How many times a day do you see websites with headlines such as:

• Create the life of your dreams!
• It’s time to break free of the hustle!
• I’ll teach you how to live an extraordinary life!
• Discover your greatness!

Chances are you hear them so much you tune them out.

Because here’s the thing: They’re so vague that their meaning gets lost.

And ignored.

What does a “life of your dreams” look like?

What does “breaking free” of the hustle even mean?

What’s an extraordinary life?

And what kind of “greatness” are we talking about?

These questions need answers if…

Could your copy use a swift kick in the funny bone? Adding a bit of humor may be just what your emails or website needs to grab attention and increase conversions.

Humor is a funny thing. Who doesn’t like to laugh, right?

It’s why we love blooper reels, Dave Barry columns and hanging out with people who make us laugh. It feels good to laugh and is even shown to boost health on many levels.

Yet, humor used at the wrong time, or in front of the wrong audience can be The Worst. Especially when you’re trying to establish trust.

…

Recently, someone in my Facebook group (thanks for the question, Gerald!) asked if there was an “easy way to collect emails.” First, we need to define “easy” email tactics.

Easy as in “how can I get a huge list of qualified subscribers without doing any work”?

Or as in, “Can’t I just buy a list or database of people and blast out emails willy nilly?”

In either case: not really.

Here’s the thing: Back in the day (e.g. before 2003), it was easy to collect names and email addresses and send out unsolicited promos without any repercussions, fines, or people…

You finally finished a new and improved killer email you know your subscribers will eat up like molten chocolate lava cake.

“It’s a work of art!” You think to yourself as you push back from your desk and stretch your neck. “This one will surely resonate with my audience. They will realize I’m the go-to person for [insert your specialty here].”

But there’s a little nagging voice in your head saying, “Are you suuuure?”

How do you know for certain you’ve done everything within your power to hook your reader and keep them reading?

Checking for typos isn’t enough. You need a way to stand out and be counted and noticed among your readers’ hundreds of emails.

I gotcha covered.

…

If you’ve ever tried improvising a new recipe and failed spectacularly, you know the importance of following proven steps.

Replacing baking powder with baking soda, for example, makes baked goods taste like soap. (I worked as a pastry chef many decades ago, so trust me on this.)

Or maybe you don’t mind your dinner guests spitting out their food and abruptly leaving.

In that case, carry on.

For the most part, unless your name is Bobby Flay — who can make an old tennis shoe tasty enough to become a Chopped winner — same goes for writing copy that converts.

…

On a recent Zoom meeting with a client, I accidentally shared my screen with my email inbox tab open.

Most people’s greatest fear is their SO will walk past the camera in their underwear in the middle of a management meeting.

For me, it’s even more embarrassing: an inbox that’s out of control.

Yikes! I know.

My other mailbox is even worse.

How much worse? Let’s just say my computer shut down when I tried to delete them all at once.

I’m not proud of it, but there’s always something more important hanging over my head than deleting and unsubscribing.

…

On a recent Zoom meeting with a client, I accidentally shared my screen with my email inbox tab open.

Most people’s greatest fear is their SO will walk past the camera in their underwear in the middle of a management meeting.

For me, it’s even more embarrassing: an inbox that’s out of control.

Yikes! I know.

My other mailbox is even worse.

How much worse? Let’s just say my computer shut down when I tried to delete them all at once.

I’m not proud of it, but there’s always something more important hanging over my head than deleting and unsubscribing.

…

If you’re an introvert like most writers (*raises hand*), you don’t lead the kind of lifestyle that lends itself to risk-taking ventures every day.

So topics like, “How I Survived a 30-Minute Helicopter Ride to the ER After Falling Off an Elephant During an African Safari” won’t appear on many of your subject lines.

If ever.

And staring at a blinking cursor doesn’t (usually) do a whole lot to generate ideas.

One tactic that does work: Ask yourself… what would Seinfeld do?

In case you’re one of the three people who’ve never seen the show, Seinfeld is known as “the show about nothing.”

The writers take the smallest life situations and…