WOW, it feels good when a stranger calls from two time zones away and says “Thanks to you I know everything I’ve been doing wrong.”

Disgusted by his email campaigns’ lousy open rate, he turned to Google. My blog posts kept turning up in his searches, where he learned that long subject lines with words like “Free” and “Limited Time Offer”  are surefire ways to shoot yourself in the foot.  YES, nice to know my blog is yielding high search rankings and helping people solve their problems.

He then went on to ask if I could write his email campaigns (double YES!)

Whiplash

Not so fast, Tam.  Turns out, he doesn’t know “who” his target market is or what triggers them to buy. A writer can’t get a foothold without that information. I can’t knowingly send a client’s money down the drain, and without a strategy, that’s what I’d be doing.

Although cliche, it’s nevertheless true: if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.