I HATE EMAILS

Imagine you’re heading down the street, and you see a guy walking his dog... While wearing a t-shirt that reads “I HATE DOGS.”

Maybe that would turn your head a little. What a strange fella.

And then imagine some distance past the dog-hater, you see an elderly gentleman in an expensive-looking suit... Popping wheelies on a BMX.

You might start wondering if you took the wrong pills that morning.

But you’d probably also find it intriguing. Why is that successful man riding a BMX? You’d wonder about him.

A teenager riding a BMX in sweatpants isn’t interesting. A guy wearing a plain t-shirt while walking his dog isn’t interesting.

It’s the contrast that gets our attention.

That’s because conflicting visuals and ideas creates intrigue. People want to find out how that conflict between the two ideas gets resolved.

And here’s how you can use this in your pet business:

Simply put paradoxes and contrasting ideas in your email subject lines.

For example, here’s some subject lines I’ve written in the past for emails selling pet products and services:

The dog that hated praise and loved punishment

(Why? Was something wrong with their brain? I wanna know.)

How to train your dog to be more aggressive

(Why would I ever want that? Are you crazy?)

The nicest “bad boy” ever

(How can a bad boy be nice?)

Hey moron, your dog is absolutely lovely

(Why are you being rude and complimentary at the same time?)

The brand new 125-year-old dog training secret

(Wait, how can it be both brand new and 125 years old?)

And so on.

You shouldn’t overuse them, but subject lines like this can often give your open rates a big boost when they’re done right. And it’s yet another way you can stand out among all the garbage that’s littering your subscriber’s inbox.

Alright, that’s your lesson for today. I’ll see you again next week.

But in the meantime, why not sign up for my daily email newsletter?