the “off-topic” email that sold 1-on-1 coaching

Confession:

I’m a degenerate health junkie.

I’m constantly listening to health podcasts and running weird experiments on myself.

My cupboards are bursting at the seams with supplements.

To wit:

My cousin brought his new girlfriend over for the first time last weekend…

And after looking in my pantry…

(which has 3 entire shelves occupied by various pills and potions)

She spied another two shelves full of supplements in my office and just about keeled over in shock.

Literally could not believe one person could buy that many vitamins lol

Anyhow:

This reminded me of a 1-on-1 coaching client I worked with a few years ago.

On our kickoff call..

He quickly referenced an email I’d sent out the week before about doing a 72-hour fast…

And shared that he was also into health and fasting.

Now, to state the obvious:

I teach copywriting and email marketing.

Not health.

Yet when this client read that email, he saw a little piece of himself in me.

He recognized that we were alike in more ways than one.

And suddenly he wasn’t only evaluating whether I could help him get a result or not…

He had a feeling we’d probably get along too.

So, moral of the story is:

Your “off-topic” stories can be the exact thing that turns a subscriber into a client.

People buy coaches, not coaching.

This is why I’m always banging the drum about showcasing personality in your emails…

Whether it’s a weird interest you have, a piece of content you consumed, or some other personal goal that may have no direct connection to what you help people with inside your business.

Some of it will go over people’s heads.

And that’s fine.

But the people it resonates with will immediately feel like they’ve found their guy or gal.

And that matters more than most experts realize.

Especially when you’re selling coaching or any other proximity-based offer.

So next time you’re tempted to delete a story because it feels too personal or irrelevant…

Maybe leave it in?

It could be doing more work than the “valuable” email you spent four hours trying to write.

That’s it for today, though.

Happy Friday ✌️

Jim Hamilton