Sending emails to your list? No need to begin with a story.

Image by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash.

If you’ve been anywhere in the online marketing space lately, you probably heard two bits of advice.

1 — Email marketing is the best and most profitable way to connect with your audience, especially if you’re a solopreneur: you’re selling yourself and you are the brand.

2 — Open every email by telling a story. You need to hook your audience and stand out in a crowded world.

The first piece of advice is true. The second can be a trap.

How many times do we open an email with a promising subject line, only to find ourselves falling down a rabbit hole into someone’s personal story…a story that seems totally unconnected to that tempting subject line?

And how many times do we struggle to find a story that will engage our audience?

In last week’s podcast episode, I asked marketing expert Cindy Bidar, “What are the biggest story mistakes you see?”

She immediately pointed to emails where the sender shared a story and then said, “And now let’s talk about our real message.”

It feels like you’re being served dessert as a teaser for the serious meat-and-potatoes main course.

What can we do instead?