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How I edit my emails in 5 minutes (or less)

Writer's picture: John BrandtJohn Brandt

Editing emails is the bane of most freelancer’s existence. But not mine.


Here’s how I edit my emails in 5 minutes (or less):


First, I write simple. I’m not one of these bozos who is afraid to write above a 5th, 6th, or higher grade level. (I think you’re smart enough to read at a middle school grade level and beyond.)


But I don’t go out of my way to write complex.


Tbh, this is easy when I’m writing emails for myself. It’s much harder to write simple for some of my health clients because science gets complex fast. So when I’m writing for my health clients, I do take more time in the editing stage and simplify as many complex thoughts as possible.


Once I have my draft, I load up my handy Readable App. Readable is a superior version of Hemingway editor and Grammarly app. It’s more accurate and flexible. (You also have to pay for it if you use it consistently.)


Again, when I do this, I don’t go overboard with optimization. I’m only looking for a few things:


  1. Passive voice where it can be active

  2. Unnecessary adverbs that I can delete

  3. Any weird typos (for example, sometimes my brain likes typing “also” when I mean “always” among other similar examples)


And, after I load my draft into Readable, I also do a quick read through.


Reading your copy out loud is one of the best ways to figure out where it stops flowing.


And that’s it. Takes 5 minutes at most, and usually much shorter than that.


Now, this is my editing process for these emails you’re reading.


With clients, I put in a little more effort, but not much.


Besides the steps I mentioned above, I also edit for visual copy.


I try to include as much visual copy as I can.


For example:


“Taking XYZ helps your knee pain.”


And transforming it to:


“XYZ nukes any pain in your knees, and you’ll wonder if you had knee surgery because of how easily you can move around.”


This is a half-baked example, obviously. But an example it is.


And then, of course, I’ll send a test email to myself after loading it into their email software and make sure all the links work.


I might be leaving out a couple of steps… but that’s the gist of my editing process.

The more you spend thinking before you write a word, the less you have to edit after. Because by the time I’m writing, I already have the big idea, pain points, consequences of not acting, benefits of acting, etc. all in my head.


Capisce?


Want to build a fan base of absolute diehards who will literally go to war for you (in addition to buying everything you create)?



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