Wednesday, November 19, 2025
I’m a sucker for documentaries about famous artists.
Writers, painters, musicians, actors…
You name it — I’ll watch it.
I find their life stories so fascinating.
Especially because you tend to form an impression based on their public persona..
Yet the really talented ones are often very different in private.
It’s easy to assume everything came easy for these folks…
Yet that’s rarely the case.
In fact, there’s almost always more intention, sacrifice, and commitment required than you or I might suspect.
Case in point:
Netflix just dropped a new doc on Eddie Murphy last week…
Which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Not just because he was a fixture of my childhood and the star of many great movies…
Like Life, Coming 2 America, I Spy, and many more…
But instead:
Because he’s got so much more depth than you’d guess from watching his movies or standup comedy specials.
For instance:
I had no idea he was such a talented singer and musician.
(on top of being able to act and do stand up)
Or how much effort and sacrifice went into making multi-role films like The Nutty Professor where he played a bunch of different characters with extensive makeup and customers.
Anyway, he dropped a number of pearls throughout the doc…
However, one insight that resonated with me was:
How sensitivity matters more than talent when it comes to making art.
Essentially, he believes that the most sensitive artists are the ones who deliver the best performances…
Because that sensitivity is what allows you to “see through things”...
And capture the deeper meaning of a scene, story, joke, etc.
Which, as it happens:
Is exactly what Email Storyselling is all about too.
You see, most people are sleepwalking through life…
Blind to the forces shaping their lives and the pursuit of their goals.
Luckily, that’s where you and I come in.
Because when you develop that sensitivity…
That ability to see through things and extract meaning…
… then you can help people finally wake up.
That's the real secret behind Email Storyselling.
It's not the killer hooks or fancy copywriting tricks…
It's your ability to notice the lesson hiding inside an ordinary moment... then help your reader see it too.
Being able to connect the dots for them in a way they never could.
And the more you practice this, the sharper that sensitivity gets.
You start seeing stories everywhere:
- A conversation with your kid reveals something about resistance
- A frustrating client call exposes a pattern about decision-making
- A successful product launch showcases the power of clarity over cleverness
Heck, even a random documentary reveals a useful lesson or two you can apply to your audience ;)
If you want to build a wildly profitable email list in 2026 and beyond…
That's the #1 skill worth mastering.
Jim Hamilton
P.S:
Next week, I’m doing something special for Black Friday:
For the first time ever, I’m opening the doors to my brand new Email Storyselling AI tool.
This is my personal AI assistant that is trained on the exact email and ad writing frameworks responsible for $50m+ in sales for myself and clients.
And up until now, it’s only been available to community members and private clients.
But next week, you’ll be able to try it out yourself for just $1.
So if that sounds interesting…
Stay tuned for more info :)
However:
It appears as though we’ve finally turned the corner.
We booked our first (very) profitable week last week…
With consistent sales coming in each day.
TY Jesus lol 🙌
We’ve still got a long way to go, but seeing those numbers was a huge relief for me personally.
Not to mention the client.
Now, why do I bring this up?
Because our breakthrough can be attributed to one thing:
Lead quality.
Specifically:
After running a diverse mix of image and video ads…
It was clear the video ads were producing much higher quality leads.
(lower cost-per-registration, higher show rate, etc)
So we flipped off everything else and focused 100% of our ad spend on those video creatives.
And this insight happens to dovetail nicely with my general business philosophy…
Which is to say:
I always try to optimize for quality over quantity.
Whether it’s with long-form ad copy…
Emails driven by storytelling instead of “value” and how-to info…
Or using an 80-page book to build my list instead of a 1-page lead magnet.
I’ll take quality over quantity any day of the week.
Now, like anything…
This comes with tradeoffs.
Anyone who tells you different is lying.
But in my experience…
The easiest way to get your marketing to work is optimizing for quality.
Jim Hamilton
P.S:
Next week, I’m doing something special for Black Friday:
For the first time ever, I’m opening the doors to my brand new Email Storyselling AI tool.
This is my personal AI assistant that is trained on the exact email and ad writing frameworks responsible for $50m+ in sales for myself and clients.
And up until now, it’s only been available to community members and private clients.
But next week, you’ll be able to try it out yourself for just $1.
So if that sounds interesting…
Stay tuned for more info :)
Learn how to build a profitable daily newsletter with Email Storyselling. Read by 4,000+ subscribers.