Most people don’t avoid email because they don’t want to build a list. They avoid it because they sit down to write an email and immediately think — what am I even supposed to say? And then they close the tab. And then a week goes by. And then a month. And then it’s been so long that now there’s a whole extra layer of anxiety because they feel like they have to address the gap before they can say anything else. Sound familiar? Here’s the thing nobody tells you when they’re selling you on email marketing: the format that gets taught most often — the nurture sequence, the value email, the sales email, the re-engagement email — was designed for people who are comfortable writing marketing copy on a schedule. That’s a very specific skill set. And it’s not the only way to do this. Your emails don’t have to be polished. They don’t have to be long. They don’t have to follow a formula or have a lesson and a call to action and a PS with a soft pitch. They can just sound like you talking to someone you actually want to talk to. Think about the last text you sent a friend about something that frustrated you, excited you, or made you think. That energy — that casual, unfiltered, this-is-what-I’m-actually-thinking energy — is more engaging than 90% of the “value-packed” emails sitting in your subscribers’ inboxes right now. The bar is not high. The bar is just: sound like a real person. This week’s minimum viable action: Write an email like you’re talking to one specific person on your list. Not “my audience.” One person — someone you know signed up because they get what you do. What would you tell them this week? What are you thinking about? What did you figure out recently that might be useful to them? Don’t overthink the format. Just talk to that one person. What’s the thing that stops you most when you sit down to write an email — the blank page, not knowing what to say, fear of how it’ll land, something else? 👇