Blog
Writing on email that doesn't suck
Design, deliverability, and the occasional statistic. No listicles about "10 email marketing tips" unless the tips are actually good.
The "From" Name: Why Who It's From Matters More Than the Subject Line
Subject lines get endless attention. The sender name sitting right next to it, often in a heavier font, barely gets mentioned, despite being the thing a recognizing eye catches before it ever reads the subject at all.
Single vs Double Opt-In: Does the Extra Step Actually Cost You Signups?
Yes, a confirmation click loses some signups. That's not the whole tradeoff. The people double opt-in filters out are disproportionately the ones who were never going to stay engaged anyway.
Plain Text vs HTML Email: Does Format Actually Change Performance?
"Plain text gets better deliverability" is repeated so often it's treated as settled. The mechanism behind it is mostly outdated. Here's what the format actually changes, and what it doesn't.
How Often Should You Actually Email Your List? A Genuinely Debated Question
One camp says email more, revenue follows. Another says email less or you'll burn the list out. Both have real evidence behind them, because they're usually describing different lists with different expectations, not different universal truths.
Building an Email List From Zero: What Actually Works for a Brand-New Business
Most list-growth advice assumes you already have traffic to convert. A brand-new business doesn't have that yet, which is exactly the problem the usual advice skips over. Here's what actually gets the first few hundred subscribers.
Is There Really a Best Time to Send an Email? The Studies Don't Agree
Every listicle names one magic day and hour with total confidence. Then the next listicle names a different one. Here's why the studies actually contradict each other, and what to do about it instead.
Email Segmentation for a Small List: The 3 or 4 Segments That Actually Move Revenue
Most segmentation advice is written for a list of 500,000 with a data team behind it. For a small list, the entire benefit comes from three or four honest splits done well, not fifteen clever ones you'll never keep updated.
Cart Abandonment Emails: Why Most Underperform, and What Actually Fixes It
The average abandoned-cart flow still only recovers a fraction of lost sales, and it's usually not the tactic that's broken. It's the timing, the discount you led with, or measuring against shoppers who were never going to buy in the first place.
What Actually Goes in a Welcome Email Sequence (Email 1, 2, and 3)
The 'send 5 emails over 8 days' advice is everywhere and the sources behind it disagree with each other constantly. Here's what has real evidence behind it, and what to actually put in the first three emails.
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