How do you turn cold leads into sales without feeling pushy?
To turn cold leads into paying customers, use an email nurture sequence that moves subscribers through a series of small commitments. Start by delivering what they signed up for, introduce the next logical solution, build belief and desire, provide proof, overcome objections, and finally give them a reason to act.
You’re trying too hard to make money from your emails, and that’s exactly why your emails aren’t making you money. How’s that for ironic?
In this post, I’m going to show you the email marketing strategy that has helped me generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in my business over the last year from just one funnel.
So if you’re a business owner trying to grow and monetize your email list, or you’re a copywriter who helps your clients with email marketing, stop everything you’re doing and read this post all the way to the end.
Because I can practically guarantee you are leaving a lot of money on the table by not doing this correctly.
And because you know I love to “show, don’t tell,” I’m going to break down one email sequence from this funnel step by step.
I’ll show you the exact 6 emails I sent, the positioning strategy and conversion metrics for each one, and the real revenue they’ve generated in my business.
And spoiler alert: these are not real-time sales or launch emails.
They’re automated emails sent as part of a very intentional and diversified evergreen marketing funnel designed to turn a complete stranger into a brand-new customer as quickly as possible.
And I think you’re going to be shocked by the one email from this sequence that consistently brings in the most sales.
Btw, if you’re new here, hey! I’m Alex.
Award-winning marketer, copywriter for nearly two decades and founder of Copy Posse, where I teach hundreds of thousands of creatives, copywriters and storytellers from around the world how to turn their words into income.
And since day 1, email has been the #1 driver of sales and revenue in my business.
A great email funnel isn’t just about writing a bunch of emails, pushing send and crossing your fingers.
It’s about building a relationship with your subscribers across multiple touchpoints.
It’s about understanding who they are, where they are on the journey, and what they need from you next.
LET’S LOOK AT THE FUNNEL
The email sequence I’m showing you today is for my Email Story Workshop funnel.
Now all of the numbers shown here are just for cold traffic or leads that came through our paid media efforts, like Facebook Ads.
This doesn’t account for anyone who was already on my email list.
So, as you can see, since I started driving traffic to this funnel a little less than a year ago, it has brought in 7,354 brand new leads.
5.12% of them bought my 365-Inbox Income course.
And 3.59% of them bought my Own The Inbox email marketing course.
Generating collectively over $51,000 all within 7 days of these leads joining my list for the first time.
And then, of course, many of these leads went on to buy more from me later, which is why the overall revenue number generated from this specific funnel is so much higher.
So how did I do this? Let’s walk through the emails one by one, and see if you can guess which email from this sequence brought in the most revenue. I’ll reveal it at the end of this post.
(If you want a bigger-picture look at how funnels like this fit together, I’ve also broken down the 3 phases of every funnel and why email marketing is the key to conversions.)
So, after someone signs up for my Email Story Workshop, they immediately receive email #1.
EMAIL #1: DELIVER THE PROMISE
The first thing you need to do is give the people what they asked for, obviously!
So the primary job of this email is not to immediately sell them something.
It’s to get them to actually watch the workshop they just signed up for.
You can see this email is really straightforward.
I remind them what they’re going to learn in the workshop.
And deliver the link for them to watch it right away.
And it’s working quite well. This email has a 57.09% open rate and a 19.28% click rate.
(If you’re building your own welcome sequence from scratch, here are the first 3 emails you should send to your list.)
Now, even though the primary job of this email is to get them to the workshop, that doesn’t mean I don’t sell anything.
I mean, what if they are ready for a solution right now?
So way down here in the P.S., I offer them just that.
I say: “In the workshop, you’ll learn my storytelling formula for writing emails that sell… but if you want 3 proven campaign frameworks to boost your inbox income all year long, check out my email marketing mini-course. As a thank you for signing up for the workshop, I’m giving you 20% off for the next 24 hours only.“
Now this isn’t just any random thing. It is a highly relevant low-ticket offer for something they have already told me they’re interested in, email marketing.
There’s actually a classic concept in psychology called the foot-in-the-door effect.
The gist is this: Start by asking someone for something small. If they comply with your first small request, they will be more likely to respond to your next and bigger request.
Customer journeys usually happen through a series of small, logical yeses.
Yes, I’ll sign up for this workshop. Yes, I’ll open this email. And, yes, I’ll watch this training. Yes, I’ll click and learn more about this offer.
And eventually, yes, I’ll buy.
You don’t need someone to leap from stranger to customer immediately.
You just need to make sure the next thing you’re asking them to do gets them one step closer.
Which brings me to Email #2.
EMAIL #2: MAKE THE NEXT STEP OBVIOUS
So nine hours after Email 1, they get another email.
And this one is more directly focused on the same offer.
Remember that 20% off I offered in Email #1?
Well, this email acts as both a workshop reminder and a last call to snag that 20% off.
But look at how the email starts. I keep it relevant to the thing they opted in for.
I say: “Have you had a chance to check out my email workshop yet?“
Then I connect what they learned in the workshop to what they might need next.
I say: “My team and I use this formula for every storytelling email we send. And if you’re curious how we plan our annual email marketing calendar, with the perfect mix of storytelling and sales emails… then you’ll love my mini course.“
See how natural that transition is?
I’m not offering them something completely out in left field. I’m helping them continue down the path they’re already on.
The next step should make sense on their journey and provide a stepping stone to the next yes.
This email has a 49.5% open rate and a 6.89% click rate, which is really, really strong.
That’s more than 500 people who clicked through to learn more about the offer. But this is really important.
While, of course, we want to convert as many new leads into customers as fast as possible, some people take a bit longer to buy.
So the journey continues, and this time, we’re upping the ante.
EMAIL #3: BRIDGE THE PROBLEM
So now we’re going to start moving our subscriber toward a bigger offer.
We started this funnel with a low-ticket offer. My 365-Inbox Income course is only $27.
Which, as you recall, had about a 5% conversion rate on cold traffic.
Now we’re shifting to my signature email marketing program, Own The Inbox.
Which at over 7x the cost is a significantly bigger ask.
That’s why I’m doing a little nurturing before going directly for the sale.
This email starts with a relatable problem that is directly tied to the workshop they just signed up for.
I say: “Tell me if you’ve ever done this… You sit down to write an email… You come up with a great story… And you know you eventually need to sell something… But you have no idea how to connect those two things.“
I remind them about the 3-Step Conversion Story Formula they already learned, and I spend a lot of time in this email reassuring them that storytelling is a learnable skill. (If you want to dig into storytelling formulas like these, here are 3 storytelling emails that make people want more.)
It’s relatable and encouraging.
And not until the very end of the email do I mention the offer.
I say: “And when you work my storytelling formula into a strategic sales campaign… that’s when the real magic happens.“
Again, I’m not changing the conversation. I’m just bridging from one problem into the next.
Their next problem, which they might not have realized was a problem until just now, is that now they know how to write a good storytelling email, great.
But they don’t yet know how to string them all together in a sales campaign.
So think about how you can help your reader understand their problem more deeply. And give them a reason to take that next step.
This email had a 49.75% open rate and a 5% CTR.
Still really, really strong. But you’ll notice that in these next 3 emails, the open and CTR rates start to go down, which is totally normal.
So at this point, if they’ve seen the offer and they understand the problem, but they still haven’t bought, it’s time to.
EMAIL #4: BUILD DESIRE WITH PROOF
You can see this email is basically one giant receipt.
Instead of me telling you how amazing Own The Inbox is, I’m showing you what other people have actually done with what they learned.
Students getting 40–60% email open rates.
People generating revenue from their emails.
Copywriters landing clients.
Business owners getting better results from their campaigns.
Then I connect those results directly back to the program and restate the offer.
The open rate for this email is 38.74%, and it has a 2.93% CTR.
Again, this trend down is totally normal in any sales campaign.
Remember, we aren’t trying to force every single person who opted in for the workshop to buy.
The funnel naturally filters people based on their interests and readiness.
Some aren’t ready yet, and that’s ok. But for the people who are ready, but haven’t bought yet, we remove any doubt.
EMAIL #5: OVERCOME OBJECTIONS
At this point, anyone still reading who hasn’t bought yet is still on the fence. They are wondering:
- “Do I need an email list?”
- “Will this work in my industry?”
- “Is this right for me if I’m a copywriter?”
- “How is this different from that other program?”
- “What exactly do I get?”
So instead of sending another email trying to convince them how great the offer is, I’m simply answering questions they likely have and addressing these unsaid objections.
You can see this email is basically a list of FAQs.
And throughout the entire email, I’m backing those answers up with testimonials and proof.
Because by this point in the customer journey, I don’t necessarily need to convince them that email marketing is important.
They already believe that, otherwise they wouldn’t still be reading these emails.
And many are still reading. This email has a 37.55% open rate and 2.57% CTR.
If they still haven’t purchased, why? They don’t need more information on what the offer is. They already know what it is. We’ve built desire with proof, we’ve overcome objections.
All that’s left to do is.
EMAIL #6: GIVE THEM A REASON TO ACT NOW
If you don’t give your subscribers a reason to act now, they’ll keep putting it off.
Not because your offer is bad. It’s just human nature, and science has proven this again and again and again!
So this final email is really just quickly recapping the offer and letting them know their discount is about to disappear.
Now obviously this only works when the urgency is real.
Notice I don’t say the program is disappearing. They can go to my website and buy the program at full price anytime they want.
But if they want to save $50, this is their very last chance.
The open rate on this email is 36.31% and the CTR is 1.47%, and if they are clicking this email, you know they are interested in buying.
This email alone generated over $7000 in this campaign. So as you can see, urgency really does work, but that doesn’t mean you should use it in every single email.
This email sequence works because every single email works together to turn a cold lead into a new customer.
One email was selling engagement.
One was selling the solution.
One was selling belief.
And one was selling proof.
One was selling certainty.
And the last one was selling scarcity.
When crafting an email sequence, your job is to get your subscribers to open and read the emails as you guide them one step closer to that buying decision.
That’s the difference between a bunch of random emails trying to get a sale vs. intentionally crafting the customer journey.
So, now it’s time for the big reveal. You already know the last email generated $7000, but which email from this sequence do you think contributed the most to my revenue over the last year?
Got it locked in? If you said the first email, you are correct.
Since starting traffic to this funnel, 223 of the people who engaged with this email went on to buy something, generating nearly $55,000 in revenue.
Which is pretty wild when you remember that Email #1 wasn’t even a sales email.
That’s the power of the “foot in the door” theory!
Now if you’re wondering why these numbers add up to more than the $51,000 I mentioned earlier, it’s because these numbers include sales that came organically via other channels, not just through my paid ads.
And I only know this because I have great marketing systems in place to help me track leads and sales.
So yes, writing a great email sequence is step 1.
But actually building out the sequences, automations, and campaigns that move people through that journey and tracking the results? That’s what takes you from email copywriter to marketing strategist.
Until next time, I’m Alex. Ciao for now!
