Email Marketing Intensive (EMI)

8 Week Mastery Workshop - Week 3

INTRO - Storyline Basics
Michael Hauge, story consultant...
Client list includes Will Smith, Julia Roberts, Jennifer
Lopez, Charlize Theron and Morgan Freeman...
In this lesson I'm going to teach you what you need to know to
write a badass story-based email.
How to plot out your initial storyline (the SOS).
How to create hooks and angles.
How to keep your SOS evergreen.
And where to get fresh ideas from.

WHY
Story structure is important because it leads people down a
carefully pre-defined path (or narrative).
But it's the reader that uses their imagination to
"fill in the gaps". This will make more sense when we
get to the how-to part.
Storyboarding helps visualize and map out a sequence
(because initially it can seems overwhelming).
Builds the foundation of your automated evergreen "money
machine".
Creates empathy.
Builds trust and rapport.
Builds attraction and attention through drama, tension
(which is a result of conflict).

 So you can purposefully hit hot-buttons from previous

research. And address fear and objections (roadblocks).

HOW (& WHAT)

Framework...
1) Build out empathy map and avatars based on research
and interviews (Lesson #2).
This will give deep insights into the
needs/wants/desires of your subscribers. Along
with pain points, hot-buttons, fear and
objections.
2) Based on the deep insights you now know, map out
the steps that are required to help move your
subscribers to their desired end result. Map out the top 3
or 4 or 5 or 10 roadblocks (there is really no rule of thumb
here)...

Use this outline doc to help you.

 If for example the ultimate desired end result is to

earn more money ... the process of getting there
may differ between subscribers.
... which is why the main SOS leads into other
smaller SOSs. Essentially creating a "choose
your own adventure" based on their specific
needs.
3) Develop your initial hook. This can be tied into
roadblock #1 or can be separate.
Examples...
http://affiliatebully.com/
http://zerotoherostory.com/
http://tinylittlebusinesses.com/
We as readers get pleasure from storytelling (which
is why we read books and watch movies) ... but the
story needs to be routed in drama as a result of
TROUBLE (CONFLICT)...
Story told as verbatim reality ultimately fails
to deliver because it's boring and lacks the key
ingredient of story ... conflict. Story should be
life with all the boring parts snipped out.
4) Map out your initial SOS storyboard. Which is basically
nothing more than a narrative that provides
explanation and meaning.
But within the context of that, the plot of your
narrative needs to be routed in drama as a result
of trouble, struggle, difficulty - and where you "layer
on" heroes, villains and high-stakes conflict.
Without conflict there is no story. Conflict happens
as a result of heros and villains. Explanations,

meaning, and stories that directly oppose each

other cause conflict.
The hero of the story is typically you (or your
persona). Or a "fictional" character you
create to give meaning and context. The
villains (or nemesis) would be the opposing
forces that are trying to prevent you from
reaching your desired end result (they don't
have to be evil, they can just be a force you're
up against - Jeff).
Your hero (you) pursues this goal in
accordance with your values, facing
tremendous difficulty along the way.
To create empathy, you need to demonstrate
that you started at the same place, or worse,
as your readers.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/275905/EMI/T
LB-SOS.png
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sQWBiNvoXn
nI6P95wg5XJpsbJv9oAtkO4LlfbvAAgUo/edit?usp=sh
aring
Show a storyboard.
5) Write your initial SOS.
Start with 7 emails (delivered as one email per day
for a week). That's your starting point.
Over time you will add more emails to your
SOS as your overall narrative plays out.
We can use basic open-loops at this point, but
don't worry too much about this. It's more advanced
and we'll circle back to it in a later advanced lesson.

 Make no mistake of it, products (and/or services)

get promoted within automated soap opera
sequences. But these are evergreen promotions.
Meaning they won't become "stale" after a month.
Coming up with ideas...
Stephen King...
"Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us
just get up and go to work."
"The scariest moment is always just before you start."
"Words create sentences; sentences create paragraphs;
sometimes paragraphs quicken and begin to breathe."
"If you want to be a writer, you must do two things
above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no
way around these two things that I'm aware of, no
shortcut."
"Writing is seduction. Good talk is part of seduction. If
not so, why do so many couples who start the evening at
dinner wind up in bed?"
"Let's get one thing clear right now, shall we? There is
no Idea Dump, no Story Central, no Island of the Buried
Bestsellers; good story ideas seem to come quite
literally from nowhere, sailing at you right out of the
empty sky: two previously unrelated ideas come
together and make something new under the sun.
Your job isn't to find these ideas but to recognize them
when they show up."
Read email about Wal-Mart + Banus...
This demonstrates how two completely separate
events were used in a unique way to write an email.

http://tinylittlebusinesses.com/images/peoplewatching.png
How to keep track of ideas?
Evernote/Google Drive.
You need to Hollywood your stories. I've said it already, but
story should be life with all the boring parts snipped out.
Use drama (the struggle) and create conflict (explanations,
meaning, and stories that directly oppose each other basically, the hero against the villains).
Story Ingredients (the path to belief)...
1) A CHARACTER [the hero] (you, a persona, or
"someone else").
Likable. Empathic. The underdog (Pamela &
Trevor).
2) Specific GOAL (the DESIRE).
"the quest". needs to be a visible goal which has an
end.
to earn more money (how much and why?). to get
the ring (why?). play better golf (why?). to lose
weight or get six-pack abs (why?).
3) CONFLICT.
seemingly insurmountable obstacle(s). setback(s).
Creates emotional involvement.
Ceiling Fan Principle
you don't have a story until something goes wrong.
(read.amazon.com)
Examples:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Jq70shE20n1FcsG
7oGs9Z1CfbCVkfElYoIorjyqTGRs/edit?usp=sharing
http://recessionproof.co/

WHAT IF
Why not broadcasts?
Because broadcasts really aren't sequential. And they're
most definitely aren't part of a larger story playing out.
People will enter your lists at different times. So
with broadcasts there is no way of completely
controlling the narrative.
There is a place for broadcast emailing. But it's a layer on
top of your core SOS. The SOS is the workhorse. It does all
the heavy lifting. This can't be done at scale with
broadcasts.
What about lying?
Don't lie. Don't just completely make shit up. There's no
reason to. There's stories all around us. Just open your
eyes and be ready to recognize them when they show up.
Trick: Interview prospects and/or customers. Get
their stories of struggle and pain. Then use these
(with their permission or just change their name
and then you're good-to-go) as characters within
your SOS story...
"Over the weekend I was at a bar. I met this
person, James Matters. We chatted. And he told
me of his struggle of almost dying because he was
so overweight. Which was strange because the guy
couldn't have weighed more than 180 lbs. So he
told me what he did..."
It's okay to "embellish" a story to make it more
relevant and interesting (in other words

"Hollywood" the story). So long as the core message

is true and not pure fiction.
A story doesn't have to be factual so long as it's true.
See RecessionProof.co.
What if I don't have interesting stories?
You do have interesting stories. We all do. Go back and
do interviews which will help. Or just start writing...
"Words create sentences; sentences create paragraphs;
sometimes paragraphs quicken and begin to breathe."

ACTION STEPS
1) Pick ONE customer avatar to write to...
2) Come up with a hook/angle...
3) Plan out a rough one week SOS storyline (what are the
objections or roadblocks you're going to hit?)...
4) And write first 3 emails, using all the techniques we
covered today...
5) Submit homework to the assignment category of the
community with the heading ASSIGNMENT: Lesson 3.

SUGGESTION
Use Google Docs.
Then share doc and allow for comments...

 One email per doc.

Short sentences.
Lots of white space.

WWW.GROUPINSIDERS.COM