where I do a deep dive into your email marketing strategy and show you exactly where you are losing potential customers. We’ll uncover opportunities for growth from your current strategy, and by the end of the call, you will have an improvement plan to help you grow your revenue using email. However… The call is not cheap: It costs one-thousand-smackaroos (1,000 USD) And it is worth every penny. One simple email can recoup that investment and more, if done correctly (an email I sent for a client on Thursday has already made over 1,800 dullarz. Not bad for a plain text 450-word email) . My goal with every call is to help bump up your sales by an extra 5-figures per month, and depending on your business model, your work ethic, consistency over the long term, etc, maybe even bump it up an extra 6-figures per year. For more articles like this on marketing, sales and copywriting, check out my website: https://ikonmedia.net/ When you get there, you have the option to join my email list. If you join, you will get my free book that shows you how to multiply the amount of revenue you make in your business using your email list. If you’re interested, use the link above. Fola

Increase email revenue without hiring an agency.

Starting today, I’m offering email consultations (called “IKON Konsulting”) for businesses that would love to multiply their results using email, but don’t want to hire an agency to do it for them. Maybe you have a team handling your email marketing, or maybe you personally love writing emails, but you know there are things that could be improved in your email marketing strategy, then this is for you. I’m offering 90 minutes of consulting to help you uncover ways to nab more sales using email. My goal with every call is to help you add an extra 5-figures per month to your email revenue, and depending on your business model, your work ethic, consistency over the long term, etc, the call can very well help you add an extra 6-figures per year. In my experience, there are usually 1 – 3 little things most people are ignoring (or not paying as much attention to), that is holding back their email conversion, and simply fixing these things can as much as double their revenue in a matter of months if they put in the work. Now, when I say “little” things, I don’t mean easy. They might be difficult for you to implement (especially if you have no prior experience with that particular thing), so if you’re looking for a “magic subject line” to hypnotize people into buying from you, I’m not your guy. However, I can show you the “little things” to improve, and if you put in the work to learn how to improve them, your business will reap the benefits. Lastly, the call costs one-thousand-smackaroos (1,000 USD) Yes, it’s pricey for a mere 90-minute call, so if you don’t think your business can recoup that investment in 30 days, then it is obviously not for you. But if your business is in a healthy place and you’d love to grow even more, then my advice can be worth way more than the fee, just like it was for one of my clients in the supplements industry who went from 1,354 customers in one month to 2,080 customers the next, just by implementing some simple email changes. That is over 700 new customers In 30 days, purely from email. For more articles like this on marketing, sales and copywriting, check out my website: https://ikonmedia.net/ When you get there, you have the option to join my email list. If you join, you will get my free book that shows you how to multiply the amount of revenue you make in your business using your email list. If you’re interested, use the link above. Fola

How to create lead magnets that suck in leads

About 2 years ago, I watched a YouTube video by a guy called Matthew Larsen on how he built a $900k/month marketing agency in less than a year. Basically, this guy made his money (at least then) by flipping CRO agencies for cash (i.e. he’d spend 12 – 24 months building a marketing agency to 7/8 figures, sell it, wait for the non-compete clause to expire, and do it all over again). On one hand, it is quite a cool way to get an influx of the green stuff (selling a company would do that for you), especially if you have prior experience building marketing agencies. On the other hand, it seems like a soulless way of doing business to me. Creating a business with the sole purpose of selling it in 1 – 2 years time. No bigger vision, no bigger purpose, no north star for your company. The entire purpose is to just create a cash cow. But I’m not judging. Every man to himself. He definitely seems like he’s doing well for himself, so who am I to comment? His approach to business aside, in that YouTube video, he mentioned 3 important factors every lead magnet should have that would not only make it more enticing to potential subscribers, but also more rewarding after they get it. He called it the VAS method: #1 – Valuable (Is the lead magnet actually valuable to your prospect? Does it help them solve the problem you promised?) #2 – Actionable (How actionable is your solution? Is it something they can implement in 24 hours or less? The shorter the timeframe, the better.) #3 – Signature (How unique is your lead magnet? Is it written based on your experience, or did you just slap together some AI-slop and call it a lead magnet?) Those were his criteria, and in my opinion, they are pretty good. My approach is slightly different (and I can’t go into how I do mine now), but I believe following his VAS approach can help most businesses attract good, high-quality leads. So you know how to create a solid lead magnet now, what’s next? It needs to exist on a landing page. That’s where IKON Media comes in. We offer web design and development services, whether you need a simple landing page (or optin page) to host your lead magnet and get new leads for your business … or you need a full blown website/e-commerce store … we can probably help you bring your vision to life. But first, we need to have a call. Over this call we’ll discuss your marketing strategy, what you aim to achieve with the website and how it can move you closer to your goal. At the end of the call, if all goes well, we’ll discuss munny, timelines, deliverables and all that good stuff. For more articles like this on marketing, sales and copywriting, check out my website: https://ikonmedia.net/ When you get there, you have the option to join my email list. If you join, you will get my free book that shows you how to multiply the amount of revenue you make in your business using your email list. If you’re interested, use the link above. Fola

Do you have soul?

Back in 1995, Steve Jobs was being interviewed and the interviewer asked him what he thought about Microsoft. If you know anything about technology history you’ll know that Steve and Bill Gates were not the biggest fans of themselves but Steve still gave Microsoft props for how opportunistic and resilient they were. However, his problem with them was that they made products with no soul (my words, not his). In his own words: “The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste. They have absolutely no taste, and … I don’t mean that in a small way. I mean in a big way, in the sense that they don’t think of original ideas, and they don’t bring much culture into their product.” And then he went on to say: “And so I guess I am saddened, not by Microsoft’s success – I have no problem with their success, they’ve earned their success for the most part. I have a problem with the fact that they just make really third-rate products. Their products have no spirit to them, their products have no sort of spirit of enlightenment about them, they are very pedestrian.” And the lack of spirit (as Steve puts it), is even more true in small businesses than it is in large, multi-billion dollar companies like Microsoft. Everyday, there are new businesses rising up, but for the most part, they are all the same. No differentiation, no innovation, nothing unique. Just a copy of a rehash of what everyone else is doing. Very little soul in them. This is even getting worse with the proliferation of AI slop (which is trained on mass mediocrity btw) with which most businesses are using to run their operations. Nobody has soul anymore. So I want to ask you: “Do you have soul?” Is there a striking difference about your business? A unique flair that you bring into the market place? An approach that feels new, refreshing and exciting in the sea of sameness in your industry? Financial profit asides, why else are you in business? Functional benefit aside, what impact does your business have on people’s lives? This is your company’s soul. Btw, nobody figures this out on day one. It’s an ever evolving journey. Something you’ll be unveiling throughout your business career. But it’s first of all a mindset you must have. A mindset that you would NOT build a commodity brand. If you have this mindset, then you’re the type of person we want to work with at IKON Media. Nothing is more boring, creativity-killing and joy-sucking than a client who wants to create “same old” designs, overbloated marketing promises or hypey-sales pitch with no depth. The fresh, different and new is not only more challenging (which we love), but also more exciting, more motivating but also, more profit-making for you. If you have a brand that is distinct, edge and fresh, and you are looking to develop a new web interface, then let’s have a chat. For more articles like this on marketing, sales and copywriting, check out my website: https://ikonmedia.net/ When you get there, you have the option to join my email list. If you join, you will get my free book that shows you how to multiply the amount of revenue you make in your business using your email list. If you’re interested, use the link above. Fola

Passion, music and profit.

rom quite an early age, I had a music tutor, so I learnt to play several instruments while I was young. And while I didn’t eventually become a professional musician or anything, that experience made me aware of a phenomenon that transcends music – and surprisingly (or not) it is even very important in marketing. What phenomenon is this? Feelings. As you probably know, music is more than just the words. It is feeling … emotion … passion. The difference between a singer who has no impact on people (with everybody bored out of their minds, scrolling their phone and wondering where their next domine hit would come from) and a singer who has people bawling their eyes out and cheering them on is … Passion. And this is true for any form of communication. More than the words, there is a real emotion that needs to be transmitted. A passion that cannot be faked, an intensity that cannot be taught. This kind of passion is common in the greatest communicators and marketers that have ever lived. And just like no magic lyric or harmony can help a passionless singer, no amount of copywriting “technique” can help you if there is no passion in your writing. Passion is the secret sauce. Here’s why I bring this up: Sometimes the difference between copy that is wildly successful and launches new businesses from scratch and another which falls flat on its face, is passion. The intensity with which the words are written, how well it moves someone to an emotion, is all that matters especially in an incomplete medium like writing. But this is not something you can fake.It should stem from genuine care, responsibility and concern for your customers. It has to be true. It has to be real. It has to come from within. That being said, One thing every good copy needs is a web interface to put it to “house” it. Especially if you’re building a marketing funnel where any error or downtime can cost you REAL dollars-in-the-bank, you need to ensure you work with a reputable company. While I’m very biased (of course, I own the company), I believe IKON Media has some of the best people to help you with your web interface design development (whether for landing pages, optin pages, or full fledged websites and ecommerce sites). Even more, because we are primarily a marketing company, all our decisions are made with a marketing agenda in mind. We ensure that every site is built to get you leads and customers (both in the short and long term). For more articles like this on marketing, sales and copywriting, check out my website: https://ikonmedia.net/ When you get there, you have the option to join my email list. If you join, you will get my free book that shows you how to multiply the amount of revenue you make in your business using your email list. For more articles like this on marketing, sales and copywriting, check out my website: https://ikonmedia.net/ When you get there, you have the option to join my email list. If you join, you will get my free book that shows you how to multiply the amount of revenue you make in your business using your email list. If you’re interested, use the link above. Fola

The Michelin secret for creating profit-boosting websites.

Several weeks ago, I was getting my entertainment fix, not from Tiktok or Fakebook, like most people… I was getting it from one of my favourite podcasts: Founders It’s hosted by David Senra and in each episode David reads a biography of a business owner and extracts lessons from how they ran their business and life. Anyway, I was listening to his episode on the Michelin brothers (the 2 brothers behind the Michelin tire brand and subsequently, the Michelin maps and the Michelin star rating for restaurants) and it is full of really cool practical insights. One idea in particular that stood out to me was how quality can transcend the product you sell. Back then in France, there were very few cars on the road and so the Michelin brothers wanted to encourage more driving in the nation (the more people drove cars and the longer they drove them, the more tires Michelin would sell). In order to encourage more people to drive longer and farther distances, they created the Michelin travel guide and maps. The travel guide showed them really cool places they could go visit and the maps helped them get there easily. All these increased the amount of driving done in France. On the one hand, that is just a brilliant, long-term approach to marketing your business. There’s so much wisdom in their approach to selling tires, especially if you’re in a market that is not sophisticated yet and your potential customers have some “catching up” to do. On the other hand, the maps and guides took on a life of their own. For many people, it became their first point of contact with the Michelin brand and it pretty much became a necessity for most road users at the time. Here’s more: Even though the map was unrelated to their core product (air-filled tires), people automatically assumed the tires were high quality because of the level of detail, quality and care that went into the maps and travel guide they created. And that was how the map became one of their biggest marketing tools. Here’s why I bring this up: Your website in many ways is like the Michelin map. It may not directly sell your product/service (even though it very well could), but it is often the first “product” your prospects will interact with and you will absolutely be judged by the quality (in terms of structure, organization, look, “depth”, uniqueness, etc) of your website, before they will ever try any of your paid products. And in many cases, they may never even try any of your product/service if they think very little care or attention was put into creating your website. That’s how important your website can be. The quality of your products and services need to be reflected by your website. Enter IKON Media: Our goal with every project is to create a web interface (website, landing page, optin page, etc) that helps you achieve your marketing goal. That’s why our first conversation is always about your marketing strategy and seeing where your website fits into the picture. After that, we go into designing your project in a way that reflects your brand and attracts your ideal prospects, while repelling those you don’t want. For more articles like this on marketing, sales and copywriting, check out my website: https://ikonmedia.net/ When you get there, you have the option to join my email list. If you join, you will get my free book that shows you how to multiply the amount of revenue you make in your business using your email list. If you’re interested, use the link above. Fola

How to gym your way to more leads.

As someone who has dabbled in and out of the gym during my short stay on planet earth, I’ve learnt a bit about fitness. And one thing I’ve learnt is the concept of bulking and cutting. When gym bros want to grow muscle, they often go on a “bulk”. This means you eat more than you normally would and more than your body actually “needs”, but still going to the gym regularly. All this eating makes you bulk up and as a result you become bigger, stronger and heavier. However, while this bulk increases your muscle mass, it also increases your fat. I.e. you increase in both the good and the bad. But that’s where the cut comes in. During the cut, you eat less than you normally would while maintaining your regular exercise routine. During this cut, you lose fat, and get rid of the bad stuff. However because of this loss, you also lose a bit of strength and size. But overall, you would have increased in muscle mass, strength and size compared to when you started the “bulk and cut”. In essence, to grow in the good stuff, you grow in everything (good and bad), then cut out the bad stuff. For a while now, this has been my approach to list building. As much as I can, I try to curate people BEFORE they join my list (i.e. I try to ensure my offer, sales copy, the traffic channels, etc attracts my ideal customers while repelling other people), however it is still a “bulk”. You’ll get the good and bad, the serious and unserious, the qualified and the unqualified. Then comes the cut. The cut is your email strategy. My whole system of email marketing is designed to build stronger relationships with your ideal customers, while repelling all the leads you don’t want. Which means, even though my email system almost always increases sales and revenue, you’ll likely also see a temporary increase in unsubscribes. That is the “cut”. Once you’ve repelled those who you don’t really want on your list anyway, your subscriber count will stay roughly the same. Here’s why I tell you this: Your email strategy, no matter how brilliant it is, won’t matter if no one is on your list. You need to bulk first – you need to first get an influx of leads While your web design alone cannot get you leads, it plays a big role in your lead generation efforts and messing it up is as bad as messing up every other step of your campaign. Let IKON Media help you. Whether you are just looking for a simple design landing page, an e-commerce online store or a full-fledged website, we can help you plan, design and develop it. Even better, because we are a marketing agency, our goal with every website is to ensure it amplifies all of your other marketing efforts and helps you generate more leads and sales. For more articles like this on marketing, sales and copywriting, check out my website: https://ikonmedia.net/ When you get there, you have the option to join my email list. If you join, you will get my free book that shows you how to multiply the amount of revenue you make in your business using your email list. If you’re interested, use the link above. Fola

The foolishness of letting a designer “design” your website

I know how illogical this sounds, but it is counterproductive (and not to mention, detrimental to your conversions, sales, and profit) to let a designer (web designer, UI/UX designer, product designer or otherwise) “design” your website. And this includes designers who say they have “copywriting” skills. Now when I say design, I don’t mean the visual aspect of your website (at least not exclusively). I meant the overall structure and flow of your website. The choice of platform … the different pages and how they interact … the length of each page … the elements included (or excluded) across the website, and so much more. That is what I mean by “design” Btw, this is NO diss to designers. I have worked with designers in the past. I still work with designers everyday. But when it comes to “designing” websites that aim to generate customers and sales for you, their work is secondary. Your primary “designer” must be a marketer. I.e. the person who decides the flow of the website, the structure of each page, the elements to include/remove from the site, must be someone whose job it is to make you munny. This is why some of the highest grossing websites/brochures/landing pages/magazines look like absolute garbage. The pretty-heads of the internet would absolutely balk at it, but they make a ton of dough each month.; Why? They were not designed to be pretty (i.e. created by a typical designer), they were created first and foremost to make sales. Here’s something else to think on this topic: A few years back, I was listening to a podcast on marketing and the topic of “pretty design vs ugly design” came up for some reason. The host then mentioned that whenever she tests her ugly, DIY, crappy Facebook Ad design against her designer’s professional, sleek and pretty design … her own designs performed better than the professional design. That’s just something for you to think about. Anyhoo, here’s what I’m trying to say in a nutshell. Designers are great. I have no issues with the “design community” as a whole. However, only after your marketer and copywriter have “designed” and written your websites and/or landing pages can it go to the designer to “tush it up”. And even then, the marketer decides the direction the designer takes – not the other way around. That is, of course, if your goal is more sales. Enter IKON Media: One of our biggest strengths is that we are primarily marketers not designers, programmers or web developers. While we have designers and programmers on our team (and we love them dearly), we know their work is to support the marketing, not to dictate it. In short, with every website, sales page, optin page, landing page, etc … we help you create the most effective version possible BEFORE design can now “glam it up” based on your brand identity. For more articles like this on marketing, sales and copywriting, check out my website: https://ikonmedia.net/ When you get there, you have the option to join my email list. If you join, you will get my free book that shows you how to multiply the amount of revenue you make in your business using your email list. If you’re interested, use the link above. Fola

A simple to squeeze more selling power from your website.

If you have a website, then you’re already paying a yearly fee to keep the site alive (no matter what platform you are using). Seeing that you’re spending munny, it’s only wise that your website does its best to make you munny also. Now there are a lot of things you could do to generate revenue from your site (setting up funnels, landing pages, opt-in pages, etc), but one of my favourite things to do is something way simpler. Something you can start doing today. Something ANYBODY with a website in ANY NICHE can do without having to spend ANY money. What is that? Simply convert your marketing emails into blog posts. Now this won’t work for every business (especially businesses that don’t follow my system of writing emails), but for businesses who write emails that have an edutainment appeal, you can very well convert your emails into blog posts. Just remove your pitch and add a little bit more content to it, and it becomes a blog post. Not only does this help you extract more value from your emails (i.e. uncovering unused capacity), but it also gives you useful content that positions you as an expert and leader in the market to customers/clients/partners who check you out. This is for those that have websites, obviously. If you don’t have a website or you are looking to redesign your website, then IKON Media may be able to help you. Whether you are just looking for a simple design landing page, an e-commerce online store or a full-fledged website, we can help you plan, design and develop it. Even better, every website we create is marketing-focused and not just beauty-focused (you can’t take pretty to the bank, can you?) So if you’d love a website designed to convert while still reflecting your brand, then let’s have a chat. For more articles like this on marketing, sales and copywriting, check out my website: https://ikonmedia.net/ When you get there, you have the option to join my email list. If you join, you will get my free book that shows you how to multiply the amount of revenue you make in your business using your email list. If you’re interested, use the link above. Fola

The real reason you still have writer’s block.

Writer’s block is one of those excuses people give for not writing emails (and not doing it frequently.) But the truth is, writer’s block doesn’t … really … exist. “HoW DaRe YoU SaY SucH!!! I’vE bEeN wRiTiNg FoR 2,500 yEaRs AnD eVen I sTiLL gEt WrItErS bLoCk!!!” Okay, calm down, Kingsley You see, the idea that at a certain point in time, you are incapable of coming up with creative ideas is just a lie that everyone tells themselves (even I have fallen to this lie myself in the past). There are several techniques I teach to help people write marketing emails regardless of writer’s block, creative block or insert-whatever-new-block-people-have-these-days … I don’t want to talk techniques today. I want to go to the root cause. In my experience, there are 2 reasons people develop writer’s block (I’m talking specifically about writers block when writing marketing copy) #1 – They do NOT read. The periods of my life when I don’t read are the periods where emails take me 50 minutes to write, instead of 5 minutes. Consuming content in general (but reading especially) is what helps keep your mind filled with new ideas to write about. Think of it like this: Your mind is a pond. What happens when water doesn’t flow in and out of a pond?? Absolute mayhem! Fishes die. Things decay. Algae blooms. Everything goes downhill. But what happens to a pond that constantly gets fresh flow of water in and out? You have a beautiful ecosystem that supports all kinds of marine life. THAT is your mind. You’re stuck because you don’t take in enough information. And I’m not talking about binge-watching 14-year-old kids dancing on TikTok. I mean good, useful information. Reading biographies, learning a new skill in your field, and watching interviews of experts. Do that enough and you’ll have more than enough ideas to write about. #2 – You are NOT obsessed with your business. Have you ever met someone with an obsession? Whether it is cars, history or fashion? They WILL talk your ears off. Why? Because that’s all they think about! You have to be the same way. Your business should be an obsession. You should eat it, breathe it, and sleep it. Your mind should always be percolating about your business. This obsession is what gives you ideas. Obsession is really what separates the greats from the would-love-to-be-great. And it’s also what separates those who consistently create content (whether email, socials, podcasts, etc), from those who don’t. This brings me to IKON Media: One reason why we are quite successful at writing and managing successful email campaigns is because we are not trying to write ONE email or THREE emails like many “email copywriters” try to do. We are trying to write entire campaigns – 30+ emails in many cases. In fact, for one client, we’ve written well over 150 individual, UNIQUE emails. You can’t do that if you’re not obsessed with the client’s industry, product, market, etc. And that’s what you get when you work with us. Your industry becomes our industry, we immerse ourselves in the nooks and cranny of your product, service, offer, personality, and industry at large. On the one hand, this takes a lot of effort, but it is what is required for success. On the other hand, it is why we are not exactly cheap. But we are very much affordable. (i.e. We’d make you way more munny than you’ll ever pay us.) If you’re looking to work with such an agency, then let’s have a chat: For more articles like this on marketing, sales and copywriting, check out my website: https://ikonmedia.net/ When you get there, you have the option to join my email list. If you join, you will get my free book that shows you how to multiply the amount of revenue you make in your business using your email list. If you’re interested, use the link above Fola.

The business of decadence.

One thing I noticed quite early in my business journey is how the natural tendency of life is chaos, anarchy and turbulence. Nothing good happens unless WE make it happen. You know how toddlers try creative ways to kill themselves – like jumping off the chair when you’re not looking … cheerfully dipping their hand in sizzling oil … or trying to swallow a rubber doll … the world is the same. Left to itself, things decay. To make things beautiful, attractive, and successful, we have to fight that natural tendency. And I mean, fight in a very literal sense. You have to impose your will upon life for good things to happen. This carries over to your business. As you probably already know, nothing works in business unless YOU make it work. It is a constant uphill battle you have to fight: * Ensuring suppliers supply at the right time, in the right quality and to your specifications. * Continuous testing, evaluation and refining your marketing process until you arrive at something that works profitably. * Enforcing your team to do their work on time and to your standards. Business (like life) is war. Everything wants to fall apart, but you have to fight to maintain order. That is the uphill battle of the entrepreneur. Your life consists of solving problems, solving some more, then doing that every day you wake up. But that’s also what makes life worth living. If everything was pretty, easy, and accessible, then your work will have no value. There will be no point to all the effort and work that goes into building a business. You’d be just another dispensable asset floating around. So embrace the chaos. It’s hard, yes. It’s stressful, yes. It’s sometimes annoying, yes. But the earlier you realize this is the cost of being successful, the earlier you can manage, organize and even wield the chaos of life (and business) to your advantage. Alright, that’s enough philosophizing for one morning. If you use email marketing in your business and you’d love to write interesting emails that keep your clients and customers addicted to reading and buying, then my team and I may be able to help you. For more articles like this on marketing, sales and copywriting, check out my website: https://ikonmedia.net/ When you get there, you have the option to join my email list. If you join, you will get my free book that shows you how to multiply the amount of revenue you make in your business using your email list. If you’re interested, use the link above. Fola

How to build trust in email

One idea gu-gurus try to push is the idea of “know, like, trust”. And in my opinion, that’s just a load of crap. Of course, people have to know you (you can’t buy from who you don’t know) Trust is definitely a must. Nobody buys from untrustworthy people. Likeness, however … that’s a different thing entirely. But I’m not here to explain why wanting to be liked (whether by your customers, clients or peers) is a fool’s errand, instead I want to tell you how to build trust. Or at least one of the ways you can do it. The formula for trust is quite simple. But before I tell you, I want you to think about a close friend you have. Someone you trust deeply … someone you could probably die for. It may even be your spouse. Why do you trust this person? What experiences have you both shared that makes you trust them with your life? While there can be several different responses, you’ll most likely realize there are 2 major factors. Firstly, you’ve likely known this person for a while – years in most cases. Rarely do you build a strong level of trust in a few days, or weeks. It usually takes months and years. Secondly, this person has probably seen you at your lowest and you’ve seen them at their lowest. There’s not much to hide from them. That is exactly the formula for trust: consistency + vulnerability. And it’s the same formula in business. The businesses you trust the most have existed (and shown up) for a long time. Several years in many cases. Even more, you’ve gotten the same core message from them CONSISTENTLY over the years. And at the same time, you must have seen their vulnerability in some way shape or form. Whether apologizing publicly for a big messup, showing behind the scenes of their process or talking about a personal story that inspired the business. They have shown vulnerability and that’s why you trust them. It’s the same for your business. Consistent communication + vulnerability builds a deeper connection with your audience and helps them trust you a lot easier. This is one reason I recommend email. Email gives you a non-invasive (but direct) way to have consistent communication. And during this communication you can easily tie in “vulnerability” without coming across as a sob sister. If you do it right, you build trust fast and your audience is more at ease buying from you. If you’d love to be able to write better, more trusting and more profitable emails then my agency, IKON Media may be able to help you. We offer end-to-end email-marketing services from strategy and brainstorming, to actual writing, scheduling and managing your campaigns. And if you need something “less serious” we offer consultations and coaching to help increase the income you’re currently getting from your list. For more articles like this on marketing, sales and copywriting, check out my website: https://ikonmedia.net/ When you get there, you have the option to join my email list. If you join, you will get my free book that shows you how to multiply the amount of revenue you make in your business using your email list. If you’re interested, use the link above. Fola

How to generate a meellion dullar email list.

If you want to build a highly profitable email list (7-figures and above), here are the top 4 things you need to focus on: #1 – Lead quality: The type and quality of leads that join your list contribute more to the success of your list than anything else you can do. The best type of leads are “warm leads”. These are people who know you prior to joining your list. Examples of this will be people joining your email list from your podcast, YouTube, personal network, social media, etc. The 2nd best are referral leads. These include leads from someone else’s podcast or from someone else’s email list. The 3rd best are “cold leads.” These are people you get from running ads to a cold audience who have never heard from you. They can still be good leads, but they require more time to build trust and convert. The last and worst types of leads to have are “dead leads.” Now, these may be perfectly good people who are interested in your product, but they just don’t know you. Usually, you get these types of people by buying lists (i.e. they don’t willingly subscribe to your email list) or by ignoring your email list for so long that they become “dead” (i.e. they’ve not heard from you in so long that they genuinely forget who you are) Any of the top 3 lead types is permissible. Run from the last one. #2 – Lead quantity: The more leads you have, the more smack you can make from that list. That’s just common sense. But it’s not just all about the numbers. That’s why I put QUALITY first. 1,000 warm leads from your YouTube channel will generate more smack than 1,000,000 shitty leads that you scraped from Reddit. So quality matters. A lot. But once you’ve got the quality down, it’s time to ramp up the quantity. More is always better. #3 – Your offer. Once you have a list of quality leads, then you need to create an offer that solves a REAL problem for them. Not just any type of problem, but a problem people really want to solve that they will pay you money for. This can be anything from a $7 PDF to a $7,000 coaching, but whatever it is, it must be something so valuable that people will part with their hard-earned money for. #4 – Email creative. This is everything from the actual email message you send, the formatting, your choice of autoresponder, etc This is the least important part of the whole sales process tbh. If you have a quality list, with sufficient quality and a solid offer, you’ll make money regardless of your email creative. Howeverrrrrr… Your email creative is a multiplier. With simple changes, you can 2X or 3X your monthly revenue. But, a great creative email, written by the best copywriters in the world, would bomb on a bad list and a poor offer. You can’t simply outmarket the first 3 steps in this process. You have to get them right for your” email creative” to matter. Which brings me to my agency, IKON Media. While we’re pretty darn good at helping you write and manage your email marketing so you can generate more revenue from your existing list (i.e. we focus on the creative) … we can’t resurrect a dead list. Sorry, pal, we’re not magicians. You’ve got to get the basics down first. But if you have a good product and a quality list (even if it’s small), we can work together to build a 6-figure, 7-figure or maybe 8-figure email revenue for your business. For more articles like this on marketing, sales and copywriting, check out my website: https://ikonmedia.net/ When you get there, you have the option to join my email list. If you join, you will get my free book that shows you how to multiply the amount of revenue you make in your business using your email list. If you’re interested, use the link above. Fola

$3 vs $30,000 email secrets

Ramit Sethi, author of the book “I Will Teach You to Be Rich”, has a philosophy he calls $3 questions vs $30,000 questions. Basically, he believes most people fuss over the $3 questions (e.g. arguing whether or not to buy a $1 cup of coffee) instead of focusing on the $30,000 questions (e.g how to increase their savings and investment rate by 1% every year or how to add an extra $50,000/year to their income, etc). In his own words: “Those [the $30,000 questions] are the big, important questions — and if you get those right, you can buy as many coffees as you want for the rest of your life” To that, I say, “Well said, Mr Sethi” Now, I am not a financial expert, nor do I claim to be one. You can structure your finances however you want. I am, however, an email marketing expert, and there is an interesting $3 vs $30,000 phenomenon in email marketing, also. Most people ask the small, $3, questions like: * “How long should my email be?” * “When is the best time to send emails?” * “How do I reduce the unsubscribe rate of my list?” But the most successful business owners and email marketers ask the larger, $30,000, questions: * “How can I build a stronger relationship with my list?”, * “How can I ensure my list is consistently growing?” * “How can I create bigger offers that solve serious problems for my list?” Here’s my point: If you solve the big questions, the small things would mostly take care of themselves. Sweating the small things will only take up the time and energy that can be dedicated to unlocking bigger revenue streams for your business. Anyhoo, if you’d love to increase the number of customers, call bookings and overall revenue you get from your email list, then my agency, IKON Media, might be able to help you. For more articles like this on marketing, sales and copywriting, check out my website: https://ikonmedia.net/ When you get there, you have the option to join my email list. If you join, you will get my free book that shows you how to multiply the amount of revenue you make in your business using your email list. If you’re interested, use the link above. Fola

Email secrets from a hostage negotiator

Several months ago, I was reading a really good negotiation book called “Start With No” by Jim Camp. If you don’t know Jim Camp, he was one of the world’s top negotiators, and he routinely negotiated billion-dollar deals for large corporations all over the world. I believe he was also called to negotiate the release of hostages from terrorists at some point in his career. Anyway, in his book, he says there is one weakness that most salespeople, marketers, business owners, etc have when it comes to negotiating (whether selling via a call, or a landing page, email, webinar, etc) In fact, most business owners have never thought of this “weakness” and don’t even realize when they are demonstrating it. But prospects know. They may not be able to put it into words, but prospects feel uneasy when you start demonstrating this “weakness”. It is sort of an energy thing. You just push them away. What weakness am I talking about? Neediness. In the jungle, the predators take advantage of the vulnerable, the distressed, the needy. It’s the same way in business and negotiations – the needy business owner almost always gets the worst end of the deal. If you’re wondering if you have fallen for this marketing sin, here are a few symptoms: (1) You have a high refund rate, (2) You have a large number of one-time buyers, but very few repeat buyers (3) No matter how hard you sell, the number of customers is not commensurate with the effort. If you have one or more of these, then you may be practising needy marketing. Anyway, here’s why I tell you this: One reason why our email marketing strategy at IKON Media works extremely well is that by its very essence, it is anti-needy. We are not trying to force-feed a sales message down your throat. In fact, with our methodology, we don’t try to sell people; we instead invite their customers to buy (big difference). And it’s because of this philosophy that we generated over 200 NEW customers in the first month of working with a client. For more articles like this on marketing, sales and copywriting, check out my website: https://ikonmedia.net/ When you get there, you have the option to join my email list. If you join, you will get my free book that shows you how to multiply the amount of revenue you make in your business using your email list. If you’re interested, use the link above. Fola

Beauty sucks.

Not in life generally, but in most marketing. For example: I am currently rounding up a direct mail campaign we want to run, and the whole “design style” of the campaign is simple, “ugly”, typewriter style. And from my experience, and the experience of those way smarter than me (Euguene Schwartz, for instance), the uglier you can make your promotion, the more likely you’ll get attention, hold attention and make sales. Now, only time will tell how well my direct mail campaign will work, but if everything goes well, I think the style will only elevate the result. But when I say ugly, I don’t mean eye-blinding, incomprehensible layout that looks like it was designed by a drunk. Instead, I mean unorthodox design – something that catches the eye … that forces your brain to notice. This is one reason I like plain-text email. In the world of fancy, highly designed emails, it stands out. And playing around with the font, too, might get you some good results (admittedly, I’ve never tried this myself). But more than just appearance, there are other ways to make your email stand out, get attention and make people more likely to read. Everything from how your CTA looks, the type of lingo you use in email, the overall structure of your email and so on. All of these and more are what we help our clients with at IKON Media. If you have an email list and you’d love to get more sales and conversions from your list, then let’s have a conversation. Over the call, we’ll discuss your existing email marketing strategy, look for ways to improve it and see if we can potentially work together in the long term. For more articles like this on marketing, sales and copywriting, check out my website: https://ikonmedia.net/ When you get there, you have the option to join my email list. If you join, you will get my free book that shows you how to multiply the amount of revenue you make in your business using your email list. If you’re interested, use the link above. Fola

7 months have passed, how is business?

Hello palsky, We’re officially in the 8th month of the year Which means the year is more than 65% gone. You are closer to the beginning of next year, than the beginning of this year. With all of this in mind, I’d like to ask: How is business? For real, no bullshyt answers. Is it all you imagined it to be? How close are you to your new years goals? What’s the update on your plan so far? For more articles like this on marketing, sales and copywriting, check out my website: https://ikonmedia.net/ When you get there, you have the option to join my email list. If you join, you will get my free book that shows you how to multiply the amount of revenue you make in your business using your email list. If you’re interested, use the link above. Fola

My interesting experience with Krista at Summit In A Box.

A few months back, my company, IKON Media, sponsored a summit. If you don’t know what a summit is, it is basically an online event that typically lasts over 3 or 4 days. Anyway, this summit was hosted by Krista and her team at Summit In A Box, and to be quite honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect. This was my first time sponsoring a summit, so it was definitely new territory for me. Even more, I had 2 live presentations to deliver to the summit attendees about email marketing. While I love email marketing and can speak about it all day … I had never done a “live presentation” to another person’s audience, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. And to add to my already “unsure experience”, the week of that summit was one of the busiest weeks of my life. In total, I had 5 different presentations that same week! But fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised. Presenting live at Krista’s summit was an absolute blast. I really enjoyed nerding out about email marketing, and the audience seemed to enjoy it. In addition, Krista and her team made the process as smooth and enjoyable as possible, both for me as a speaker and for the audience. “But Fola, why are you rambling on about Krista and her summit?” Good question, my palsky. Here’s why: Krista is holding another summit that is all about growing your membership and filling it with perfect-fit members who never want to leave. And she graciously invited me to speak about email marketing. As you know, talking about email marketing is almost a compulsion for me at this point, so I couldn’t resist. The summit holds from Aug 11 – Aug 14, 2025, so if you currently have a membership … or you once had a membership … or you might have a membership in the future (a.k.a everybody reading this): You need to register for the 4-day summit and take advantage of all the valuable information that all the speakers will be sharing. It’s free: http://ikonmedia.net/momentum Here’s something else to note: While the summit is free and you have access to all sessions during the 4 days of the event, you lose access immediately after the summit is over. Unlessssssssssss … unless you get the All Access Pass. The All Access Pass grants you access to all speaking sessions indefinitely, and once you register for the free summit, you’ll be given the opportunity to pay for the access pass. That said, if you have any questions at all about the summit, All Access Pass or any of the speaking sessions, please reach out to me and I’d be happy to answer. For more articles like this on marketing, sales and copywriting, check out my website: https://ikonmedia.net/ When you get there, you have the option to join my email list. If you join, you will get my free book that shows you how to multiply the amount of revenue you make in your business using your email list. If you’re interested, use the link above. Fola

These are the days we prayed for.

Earlier this morning, I was working on a direct mail campaign that we plan to test in a few weeks, and it just occurred to me how amazing life really is. I mean, I’m doing work I enjoy, I have absolute time freedom, working with a team of people I enjoy working with. What more can a man ask for? I mean, you can always ask for more munny, but greed aside, life is actually pretty good. And do you know the best part? I got the keys to my office yesterday! 🎉 For those that don’t know, back in January, I wrote an email titled “My 2025 business goals”. In that email, I wrote a few things I hope to achieve this year, and part of that was getting a physical office. Safe to say, I can finally check that off my list. It’s not all perfect yet, there is still some interior design work needed, but progress is progress, my palsky. Speaking of progress, I want to know yours … Whether you’ve had a “big” win (like me getting a physical office) or a “small” win (like finally writing the first page of that product), a win is a win. So hit reply and let me know any recent wins you’ve had … Big or small … I’m waiting … For more articles like this on marketing, sales and copywriting, check out my website: https://ikonmedia.net/ When you get there, you have the option to join my email list. If you join, you will get my free book that shows you how to multiply the amount of revenue you make in your business using your email list. If you’re interested, use the link above. Fola