Just stop for a second.
Do you feel that?
That’s called the moment of highest tension in your story. And this is what happens when you build it up … and then deliberately mess with it to get people to click. It’s the same principle we use in sales letters to get people to keep reading.
Don’t worry, though. You made the right choice to click (and as a reward, I’m sending you a bonus email … see below).
(And besides — remember, this is my ‘Parallel Welcome Sequence’, and you only get these extra stories if you click.)
For now, though, let’s get back to that story …
=====
The gate attendant’s hands move my boarding pass toward the scanner.
I wince …
… and then a man steps into the queue.
The attendant stops.
I’m confused for a second.
And then I realise … the man is wearing the same uniform as the gate attendant.
“Boarding’s running a bit late — I’ll open up the other gate,” he says to her.
“Thank you,” says the lady, still holding my boarding pass.
And then, the new attendant — or as I’m calling him now, Hero Man — steps behind the other ticket checking gate … and opens it up.
“Boarding pass, please,” Hero Man says to Amy, waving her toward him.
Beep!
The attendant holding my pass scans it.
“Throssell/Daniel” flashes on the screen.
But Amy’s already with Hero Man.
And she doesn’t see it.
“Thank you, Mr. Throssell,” smiles the attendant, as she waves me through.
(Oh … she wasn’t going to say my first name anyway 😅)
Amy and I step through the gate and head to the plane door.
“Well, looks like I’m actually at the back of the plane,” says Amy. “So I guess I’ll speak to ya later.”
“Oh … uh … bummer,” I say.
She smiles. “And if I don’t see you again, have a great trip in Dubai!”
I pause.
“Wait, you’re going to … Dubai? You’re not going on to NYC?” I ask.
“Nope,” she says. “Just Dubai. I didn’t realise you were connecting to New York!”
I breath a massive sigh of relief.
My charade can finally end.
“Anyway, I’ll catch ya later, Andrew,” she says. “Good to see you again!”
And she gets on the plane, and that is the last I ever see of Amy …
And for that matter, the last of my alternate existence as “Andrew”.
Okay — now you’ve had your closure. So let’s switch gears.
The fact that you’re on this page is proof positive of two things:
First, that storytelling
is POWERFUL.
You just experienced it — that drive that people have to know how a story goes once they’re engrossed in it. And it works even when the stakes are low, like this story — as long as you tell it the right way.
(Or maybe you clicked because I set you up to do so in my first email. But … that was because of storytelling too. Same deal, friend.)
Which leads me to the second thing that your presence on this page proves:
You can USE that power
to get action from people.
I mean, with this particular email, I just sucked you out of whatever you were doing in your life, and got you to read almost a thousand words of copy, and then click.
That’s good copywriting, as far as I’m concerned 🤷♂️
So if you’d like to have these storytelling skills put to work helping to sell your product …
… then click here to sign up for my copywriting client waitlist.
To be fair, these days I don’t do much client writing myself — but I do offer paid critiques and copywriting plans which you can hand to other writers. And I have a small network of writers I can refer you to if I can’t do it.
Actually … I’m taking an indefinite hiatus from doing client work for now. I’m having too much fun in my own business … and these days, I’m mostly writing for copywriters, not business owners. But if you stick around on my list, you’ll find out if I ever change my mind!
And either way …
I’ve just sent another email to your inbox as a thank-you for reading.
It’s not a story this time … just 20 valuable tips you can use for your next email sales funnel. From a guy who’s written funnels that have made up to 8 figures in a single sale.
To read them, check your inbox for an email titled:
“My 20 rules for email funnels”
(And again … if Gmail misplaced it in a folder that isn’t “Primary” … well, you could fix that for them by dragging it. I mean, you’re seeing why it makes sense to actually receive my emails, right? Unlike other people’s, they actually don’t suck.)