is your email list “tunneling?”

Happy Monday!

My wife took me to a candle-making class for my birthday over the weekend.

I'm a bit of a candle fanatic... so this was a lovely surprise.

And the class was in Yorkville, which is one of the more upscale zip codes in Toronto…

Yet I have to say:

That didn’t stop me from having sticker shock when I saw some of the candles were $300+.

YIKES!

Not sure who buys $300 candles, but it ain’t me lol

Anyhow, the class was great.

We got to pick our own top, middle, and bottom scents.

Personally, I went with amber blend, warm gourmand, and a berry composte.

Then our vessel color…

Where I went with the extremely on-brand choice of hot pink.

And lastly, we had to choose a name for our creation.

I’ll share mine in the P.S. section below if you’re curious.

(Side note: it was hilarious watching everyone scramble to message their AI of choice for candle name ideas in real-time.)

Now, before we got to actually pouring wax…

The instructor gave us a little crash course on how to burn candles properly.

Turns out, the first burn is crucial…

Because wax has "memory."

Wild, right?

The way it's burned the first time determines how it will burn for the rest of its lifespan.

You have to make sure to burn it long enough that the top layer of wax is fully liquified to the edge of the vessel.

Otherwise, you get "tunneling"... wasted wax... and a shorter candle life.

In other words:

The first burn sets the pattern for everything that follows.

Mess it up and you're stuck with tunneling for the life of the candle.

Which struck me…

Because the same principle applies to your email list.

The first 5-7 emails you send set the tone and establish expectations.

That's your indoctrination window.

It’s where you begin to install your values, beliefs, and worldview in the minds of your audience.

Mess up the first “burn” (boring welcome emails, no personality or selling) and your list tunnels.

They ignore your emails…

Complain when you plug a paid offer…

And then unsubscribe or flag you as spam.

How well (or poorly) you onboard subscribers has a major downstream effect on how responsive they are to your paid offers.

Yet most people wing their welcome sequence..

Then wonder why their list is unresponsive.

Good news is, it doesn’t have to be this way.

Because that's exactly what the Sequence Bot inside EmailStoryselling.ai is built for.

It helps you design and write your welcome sequence (plus cross-sell, upsell, and re-engagement sequences).

You feed it your offer, your voice, your avatar... and it maps out the sequence strategy and writes the emails.

So your first burn actually sets the pattern you want: engaged subscribers who buy.

Sound like something you need?

Then go here to learn more:

→ Get started with EmailStoryselling.ai

Jim Hamilton
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​P.S:

Here’s a shot of my finished candle: