I could rant about how most people teach email marketing for hours. Probably days.

But the main thing I want you to understand is this:

Email marketing is a long-term game. Yet most people teach it like a short-term hack.

Get the opt-in. Push for calls or sales as fast as possible.

And sure… does that help you get more calls or sales in the short term? Yep.

But what about the vast majority of people who join your list and don’t buy or book a call straight away?

They get frustrated because they're not ready to book a call or buy yet, but you keep sending them those pushy emails.

So they tune out.

Open rates drop. Click rates drop. And suddenly, making sales via email feels insanely hard.

It’s pretty obvious when you step back and look at it.

But almost no one talks about it.

That’s exactly why I created Emailtopia.

It shows course creators, coaches, and service providers how to build a complete email ecosystem that supports both short-term sales and long-term revenue.

Instead of optimising for “more leads”, we optimise for happy customers.

Totally different. And honestly, SO much better.

If you want the full breakdown of Emailtopia, send me a DM with “Emailtopia” and I’ll send the details over.

If I met 18-year-old me, he'd think I was a failure.

No £1M+ Months.
No employees.
No first-class travel.

He wouldn't understand that having the freedom to go rock climbing at 2pm on a Wednesday was the whole point.

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RLM plug

I wrote an article about the LinkedIn Success Formula and how it will help 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀. You can read it here 👇

https://rapidmarketers.com/linkedin-success-formula/

Building Emailtopia, a new way to run your entire email marketing ecosystem | Ex McDonald’s Fry Champion

I was making £8/hour at McDonald's when my mum died.

One month later, every bill in the house had my name on it.

Rent. Electricity. Gas. Food. Three cats. A dog.

All on a crappy McDonald's wage.

I'd been learning marketing for about 7 years at that point. Trying things, but never being able to make it work.

But suddenly, I didn't have a choice anymore.

I HAD to figure it out right then or I would’ve been stuck in McDonald’s forever.

And somewhere during all the chaos, I made a decision.

I wasn't going to spend the rest of my life grudging to work every day, building someone else's dream, watching the clock until 5pm.

I'd seen what that looked like… and oh boy, I definitely didn't want it!

So I went all in. Made every mistake possible. But I kept going.

Within a few months, I'd landed my first proper client. £3k/month retainer.

That’s what allowed me to quit my job.

It wasnt easy, but when I had to make it happen, I DID make it happen.

And now I'm building something that's mine.

And when I'm older, I don't want to look back and wonder "what if?"

I want to look back and know I built a life where I had fun.

Ups and downs? Obviously.

But fun. Real, actual fun.

That's why I do what I do now. Teaching people how to build email systems that create happy customers.

Not because email marketing is my ultimate "passion" or whatever.

But because I care about the state of creator marketing right now, and it lets me build the life I actually want.

If you're building something that matters to you (even if it's a bit scary) I'd love to connect!

An 18-year-old got promoted to manager at McDonald's.

He got to wear the white shirt (ooohhh!)

And within a week… he turned into a complete bellend.

Before the promotion, he was a nice guy. Easy enough to work with.

After? Walking around like he owned the place, barking orders and telling people they couldn't go to the toilet.

It was just a white shirt. At McDonald's.

But watching him change like that made me realise something.

I was surrounded by people chasing tiny symbols of status inside a system I was desperate to escape.

That’s when it all pieced together for me:

Most people don’t want freedom. They want a title to hide behind.

And the closer I got to leaving McDonald's, the more those white shirts got to me.

The big heads. The politics. The unnecessary drama.

Then suddenly, out of nowhere, every bill in the house had my name on it.

Rent. Electric. Food.

I was at a fork in the road: make my dream happen right now, or stay stuck forever.

So I made it happen.

Fast forward to a random Tuesday morning.

I’m sitting in Costa at 8 am with my laptop open. Hot chocolate in hand.

I’d dreamed about being “one of those people” for years.

And now I was one of them.

Last Wednesday I went rock climbing at 2pm. Because I wanted to.

No manager to ask.  
No shift to cover.  
No white shirt telling me I couldn’t.

Freedom isn’t a salary number, my friends.

It’s choosing what your Tuesday looks like.

Some people want the title. Others want the time.

I know what I want!

The modern human brain is roughly 2-3% of your body weight.

But it uses around 25% of your energy.

Pretty crazy when you think about it 👀

Your brain is basically running on a budget. And most people blow the whole thing on the wrong stuff.

I see it all the time in email marketing.

People spend HOURS agonising over:

→ Subject lines
→ Send times
→ Button colours
→ Font choices
→ Spelling & grammar

And yeah, those things matter... a little bit... depending on your business.

But here's the problem:

They're downstream.

If your email ecosystem is broken upstream, no amount of subject line tweaking will save you.

It's kinda like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. You're burning precious brain energy on stuff that won't make a difference because the REAL problems are happening way earlier.

Upstream is where the leverage is:

→ Your positioning
→ Your lead magnet strategy
→ How you train people to engage
→ The psychology behind why people buy
→ The system that turns subscribers into happy customers

Get the upstream stuff right, and the downstream becomes much easier.

But most people never get there.

They're too busy A/B testing subject lines on emails that were doomed from the start 😂

So if you're feeling exhausted by email marketing...

Ask yourself: Am I spending my brain budget upstream or downstream?

Because your brain only has so much energy to give. Might as well spend it where it actually counts!

BTW - I'm launching my Emailtopia beta program next week, and it's gonna be so so so fun.

I'll be teaching how to build your entire email marketing ecosystem from the ground up so you have a system in place that is optimised for long-term success.

If you want more info, send me a DM with Emailtopia and I'll get the details over to you :)

Paul Murphy

Most creators are sitting on a goldmine.

An email list they worked hard to build… but barely tap into.

They send the emails. Maybe a launch every now and then. And they know they’re leaving money on the table.

That’s where Email Power Promos come in.

It’s a simple, repeatable system for running one 5–7 day promotion every month…that feels good for your audience and your bank account.

No spam. No burnout. No “icky” pushing.

Here’s what makes it work:

✅ Monthly promotions that deepen relationships and drive sales. Seasonal angles, personal stories, and proven frameworks, designed to feel personal, not pushy.

✅ Built around your voice, your offers, and your values. So every promo sounds like you, not a bs generic pitch.

✅ Repeatable & scalable. Once you learn the system, you can run it over and over again, without guessing what to send.

The result? Extra revenue every month from the audience you already have.

If you’ve got an email list and you’re ready to finally use it to its full potential… go here and access the free 7-day course on how to use monthly EPPs: https://rapid-marketers.kit.com/763d975bcd

Because more revenue. Less stress. And subscribers who actually like hearing from you?

That’s the kind of email marketing worth doing :)

Emailtopia... wut? I show you how to build out your full email marketing ecosystem so you can get more happy customers. Send me a DM with ‘Emailtopia’ and I’ll give you all the details.

I took a week off for Christmas.

And I still checked my emails 👀

I know, I know. You're supposed to "fully switch off" and "set boundaries" and all that stuff.

But I was sat having my breakfast, by myself, and I decided to check my inbox.

Took 45 seconds. Didn't ruin my morning. Didn't stress me out. Didn't impact anything.

I closed my phone and carried on with my day.

And you know what? I had a great week. I was present. I had fun. I genuinely relaxed.

But I didn't fully disconnect. And I'm not gonna punish myself for it.

Because I've realised something:

The guilt about checking emails is way worse than actually checking them.

I used to feel bad every time I glanced at my phone during time off. Like I was failing at relaxation or something.

But that guilt is what actually ruins a break. Not a 45-second email check.

Maybe "switching off" doesn't have to mean going completely dark.

Maybe it just means being present when it matters and not letting work consume your headspace.

I was still there for my family. Still laughed. Still ate too much. Still had a proper break.

I just also checked my emails a few times. It made me feel more in control, not less.

So if you're someone who can't fully disconnect either… maybe that's okay.

Maybe the goal isn't to be perfect at switching off. Maybe it's just to stop beating yourself up about it 🤌

Does anyone else struggle with this?

A CEO picked a fight with me over a spelling mistake I didn't make.

LinkedIn is wild sometimes.

So I left a comment on someone's post the other day. Nothing crazy. Just a normal comment on something I found interesting.

Then this random woman (NOT the person who wrote the post) replies out of nowhere:

"With all due respect, spelling improvement will assist you"

Excuse me?? 😂

So I bite back with a sarcastic comment, pointing out she forgot a full stop at the end of her sentence.

Then she hits back with three rapid comments about how she was happy I found it funny, rather than hit back with an insult. How she didn’t intend to use a full stop at the end of her sentence. And how I didn’t insult her, which is a plus for LinkedIn.

It was a weird interaction, so I didn’t even reply because I have actual work to do, and this is getting weeeeeird.

But a few hours later, she comes back AGAIN:

"Yes, that was a mocking comment and I feel sorry for you."

… I hadn't even responded!

So I just replied: "Are you okay? 😂😂"

Here's the best bit though:

My spelling wasn't even wrong.

I think she’s just weird and wants attention.

Anyway… I genuinely don't know what the lesson is here.

Maybe there isn't one.

Maybe LinkedIn is just chaotic, and sometimes strangers pick fights with you over mistakes you didn't even make.

With that in mind... have a great Friday. Stay weird out there 🙃

P.S. The block button is your friend. Keep that negative energy away!

Daily emails aren’t the problem.

The first emails are.

Daily emails can be one of the fastest ways to build trust.

But most people sabotage them immediately.

Here’s what usually happens:

→ Weak lead magnet
→ Subscriber joins the list
→ Daily emails start instantly

No context, relationship building or training.

Then people ask why their email list is growing but sales are way behind.

Well... it's because if your emails are average, sending them every day just exposes that faster.

And basically, you’re teaching people to ignore you.

The best daily emailers understand one thing:

Attention is earned.

Take Daniel Throssell.

You don’t opt in and get dumped into normal daily emails.

You go through his Parallel welcome sequence first (which is great btw)

That sequence does three things:

1. Trains you to open
2. Sets the tone
3. Builds a reading habit

So when his normal daily emails start, you're trained to read them.

First impressions decide everything in email. How someone joins your list sets the rules for how they treat your emails.

If you show up daily without training attention first, you're training so many people in your audience to ignore you.

I left money on the table last week.

On purpose.

Someone in Emailtopia got busy with another coaching program.

I get it, life happens.

They messaged asking if they could gift their spot to a friend who would benefit more.

Totally fair request.

I could’ve done the normal, logical thing:

Remove their access.
Transfer the seat.
Done.

But something felt kinda off.

So instead… I gave both of them access.

Could I have made more money long-term by keeping it to one seat?

Probably.

But it didn’t feel right.

And that decision sums up how I think about email marketing.

Too many people treat email subscribers like transactions.

Optimise every send.
Squeeze every click.
Extract every dollar.

Sure - obviously it works short term (otherwise other people wouldn't do it)

But people remember how you make them feel.

I’d rather build an audience that trusts me than a list that feels “monetised”.

Because there’s a real human on the other side of every email.

They didn’t owe you their attention. They chose it.

So treat them like humans and do the decent thing. Even when it costs you a bit.

And btw - this isn't about strategy.

It's about being a good person and doing what feels right for you.

And weirdly… it tends to pay off anyway.

I stared at the publish button for Module 1 of Emailtopia.
 
And all I could hear was my own voice telling me:
 
“Paul, oh my days... people might hate this”
 
For years, I’ve been the guy behind the scenes, helping clients build their email systems, writing their sequences and making them a shit ton of money.
 
Literally the only people who knew my name were the clients... which felt super safe and comfortable.
 
But last week, I hit publish on something that was mine.
 
Something I’d actually created and was now charging money for.
 
And all of a sudden, real people were looking at it. People who could judge it, criticise it and tear it apart.
 
I mean… they paid for it, so I HAD to deliver.
 
That exposure was scary, so when I hit publish, I closed my laptop and went rock climbing to take my mind off it.
 
And you know what?
 
I still feel scared about it 😂
 
But I've been feeling something else recently.
 
PRIDE.
 
I’m actually proud of myself that I’m building my own thing, and I’m going to support everyone in my beta program the best way possible.
 
I’m delivering something incredible, and I’m damn proud of that.
 
What I’ve published isn’t perfect. It’s a beta program, so I know that.
 
But it’s mine.
 
And it’s freaking out there, baby... and that matters way more to me than waiting until I felt “ready”. 🙌
 
Because at this point, I’m starting to doubt that “ready” is something I'm ever gonna feel, and that's a good thing.
 
I'm pushing myself out of my comfort zone, and I'm proud!

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