When I need inspiration for email copy I visit the magazine section of the library and spend time paging through mags of all kinds and take lots of notes.

As much as I like Bugs Bunny, I think my favorite Loony Tunes character is Sam Sheepdog.

What does this have to do with marketing?

Well…

Sam Sheepdog spends his days protecting the sheep from Ralph Wolf.

On the surface it often seems like Sam is doing nothing.

He just sits there and his eyes are covered with fur.

Yet 100% of the time, without fail, he’s all over it when Ralph tries to steal a sheep.

He either whips out just the right tool from under his fur to disrupt Ralph or gets himself to the right location with amazing speed.

By contrast, Ralph spends his days in constant motion.

He orders various Acme products in the hopes of trying to catch a sheep without Sam noticing.

He digs tunnels, climbs trees, hangs out on cliffs.

All so he can finally snag a sheep.

In the meantime Sam Sheepdog just sits… even if a boulder is rolling towards him. He knows that at the last minute the boulder will hit a rock and stray off course so he doesn’t budge.

Ralph Wolf reminds me of a lot of marketers just starting out… and even of some goo-roos.

Always chasing some new product or trying to outwit competitors.

Constant motion in the form of product launches and testing the latest strategies… but getting nowhere.

Always trying too hard to get a sale.

Whereas Sam Sheepdog reminds me of marketers who put the hours in and get the job done.

When they face a challenge they don’t flinch. Like Sam in the path of a rolling boulder, they know no harm will ultimately befall them so they stay the course and don’t panic.

It might seem like the Sam Sheepdog marketers are doing nothing. They aren’t posting in all the forums or using all of the latest and greatest tools.

But like Sam whipping out a magnet from his fur to foil Ralph as he bounces on springs, they always have the *right* tools and know how to use them.

The Sam Sheepdogs don’t chase after sales. There’s nothing desperate about Sam Sheepdog. Whereas Ralph Wolfs are the very definition of desperate.

If you want more of a Sam Sheepdog approach to your own marketing, and want to keep the Ralph Wolfs away, one of the best ways is to load your autoresponder with high-quality emails.

Like Sam, you won’t have to budge and can instead keep scanning the horizon for new opportunities as l do all the writing – you’ll just copy and paste and drop them into your autoresponder when I’m done.

Each day you don’t send an email to your list – or send a lousy email – you lose sales.

Send an email to me anitaashland @ gmail.com and let’s talk.

P. S.  If you’re an affiliate marketer and money is tight, I’m pretty sure Sam Sheepdog would approve of my pre-written Money Making Email email packs.

It’s Subject Line Saturday again and I’ve plucked three email subject lines from my inbox to discuss here:

Podcast – Fly fishing with Darth Vader –   This is from the Books & Culture publication.

Darth Vader and fly-fishing aren’t things I normally think of at the same time.

And Books & Culture is an egg head type publication so that’s another reason I think this is a catchy subject line. It’s unexpected.

The Silent Epidemic that’s Becoming a National Security Disaster – Dr. Mercola emails arrive 3-4 times per week and sometimes it exasperates me how he uses fear in many of his subject lines, but at least that’s not his only approach. And obviously it must work for him.

In about half his emails he uses a question in his subject lines, such as: “This Common Food Ingredient is as Addictive as Cocaine?”

In other emails he uses a teasing approach, such as: The Spice That Ignites Your Body’s Astonishing Immune System.

It’s interesting to me that many of his subject lines are so long they can’t be read in their entirety from the inbox. I’m an advocated of shorter subject lines but, again, it must work for him.

4 Birdies, Zero Hooks – From Just 2 Buckets – I signed up for Don Trahan’s Peak Performance Golf Swing list a few weeks ago because I like the copy on his website and also because I plan to visit the driving range once a week this summer.

This subject line hit the spot (no pun intended). It gets to the point and commands attention.

As always, if you find email subject lines that catch your attention, feel free to email them to me or leave a comment. I’ll see you next Saturday with more subject lines.

An amazing stop motion video made with Post It notes:

Here’s a video that shows the making of Deadline. It took 3 months of planning, 4 days to shoot and 6000 Post It notes.

It’s never the right time to start a business, write some copy, agree to a deadline, launch a new product. Which is why right now is the right time.

This week I was able to work in the flower garden for this first time since last fall.

It seems like every time I work in the flower beds I get new encouragement as a copywriter and entrepreneur.

Even when none of the flowers are blooming yet, as was the case this week.

There was something satisfying about clearing away the dead branches and debris from last year’s garden to make way for the new shoots pushing their way through the dirt.

An early spring garden reminds me of a business that has hunkered down after going through a difficult time.

On the surface there aren’t many signs of life.

There is evidence of the successes of the past (last year’s dead blooms and branches)… but it’s hard to take encouragement from that.

So what are the upsides?

Here are 3:

*It’s obvious what you need to clear away and what’s not working.

When a garden is in full bloom it’s not always easy to tell the weeds from the regular flowers. And even when you can, it’s difficult to pull out the weeds because they have deep roots. Also, there are so many weeds it’s often hard to take them time to get rid of them all.

Whereas in early spring it’s easy to scoop up the dead blooms and leaves and throw them on the brush pile. The dead weeds pull out effortlessly.

So it is in business. When your business is thriving it’s easy to ignore the stuff that isn’t working. But when you go through a dry spell, it’s far easier to cast out the dead products and ineffective ad campaigns.

*There are fewer distractions. As wonderful as it is to gaze at a beautiful garden, a certain complacency kicks in.

Sometimes there are so many flowers that it’s hard to appreciate them all, as I discovered last December. And one starts taking the flowers for granted.

Not so in early spring. Or in your business if you’re struggling right now.

When you no longer have the distractions of a successful business you have the freedom to experiment and try new things.

Maybe that will include letting a copywriter write your copy instead of taking the DIY approach.

Perhaps it means developing that new product you’ve had on the back burner for a long time.

Whatever it is, take full advantage of the silences in your business and let yourself try new things the busier businesses don’t have time to do.

*Nothing fancy is required. I used a small clippers and my bare hands to totally clear my garden and get it ready for spring.

I didn’t need a lawn mower, weed eater or the assistance of family members, like I do later in the season.

As a result, I was able to get results quickly and can now see the shoots that are poking through the dirt, which give me encouragement about the possibilities ahead. I wasn’t able to see them before.

So it is in your business if it’s not realizing its full potential right now.

Inexpensive low-tech things like a blog, social media campaign or local Meetup group will get you some quick results to help motivate you as you move forward and see the new possibilities start to appear on the horizon.

As this blogger reminds us (and I once blogged about how my daughter responded to a beggar’s story).  Tell stories in your copy too if you want increased response.

Someone found my site by using that phrase. So I’m wondering… should email copy be witty? It’s OK for copy to be fun… but don’t try to be funny.

Email copy teases your reader by making them want to click on your link. Tease by asking questions and putting cliffhangers in the P.S.  Or my favorite: telling stories.

Picasso told a woman he’d charge $10,000 for a napkin drawing. “But it only took 30 seconds to make,” she said. “No, 40 years and 30 seconds,” he said.