Email Breakdown #57: Tonia Kendrick Welcome Flow Part 1

Usually, I break down one-off emails. 

Occasionally (so far), I have broken down two emails in a row from a brand. Generally, those are also one-off emails.

But you can only learn so much from individual emails. That “so much” is a lot, but there’s still a ceiling.

So I’m going to the next level — I’ll dissect an entire welcome flow for you from a personal brand.

Let’s get into Part 1:

About Tonia Kendrick

Tonia Kendrick is a business coach specializing in helping female solopreneurs systematize their businesses and boost productivity overall.

I stumbled upon her site while looking for a way to store content ideas for my other business, Start Carnivore.

I literally Googled “content ideas storage spreadsheet template,” and she was among the top few results. She had the best spreadsheet template, so I downloaded it in exchange for my email.

Lesson in there — she used this template as a lead magnet. I’ll talk more about that in the Takeaways section at the end.

The Email: The First of a Personal Brand’s Welcome Sequence

Naturally, after downloading Tonia’s spreadsheet template, I received an email sequence.

Here’s the first email:

As you can tell, this is the first email.

Let’s waste no time and get right into what makes it tick…

The Subject Line: “[Email 1 of 4] Hey there, {firstname}”

The subject line is fantastic at securing the open — I can tell without seeing the data:

Thanks to the [Email 1 of 4], the reader instantly knows who this is from and what to expect in the email. Since, well, they just downloaded something.

It also clarifies that this is the intro flow and implicitly sets the expectation for more emails.

Or, in other words, it primes the reader to watch out for more emails from Tonia. That’s some inter-email strategy magic right there!

Other excellent bits in this subject line include the casual nature, the use of the reader’s name, and the waving emoji. It’s like Tonia’s writing to you, not to a “massive list of readers”. 

The Body Copy

Tonia starts this email with an excellent welcome angle. It’s what I’ll call the “strategically over-the-top” framework:

Most readers are well aware that Tonia’s not sitting in front of the computer constantly, jumping for joy every time someone subscribes.

But the reader feels welcome anyway. And it’s kind of funny. The “over-the-top” copy and gif (yes, that’s supposed to be a gif) set a friendly tone. 

Wasting no breath (or, rather, copy), the email moves into a copy that combines appeals to status and future pacing.

People crave community. Readers immediately feel part of something greater — a group of people also committed to reaching goals the reader is interested in reading.

“Woo-freakin-hoo” adds some personality to this section. Again, it’s like she’s talking to you personally.

We follow the status + future-pacing with a reminder of who this email is from and why the reader’s getting it.

Curiosity may have dragged the forgetful reader this far, thanks to the power of open-loops. Nifty way to keep readers reading.

This email isn’t hyper-segmented… or it would name the specific freebie I downloaded.

But that’s not a big deal. 

Maybe for massive brands in competitive niches which could squeeze out tens of thousands of dollars with a small change like that. Good lesson for those brands to try.

However, the return for a solopreneur like Tonia isn’t enough to justify it. 

Now that Tonia has welcomed the reader into the fold and reminded them why they got this email, she has them hooked enough to keep reading.

So she gets into her background:

A mini “origin story” strengthens your budding connection with the reader and offers them some proof as to why you’re worth listening to.

You want to balance the details with the space used, though. Including too much fluff could cause a reader to drop off.

I think Tonia strikes the aforementioned balance. She covers how long she’s been doing what she does, and what she did before that.

Like I said, just enough details to show the reader proof of expertise.

Next, we get to the present and a little bit of what to expect from Tonia:

People always say, “don’t talk in first-person, talk in second-person.” Aka less “I and me” and more “you and your”.

That’s true to a degree, but it’s hard to avoid first-person language if you’re the brand owner introducing yourself.

Even more so if you’re a personal brand.

So in this case, talking about yourself and what you like is needed. It helps the reader identify with you. Readers that also like to “get more out of less” (aka increase business/personal life efficiencies), well, share an interest with Tonia.

Speaking of sharing, Tonia tells the reader what to expect while on her list and when to expect the next email. Primes the reader to watch their inbox.

And one last thing: She promises to show you how to use the freebie in the next email. Waiting for email 2 opens a loop that the customer can only close by reading email 2. They could run off now… but they have to stick around if they want guidance on using their freebie. 

This helps Tonia continue to draw them into the brand and become a loyal subscriber.

Finally, Tonia tells you exactly what to watch for in your inbox:

This strengthens the customer priming I just discussed. They will, to some degree, sift through other subject lines to look specifically for Tonia’s.

I like the bit of humor in here, too. It’s kind of how I write (parenthesis and semi-self-deprecating humor).

We close out the email with a signature block:

While signature blocks aren’t a huge deal, they add a bit of professionalism to your emails. And including your face makes you more real to the customer. You’re more than an email address. The color also draws the eyes.

And then the very last things are Tonia’s website and social links at the bottom. It doesn’t really hurt to put these in any email, regardless of the presence of a pitch.

But it makes even more sense here since there is no pitch. The reader knows to look for the next email; in the meantime, they can check out Tonia’s site and socials.

Takeaways

Here are some big takeaways:

1. The Copy Mechanics

The main mechanical takeaway?

It’s something I harp on, because its something that works…

Write like you talk.

The reader knows this is from a brand/business (albeit a personal brand) but it’s a lot more engaging that carefully curated marketing speak or stiff and stultified professional talk.

And you know what people use when they talk?

Humor and personality.

Granted, you may be more reserved when you meet someone new. Email lets you be a little more quirky and true to yourself since you’re trying to screen out the uninterested right away.

Plenty of ellipses and line breaks, too. These break up the text but also create a more natural-sounding cadence.

Speaking of readability, one other thing — there are almost NO visuals in here and it works well. The only two visuals are:

1. The GIF at the top, and that’s more for the humor/personality than the readability.
2. The signature block, which actually personalizes the email MORE because Tonia can add a picture of herself. 

Oh, and I just noticed something right before I sent this to my assistant for publishing…

…Is the fact that Tonia uses NO bold, italics, or underlining. 

Yet it doesn’t detract from the email, given the excellent use of line breaks, ellipses, and even asterisks.

2. The Email Structure

The structure of this email is something like this:

1. Welcome + open loop to hook the customer in
2. Close the open loop and give some background about the founder/brand
3. Connect with the right people by establishing a common interest relevant to the brand
4. Set expectations and prime the reader for the next email

Kind of mirrors an actual conversation you might expect when you meet someone new. 

You don’t launch right into your life story — you exchange formalities with some small talk first (which I am admittedly bad at lol). 

Then you learn a little more about each other via asking questions. As you do so, common interests surface. You establish some sort of relationship with the other person.

At some point, you exchange contact information and “set expectations” informally by saying something like “We should hang out more — just call/text me!”

Same structure as the email. Many such cases!

3. The Overall Strategy

The main point of a welcome flow’s first email is to get the customer excited about their subscription and freebie. It’s also to familiarize the customer with the brand, build a connection, and set expectations. 

Uninterested people will unsubscribe, and that’s fine. That’s the goal. You want people who will engage with your emails. It’s great for deliverability and revenue.

Oh, it helps your bottom line, too. Email software often makes you pay by the number of users (generally in tiers). You don’t want to pay extra for non-buyers. 

Tonia’s email accomplishes the goal quite well.

What to Do Next

1. Get on my email list using the signup form below.
2. Reach out to me if you want help writing emails like this one.
3. Share this post with someone who would find it helpful or insightful.
4. Check out Tonia Kendrick if you need help organizing, systematizing, and streamlining your business!