The magician's dilemma

👉 and how it applies to your emails

Hiya!

I’m going to ramble on a little today about one of my passions: magic. But do stay tuned as I promise it’s relevant to writing effective emails.

Here we go…

One of the big challenges professional magicians have is that magic is inherently threatening.

What I mean by that is that magic “works” when the audience is completely flummoxed. When they have absolutely no idea how the trick is done and are just gobsmacked by it.

But the danger is that being completely mystified isn’t necessarily a pleasant experience. Done wrongly it can feel like you’re being made a fool of. Like the magician is showing he’s cleverer than you.

I know from experience doing close-up magic in restaurants that performing for a macho-type guy and his girlfriend can be quite risky. If Mr Macho has no idea how the tricks are done he can see it as a challenge to his masculinity and end up all grabby and aggressive.

So what smart magicians do is get the audience on their side first.

They do something funny or self-effacing. They establish their character.

The great Nate Leipzig said “People like being fooled by a gentleman”. I’d refine that to “people allow someone they like to fool them”.

If the audience like the magician, they relax. They stop seeing the tricks as a challenge to their ego. They allow themselves to be entertained rather than spending their time trying to catch the magician out.

So ironically, the magician’s most important “trick” is not necessarily something magical they do - it’s quickly getting the audience on side.

With emails it’s similar.

Your direct goals are to deliver value and to move your readers closer to being ready to buy. You share insight, ideas and tips. You tell stories to build credibility.

But perhaps most important of all - at least for most of us - is that your readers like you. That they feel you’re like them. Have similar values and feelings. That you’re a nice person.

Just like being fooled by a magician, reading insights and ideas from an “expert” can be challenging too. After all, if the content you’re getting isn’t challenging the way you think or bringing you something new, it’s not really adding value.

If your readers feel empathy towards you and they read something from you that challenges them or makes them think, they’re much more likely to be receptive than if they don’t really know you at all.

And if they feel antagonistic towards you because of the way you come across, they’re highly likely to reject your ideas even if they make complete sense.

So just like the smart magician, it makes sense to establish your character early on in the emails you send.

Don’t just blast them with facts and opinions. Use stories from your own experience to illustrate those ideas while establishing a sense of who you are.

Or use humour or funny analogies. Or even cartoons :)

Just spend a little bit of time thinking “how can I get across more me in this email?”

Often it’s just a matter of being a bit more open and real. Putting all the years of training and socialisation on “being professional” we’ve all had to one side and just being human.

My email on Wednesday really brought this home to me - and that’s why I’m writing this one.

It was a bit off topic.

I tried to tie it to email but really it was more of a life lesson. It probably wasn’t the kind of tip you signed up for. Nor did it do anything to directly make you think “I really should buy one of Ian’s courses or email templates”.

But it got more replies - and more people saying how much they agreed with me - than anything I’ve written for a while.

And that’s because I wrote it from the heart.

It was something I felt strongly at the time and I just wanted to share it with you.

And I really do believe that it’s fine to go “off-topic” every now and then with your emails.

Not all the time - otherwise you’re not delivering the value you promised.

But every now and then just talking about something you care about helps to establish your character. To give people a sense of who you are.

And that means a group of those people are going to like you more and are going to listen to you more.

I was never all that great as a close-up magician. At least not compared to some of the guys and girls I hung around with at conventions who were just so talented it was scary.

But I was pretty good at connecting with audiences - and I’m beginning to see how that’s vital with email too.

- Ian