As I was minding my own business, a man stopped me and offered me some Airheads candy. I looked at it and then looked at the man.

“It’s free,” he said.

I declined anyway, but then he asked for a donation to “help the kids.”

I reached for my wallet, thinking about giving him a quarter or something. Then, his friend showed up and offered me a CD.

That’s when I realized and moved my hand away from my pocket. Oh, these are just CD scammers.

For the next two minutes, they said everything they could to get some money out of me.

“Come on, be a nice person.”

“Don’t you want to help the kids?”

“Why’d you stop if you’re not going to help?”

And all I did was repeat the same four words: No thanks, I’m good.

Eventually they gave up.

This isn’t the first time something like that happened to me. I remember wandering around Times Square waiting for a friend. A couple of people dressed as Disney characters approached me to take pictures with them.

I declined, but they said it was free. So I went with it.

The cameraman took about nine photos with my phone. Once we finished, one of them asked me for a donation.

I told her I didn’t have cash and she pointed me to an ATM. I said,

“Ok, I’ll get some cash and be right back.”

I didn’t come back.

I’m sure you feel the same way when I say that it’s sleazy when someone tells you something is free then demands a donation.

And you know what it reminds me of?

When marketers send you an email with a subject saying something along the lines of:

“Want to get such-and-such for free?”

And once you read into the email, you find out that such-and-such product is actually a bonus item you get when you purchase a product they’re promoting.

It’s technically not a lie, but I think it’s deceptive enough to the point where it’s not right to use.

It might even be deceptive enough to the point where you break the trust a bit with your subscribers.

And that’s the number one thing you never want to do.

To learn more about writing emails that build strong bonds and trust with your subscribers, click the link below.

https://EllisenWang.com/email-titan-sample

It marked another anniversary where I successfully escaped my mother’s womb to begin the journey of building my own empire that is life.

Yes, I know. That was a ridiculous way of saying it’s my birthday. But, hey, gotta have a little fun here.

Anyways, following last year, I’m going to share with you a few things I learned since my last birthday.

And these things can be about anything. Copywriting, life, whatever. So let’s start.

1. Context matters

One of the biggest copywriting lessons that I learned since I started the job I’m at right now is that my way of writing email copy is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Because it’s so personality driven, it works best for personal brand businesses, or businesses where there is a ‘face.’ But that’s not the case for typical American corporations.

2. Alcohol

For the longest time, I never really understood why alcohol has always been such a huge thing when it comes to social settings. But as I attended more social gatherings and happy hours, I finally began to understand. The way I see it, it serves as a tool to bond with people. And I’ve also seen the effects unfold over time between co-workers in real time. It’s quite fascinating.

3. Enjoy the little things

It isn’t new when I say that a lot of people are miserable worrying about things they have no control over or generally look at the glass as half empty. Part of me doesn’t blame them since we recently went through two years of quarantine. But it does wonders when you sit down and consciously think about the good things that are going on in your life. Hug a tree, smell a flower, pet a cat. The fact that we’re even alive is a miracle (Just search up the probability of us being born).

4. Keep your world small

I once heard an offhand comment that us humans are not meant to know everything that’s going on around the world, which is exactly what the media does for us. Throughout my early years, I was told that reading or watching the news is something I should do because that’s how I’ll stay informed.

Well, what exactly does it mean to stay informed? More specifically, what should we stay informed on?

Should I really be spending my energy to keep up with the Kardashians? Do I really need to know that someone got stabbed in another town? Why do I need to know what politicians are up to nowadays?

I’d rather stay informed on things that might have a more direct effect on me.

For example, food I should avoid eating, tips on saving money or making more money, how to be more productive, etc.

In other words, I’m keeping my world small by cutting all the chaos out.

It reminds me of that one scene in Man of Steel.

Young Clark Kent was in school. When his teacher asked him a question, he began getting sensory overload. He was seeing through people’s bodies, hearing the pencil taps, the ticking clock. Feeling overwhelmed, he ran out of the classroom and hid in a janitor’s closet, refusing to let anyone in, including his own mother when she came to help.

So she asked,

“Sweetie. How can I help you if you won’t let me in?”

To which he replied,

“The world’s too big, mom.”

“Then make it small. Just focus on my voice. Pretend it’s an island out in the ocean. Can you see it?”

“I see it.”

“Then swim towards it, honey.”

Well, I think that’s enough for tonight.

Mainly because he has a unique way of telling stories in his emails.

Now I’m not writing this to promote another copywriter (Although, I can’t stop you from checking him out now, can I?), but I do want to talk about something he posted on his social media platform.

He took a screenshot of a Markets Insider article titled, “Copper plunges to its lowest mark in 17 months.”

Then he flipped it and came up with his own headline:

“Last time copper was this cheap, it surged by 50% over the next 12 months. Today you have another chance to buy it.”

Why did he do this?

Most likely to demonstrate how an event can be told in two different ways.

You have the negative perspective, which the media loves to do. Can’t blame them though. If their viewers are consuming them like crazy, then why not keep doing it?

Then you have the positive viewpoint which, more often than not from my observations, a lot of people struggle seeing.

Maybe they’re addicted to the news.

Or they enjoy being victims.

Either way, the same struggles exist within the marketing world as well.

You have people who are scared of seeing unsubscribes. Maybe they think those unsubscribers were potential customers they lost? But the way I see it, they were never going to be customers to begin with.

Then you have people who are scared to email more frequently for the same reason above. This one I can understand because I felt this way before I started my commitment to daily emailing. However, from what I can recall, I don’t think anybody unsubscribed when I announced that I was going to start emailing everyday.

Yes, some people unsubscribed over time, but other people joined too and they don’t mind seeing my name in their inboxes everyday at all.

Just something to think about for today.

If you want to learn my ways of emailing, go to the link below:

https://EllisenWang.com/email-titan-sample

Well, check this out.

About a year or so ago, a friend of mine interned at a real estate management and investment firm.

She didn’t last long there. She stayed for only four months.

At one point during the exit interview, my friend brought up the fact that the workplace wasn’t diverse enough.

To which the interviewer replied,

“We’re a company with a diverse group of Europeans.”

Honestly, I can’t get mad at the fact they said that because…

1. It was such a great troll response

2. They found a neat loophole in the whole DEI matter

Which brings me to the question of the day:

Are loopholes good or bad?

Actually, the better question would be, when are loopholes good or bad?

Because loopholes, like other things such as money, fire, or even weapons, are simply tools at our disposal and it’s the people that use them for good or bad.

For example, there was actually a loophole when it came to email marketing to tweens.

Due to COPPA, you’re required to get their parents’ permission. So when a tween joins your email list, what you can do is send their parents an email saying, “If you don’t tell us that we can’t use your child’s email address within X hours, we will start sending regular email newsletters to your child.”

I have no idea if that loophole has been closed or not though.

But if you’re on my list, I’m guessing there’s a good chance you don’t market to kids, so you won’t need to worry about COPPA.

Of course, there’s still the CAN-SPAM Act.

The good news is, my ways of emailing is 100% compliant, and can help you create an engaged email list.

Learn more about it here:

https://EllisenWang.com/email-titan-sample

Relaxing?

Good.

Mine was great too, thank you for asking. In fact, let me share with you what happened.

It actually wasn’t too eventful.

I didn’t party, I didn’t see any friends. In fact, I spent a lot of time on podcasts and other content from content creators that I’ve been following for years.

And somehow, and at some point, I discovered a person, named Daniel Kish, who founded a non-profit called World Access for the Blind, where he and his instructors teach blind people how to navigate the world using echolocation.

Yes, the same technique that bats, whales, and dolphins use to see.

He even was given the nickname, “The Remarkable Batman.”

He did a TED Talk, where he shared how he ended up blind, how echolocation works, and performed a demonstration to have the audience experience echolocation.

Throughout his talk, he talked about how there’s a lot of fear around the concept of blindness, yet showed a video where blind people are riding bikes, hiking, playing, etc.

And they were all showing emotions other than fear.

He concluded his talk by telling people that our brains have the ability to help us overcome any challenge that life throws our way.

And I believe that 100%.

Early on in my career, I interned at a startup non-profit, where the Executive Director instilled in me that for every problem, there’s always a way to solve it. And oftentimes, there are multiple ways.

That way of thinking has served me well so far, and I believe it’ll continue to serve me well throughout the rest of my life.

So when you encounter issues while running your own business, just know that there is a solution out there.

More importantly, there is a solution out there that’s most suitable for you.

I believe my way of email copywriting and email marketing can be a great solution to those who want to write better emails and develop a highly engaged email list.

But it’s not a solution for everyone.

Not everyone is willing to write an email everyday, and that’s ok.

Not everyone is willing to turn their brain into an idea generator running 24/7, and that’s ok.

But if you are interested, you can start learning about it here:

https://EllisenWang.com/email-titan-sample

But take everything I’m about to say with a grain of salt because I’ve never used the platform before in my life.

If you’ve been living under a rock, TikTok is like the more successful version of Vine. It’s a platform mostly known for people creating short form videos, whether they’re dances, skits, jokes, etc.

And the way it developed in terms of how users interact with the platform is that they watch a short video, scroll up to watch another one, and repeat.

Apparently, it’s a platform where it’s easy to rack up tons of views and create a following, but it may not be the following you’re expecting.

A podcaster I’ve been following for a very long time, David So, said it perfectly.

“TikTok is a very different social media app, where people don’t really become invested in the individual. They just watch, scroll, and move on. Watch, scroll, move on. Watch, scroll, move on.”

There was even an article where a TikTok content creator, with over one million followers, set up a meet and greet at Vidcon, but not a single person showed up.

It was quite painful to see, but not the most shocking thing either.

You can’t expect to bond with your followers if all you do is post videos of yourself doing TikTok dances and lip syncing sound bites.

You’re not showing any of your personality, your thoughts, or your life.

With all that said, this doesn’t mean TikTok is a bad platform.

Back when I used Instagram to build my email list, I considered using TikTok after hearing how easy it is to rack up views. So when I say it’s ‘worse than I thought,’ it just means that it doesn’t fit with how I want to build my little freelance business as well as what I originally thought.

The same concept exists within the email marketing realm.

There are two types of emails:

1. You have the ones that are just pure sales emails. Nothing wrong with that in and of itself, but expect your email list to turn into a churn-n-burn type of deal.

2. You have the relationship-building emails. These are the emails that are more personality driven, more on the long-form side, and there’s more loyalty within your email list.

Nothing wrong with either of those two. They both have their pros and cons. It’s just a matter of what type of business you’re in and your goal is with the email list you’re building. Do you purely see it as an income source? Or are you looking to create a lifetime following?

If you’re looking to learn the latter, then I recommend checking out How to Become an Email Titan.

https://EllisenWang.com/email-titan-sample

And now that I’ve lured you in…let’s get real here for a sec.

On my way home from Boston, I was given some “special” candy, if you know what I mean. One and a half pieces of it.

I ate the half piece during my train ride home. Slept like a baby.

I took the other piece after dinner, sat down to relax, then fell asleep. Woke up at 2 in the morning feeling like my face got beat with a bat.

And I was just dazed the entirety of the following day.

I couldn’t work. I couldn’t concentrate on anything. I was just out of it.

Fortunately, I feel normal now, it’s as if that episode never happened. But I think I experienced a hangover of some sorts for the very first time.

Life lesson for me: Do not take THC before sleeping

Anyways, while my mind was up in the clouds, I did have some wandering thoughts.

For example:

I recently finished reading Will Smith’s memoir. Towards the end of the book, he talked about his struggle with balancing the “people pleaser” side of himself and his “selfish” side.

He shared a moment where he was working out alone in a gym, and he adamantly wanted that workout session to be his “me” time. Then someone started recording him saying,

“Hey Will, can you please say hi to my son with down syndrome? He’s a huge fan of The Fresh Prince.”

“No,” he replied.

“Why not? Come on man, he has down syndrome.”

“…Because I don’t want to.”

The man walked away extremely disappointed. And he couldn’t handle seeing that disappointed look. He broke down and didn’t even finish his workout.

People have told me that fans said Will Smith is nothing but a d*ck in-person.

Is he really though? Or are the fans just perceiving it that way?

Personally, I saw nothing wrong with what he did during his workout. He wanted to practice establishing boundaries, and that’s exactly what he did.

And if you’re in a service business where you work with clients, that is something you must do.

Unless you like being pushed around, disrespected, or be seen as untrustworthy, it’s only to your benefit that you set boundaries.

And yes, those boundaries may turn off some potential clients and it might be scary to lose out on the work and revenue. But if it’ll save you the trouble and headache of dealing with incompatible clients, then it might be worth losing out on those potential clients.

As much as I’d like to go on about my experience on the cruise, it has to end at some point.

This one is going to be an arguably juicier story, so get comfy.

I personally didn’t witness this, but my friend did.

My friend went to dine at a steakhouse by himself and sat next to a nice family who was celebrating their mother’s 90th birthday.

Apparently, they ordered a cake in advance with special instructions (They wanted a specific cake and wanted it cut into 10 pieces or something).

Everything was going fine until the cruise staff brought out the cake.

The family saw (1) It wasn’t the cake they wanted and (2) It was only cut into four pieces.

And suddenly, that niceness turned into pure bitterness.

They started complaining to the staff. And the staff, doing their best to maintain their customer service standard, apologized and brought the manager out to fix things.

But the family didn’t want to stop. They wanted to complain more, and complain they did.

And once they decided to leave, they wanted to get one last word in.

So the son told the cruise staff:

“My mother is celebrating her 90th birthday and she didn’t get the cake she wanted. You guys BLEW IT!”

How did the staff react? They simply rolled their eyes, and it’s understandable. I mean, it’s just a cake for goodness’ sake.

Even if it’s your goal to give your customers the best experience possible, it’s simply no use trying to please the overly-entitled customers.

Those are the people who take the “The customer is always right” expression literally. Those are the people who make the worst customers.

If they were to ever come across your business, you’re better off letting them go and have them bother another business that’s willing to deal with them, in my opinion.

And for your good customers, they deserve your best treatment. After all, they are funding your livelihood.

If you want to learn some ways to enhance your customer service, I suggest picking up Vance Morris’ Tales From the Customer Service Crypt.

https://EllisenWang.com/customer-service-crypt