Essential Prospect Emails
The minimum email sequence for converting new prospects into buyers.
By James Schramko · Updated November 2025
If you have an online business, you will need to make sure you build your email list. Then you want to make sales to that email list.
These emails are for new people arriving into your ecosystem, who have not yet bought.
Here is a bare minimum suggestion of emails and triggers for your prospect emails, modeled from my JamesSchramko business.
There are two main types of emails. Fresh and Automated. You will need a quality email service to provide at least:
- good deliverability
- automation
- behavioral tags / segmentation, etc.
(I use Ontraport)
Here are some handy email principles to keep in mind:
- Prospect should be better off for receiving the email. (So don't call them "blasts!")
- Send more emails and you will make more sales
- Multiple emails per week keeps send reputation and deliverability scores good
- Only send emails to people who asked for them
- Make sure the promise of the opt-in is met
- Emails should be relevant
Fresh Emails / Broadcasts
- News
If you have a (YouTube) show, podcast, regular content ideas, an informative newsletter or regular content tips, a broadcast makes sense.
I let people know when there is a new podcast. Ideally, you will have most of your email database (your HOUSE list) receiving these. It's ok to send these to paying clients as well.
- Case studies
If you had no show you would at least want to send a CASE STUDY on a regular basis. When they are close to real time they get the most traction and make more sales.
They reduce risk, increase trust, show proof and demonstrate your ability. A great way to sell.
- Affiliate promotions
Remember to send an affiliate promotion regularly. These can be a new offer, something fresh in the ecosystem that your prospects should know about.
You can add 20-30% to your revenue with these.
For broadcast emails, include a Super Signature (Dean Jackson's idea)
Here's three ways I can help you:
Way 1 (Book)
Way 2 (Program)
Way 3 (Service)
These are just examples. List in order of generality / ease of access and make them compelling.
Automation Sequences
- Lead magnets / opt-ins
These will require a small automation.
(A lead magnet might be a multi-email campaign, checklist, PDF book, free training, summit, challenge, DOC, etc.)
Suggested emails to send when people opt in for something:
a) Deliver the thing you promised
b) Ask the prospect how they liked it
c) Make an offer
d) Add them to your house list (Let them opt-in or out.)
Behavior-triggered Automation Sequences
- Cart abandonment sequence
When people visit your offer page as per email c) above, they may not buy. Apply a tag to those people and start sending a new sequence.
Suggested emails to send people who viewed your offer but did not buy:
a) Need help buying reminder
b) Are you ready to (insert result they want)?
c) Offer recap
d) Story call-to-action email (Tiny Thunder-style)
e) Case study
e) Still interested in (result they want) ? (Dean Jackson's 9-word email)
g) Case study
h) You didn't join?
i) What do I get?
J) In or out?
k) Affiliate resources
Here is the ultimate followup email to get a reply.
Simply send: [Name]?
Multi-Series Selling Method
Multi-Series Selling Method (2025 Edition)
Multi-Series Selling Framework (2025 Edition)
Email remains one of the most consistent sales channels.
Instead of pushing hard launches, the multi-series approach creates quiet, repeatable conversions with low unsubscribe rates.
You’ll build one or more short value-based email series around a focused topic.
Each series educates, builds trust, and sells naturally over time.
1. Core Concept
Each “series” is a short, permission-based email and video training sequence that leads to a single clear offer.
Subscribers opt in voluntarily, knowing what they’ll receive and for how long.
Each message delivers value before presenting the next logical step.
2. Why It Works
- Creates repeated exposure without feeling promotional.
- Builds authority through education.
- Converts cold or warm prospects by teaching before selling.
- Runs indefinitely once created (evergreen).
- Generates reliable sales in the background while you focus on other work.
3. Core Steps
- Define the Goal
What action do you want at the end? (Book a call, buy, join, refer.)
- Choose a Duration
Plan between five and ten lessons. Long enough to teach, short enough to complete.
- Select a Theme
Base each series on a single promise or result. Example: “How to streamline your service business in 7 days.”
- Outline the Topics
Each message covers one small, useful idea that leads logically to the next.
- Craft the Hook and Subheadline
The “big idea” must speak to the prospect’s current frustration or goal.
- Write or Record the Lessons
Short, focused, conversational.
Teach one principle, illustrate with an example, end with a light call to action.
- Add Proof and Action
Use simple stories, screenshots, or results that make your advice real.
Close each lesson with an invitation that aligns with your main offer.
- Sequence the Emails
One message per day or every other day.
Keep the tone friendly and helpful.
- Test and Refine
Track opens, clicks, and replies.
Improve subject lines and clarity, not frequency.
- Evergreen Deployment
Keep it running quietly.
Invite subscribers to new series after they complete one.
4. Behavioral Sequencing
Think in layers:
- Lead Series introduces your world.
- Nurture Series deepens trust and proves expertise.
- Conversion Series focuses on decision and action.
- Reactivation Series reconnects dormant subscribers.
- Ascension Series invites clients to a higher level offer.
Each series follows the same pattern: Value first, proof second, offer third.
5. Practical Tips
- Use clear, human subject lines (“How I cut 4 hours from my workday”) not hype.
- Ask for replies in early emails to build sender reputation.
- Keep videos under five minutes.
- Always include a single, easy-to-find CTA.
- When one series ends, offer the next one naturally.
- Let subscribers opt out of an individual series without leaving your main list.
6. Measuring Success
Track:
- Open rate trend over the series (not just the first email).
- Clicks on the CTA.
- Reply volume.
- Unsubscribe rate.
- Actual sales or call bookings per series.
Good performance looks like:
consistent opens above 40%, minimal drop-off, and steady daily conversions.
7. Example Framework for a 7-Part Series
- Day 1 – Hook and problem awareness
- Day 2 – Story or case study illustrating pain or opportunity
- Day 3 – Teach one simple win
- Day 4 – Prove your method with evidence or testimonial
- Day 5 – Address objection or myth
- Day 6 – Recap and seed the offer
- Day 7 – Direct invitation to next step
8. Using AI for Drafting (Optional)
Prompt example for personal use:
“I want to create a short training series that teaches [topic].
Write seven short lesson outlines, each including:
a hook, a relatable example, a key teaching point, and one action step that naturally leads to my paid offer.”
9. Ethical Guidelines
- Always ask permission before enrolling someone in a series.
- Keep frequency predictable.
- Provide value in every message.
- Never mislead or hide promotional intent.
Summary
Multi-Series Selling turns education into conversion.
Instead of chasing attention with launches, you build trust daily through consistent, valuable communication.
It’s simple, quiet, and repeatable.
Reactivating Past Clients 27
Reactivating Past Clients
When you have been in business for a while you will build a list of 'past clients'. It costs less to get a client back than to generate a new client.
Organic Reselling
Hopefully you are sending them weekly news. This may include show updates, case-studies, tips, new content. This will generate a few re-sales.
Dedicated Win-Back Campaign
Sometimes a quick win can be to re-sell some of those past clients into your current program using a specific campaign.
Segment your past client database so that you are not bringing back all past clients. Of the clients you had, some are more valuable than others.
If you can segment by the reason they left or lifetime value, it will allow you the ability to make a more relevant win-back offer. Tip: Target the high value, nice-to-deal-with clients.
When you communicate with them, it will be important to make it relevant. If you can mention when they were a client and what product, those fields may add relevance and increase conversions.
There are several ways you can make offers and here is a campaign I've used to 'win them back'.
I call it a 'Change Campaign' based on some solid Cialdini influences.
Follow these steps to both win back your past clients and get help from them to improve your product! (Win:win!)
- Ask for advice (not opinions)
Suggested email:
Subject: Do you consider yourself a helpful person?
Hi there,
I was hoping I could ask your advice on something related to [your product]?
Click HERE to help
Regards,
Your name
Your business
It leads to a one-question Google form
Suggested survey:
What is one thing about [your product] that you would change?
[Long answer box here]
- Collate answers and analyze the data.
You should get plenty of answers. Filter out the crazy advice. Filter out the non-qualified advice. Focus on the advice that will be good to implement.
Break them into three sections:
S1 - things you won't be changing (unreasonable or impractical requests)
S2 - things you already have but they didn't know you have since they left already
S3 - things you WILL change
- Make changes to your offer based on the data.
Get the team to make the changes, upload things, move things around, add stuff, remove stuff, make adjustments, etc.
It does not have to be a world-changing change. Think about fashion or motor vehicles or tech.
Often new models are similar but with a few small, subtle changes (evolutionary). Sometimes they are huge changes (revolutionary). Be guided by your needs.
- Communicate the results of the advice survey to the same database you surveyed via email.
a) Emphasize what has changed as a direct result of their advice. This makes them a stakeholder in this new product.
b) Why it changed
c) How this is important
- Make an incentivized offer with a time deadline.
a) Why NOW is a good time to re-purchase
b) Proof (case study)
c) Clear call-to-action on how to get started
d) Use a deadline and incentive
e) Use remarketing ads to use multi-channel conversion angles
f) The P.S is a very good place to make the offer
Other notes:
You may get a combination of very good and very bad advice. When I did my survey to around 1200 ex-members of my community I had excellent feedback to my 'new' direction.
It was the birth of what later became the migration to a new platform. It birthed the precursor to the mentor program. My membership became more useful and easier to use because of member advice.
Good luck with your campaign.