How to Transition from Personal Story to Call to Action in Your Emails

The cute bunny stealthily ran underneath our chairs and came to rest on my yoga mat.

I love that yoga mat, too, so I get why the bunny settled there --> It's an ultra-cushy Lululemon mat, and my sometimes-tender knees love it.

In case you don't follow me in IG, I'm currently on vacation, loving the lake view from the shaded patio of my AirBNB.

Most mornings, I've lazed around, cuddling with my husband while we listen to the nest of baby chicks outside our screen door chirp enthusiastically every time their mumma comes back with food for them.

And though I've slept-in most days, I've also napped daily. 

Even though reading novels - which is how I've spent most of my time - isn't exactly taxing.

While my days have definitely been leisurely, I also tried kayaking for the first time... and didn't tip over... which is good, because the bottom of this lake is slimy, smelly, and home to a great many snails.

And though bottom-dwelling lake snails might not be appealing, you're totally going to love what I'm about to share with you.

But before I get that, let me back up a second. 

A question people often is ask me is:

"How do I include more personal stories in my emails and still talk about my business without being super awkward about it?"

If this is something you've wondered about, it's probably because you know that storytelling is a powerful way to connect with and engage your audience.

In case you need a refresher…

Here are 5 reasons why storytelling helps your business

1) Telling personal stories helps build the Know, Like, and Trust factor that helps convert leads into paying customers.

2) The human brain is wired for stories, so stories help boost your engagement… which, in turn, helps boost your conversions.

3) By telling stories, you inject your personality into your emails and help your subscribers keep you top-of-mind in your industry.

4) You get more of your audience reading all the way through your emails, which means a greater number of people seeing your calls-to-action... translating to more click-throughs.

5) When you tell stories that are personal, you stand out from the crowd and make it impossible for other people to copy you, because you're putting yourself at the centre of your brand.

Okay, so now that we’re on the same page…

How exactly do you share personal stories while gracefully transitioning into a topic that relates to your business?

Honestly, this is something that I've just done by instinct in the past.

But I wanted to get better at it, so I studied a shit-ton of emails from the queen of the segue, writer Laura Belgray.

In case you're not familiar with Laura, she's co-creator of a popular copy course, The Copy Cure, with B-School founder Marie Forleo. 

Laura worked in television and advertising before going out on her own as a copywriter, so you know she's got stellar writing skills and experience.

What I love about Laura's emails is that she's always telling random, hilarious personal stories (like how some guy sat outside her local grocery store salting and eating cucumbers) and then somehow always transitions into something business-related.

So in order for me to get better at transitions, I decided I needed to study her emails and analyze what she was doing. 

After joyfully reading about 20 of Laura's emails and making a collection of her segueways, I decided to create a cheat sheet of segues that I wrote so that I don't have to figure out how to gracefully go from talking about bunnies to expounding on the virtues of storytelling every time I sit down to write a story-focused email.

Not gonna lie: I'm pretty excited to share these with you.

So excited that I whipped up a PDF that you can download and put to use in your own emails.

Click here to get your free cheat sheet, Email Transition Cheat Sheet.