I love wine.

If you’re a rational person, you probably do too.

That’s why I was SUPER excited when Drea Fecht sent me this email for review. It was one of the easiest “hell yes I’ll break this thing down” replies I ever sent back.

This email has it all: long copy, a great story, dimensionalization… you might even be a bit buzzed by the end of it.

I really think you’re going to like this one.

This is the seventh installment of my Email of the Week series. Make sure you click here to check the archives of past episodes.

And In case you’re new around here, here’s how it works…

The Rules for Email of The Week

Each week, I go out into the wild to find a super-effective e-commerce marketing email… and I break down what made it work. My goal is for you to tune in each week, so I can teach you strategies and best practices YOU can use to make your own emails better.

I find these emails in my inbox, but I also accept suggestions from readers who have a remarkable email they’d like to share.

If you recently received an email that was so awesome it made your jaw drop, I wanna see it.

Forward it to me (chris at theemailcopywriter dot com) with a brief message about what you liked about it. If I choose to do a breakdown of the email you sent, I’ll give you a shout out and link to your site.

The only rule is… you can’t pick yourself.

Now then, without further ado, let’s check out the Email of the Week!

It’s Wine Time!

Today’s email is from Dry Farm Wines.

I had never heard of them before Drea forwarded me this email. So I dug around a little bit and took a look at what they got going on over there at DFW.

First of all, they have an incredible USP:

 

 

You had me at health-focused.

And natural.

And wine club.

And sugar-free.

And additive-free.

These are all awesome features that help ensure you won’t wake up with a raging hangover.

However…

I AM NOT VERY HAPPY ABOUT THE LOW ALCOHOL CONTENT DFW, THE FUCK BRO?

But I am sure I can get over it because it looks like everything else about this company looks awesome.

Especially the emails in their welcome sequence.

When you sign up for their list, you’ll go through an automated sequence. The email we’re going to look at today is the second email you’ll receive after you subscribe.

Let’s take a look:

 

 

So before we start going line by line through this thing, let’s talk about the purpose of your welcome sequence.

When someone signs up for your email list, you have an opportunity to begin to form a relationship with that reader. They have agreed to trade some of their attention in exchange for info about your company. Some people will hear what you have to say and fall in love with your brand. Others will say “Eh…” and go on their merry way. This is just what happens.

I’ve always found that an easy way to begin that relationship-building phase with your customer is to start your autoresponder off with a story, preferably an origin story.

Why an origin story?

Well…

Think about all the brands you know and love. You probably know a bit about WHY the company was started, WHAT problem it was trying to solve, and HOW they were able to grow into a brand.

This is something you cannot skip.

People NEED to know the story of YOU and your company.

How do you expect them to tell their friends about you?

Word of mouth begins when people get equipped with shareable stories. If you don’t tell your prospects your story, there’s a much smaller chance they’re going to tell others about it. Don’t make people think… spoonfeed them a story they can share at the dinner table.

Alright.

At the beginning of this email, Todd (the founder) begins to tell the origin story of Dry Farm Wines.

He introduces himself as a HUMAN… not just another nameless, faceless corporation.

He includes a picture of himself… which goes a LONG way toward making that human connection. Now, every time you read an email from him you remember WHO he is. This seems like a small touch, but I think it’s super important.

After that, he launches into the story.

In my Email Copy Academy coaching program, I teach this formula called Time-Place-Tension. It’s a great way to open your emails… and Todd used it brilliantly here.

It sets the stage for what you’re about to say while shifting people’s brains into “story-time mode.” (I’m sure something happens in the brain once you hear the beginning of the story that causes you to pay closer attention, I just don’t know what else to call this effect so that’s what we’re going with.)

He begins by explaining a common problem:

He wanted to get healthier but, just like you and I, he loves drinking wine.

What made matters worse was that he lived in Napa… one of the most popular wine regions in the USA.

This sentence starts to overcome an objection…

I can’t do it because of MY environment.

“I can’t stop drinking and lose weight and get healthy because all my friends drink!”

“Oh yeah, mother fucker? I live in NAPA VALLEY. THE STRUGGLE IS REAL.”

As he tells the story, he begins to dimensionalize the problem.

This means he’s SHOWING how the problem manifested in his daily life. It’s always important to SHOW and not tell in your emails. Hangovers, headaches, impaired sleep. He probably could have even taken it one level deeper:

“I’d polish off a bottle at dinner with friends. Later that night I’d be tossing and turning in my sleep. Around 3 am a headache would start. It felt like someone was jamming an ice pick into my forehead. And I’d be falling asleep at the breakfast table the next morning.”

Maybe that’s not it exactly… but it at least shows a bit more.

Anyway, I think what he did here was fine. He moves you through the narrative.

Let’s keep going…

 

 

He does some great “matching” here. This is a great sales technique.

I had the same problem you’re having. Here’s what it’s like for me… you having the same problems?

It takes that whole bond-building thing to the next step. You read this paragraph and think to yourself: “Man… Todd really gets me. He’s kind of just like me. I like this guy!”

That’s the effect you WANT with your origin story.

Build that bond.

I really love the second half of this copy block.

It’s a classic “get more good stuff and experience less bad stuff” framework. Then in that final sentence, he takes it one step further and unpacks this idea. He gets super-specific.

Good things: delicate taste, lively buzz, stress relief, deep connection.

Yes, we want ALL of that good stuff when we drink.

But…

We don’t want any of this shit:

Bad things: hangovers, headaches, stomach issues, brain fog, poor sleep, mad sugar.

I think we’d all like to avoid ALL of those things, if possible.

What’s really cool about this piece of copy is that he’s essentially “removing the logistics from the decision.”

That is a term I learned from Dean Jackson. (<<<Yes, he’s someone you should be following.)

You read this copy and DECIDE you want those things. That is your core desire. Doesn’t really matter HOW that happens as long as you get those results you’re happy.

Todd has nailed down the “job to be done” for our prospects. (Shoutout to Ross O’Lochlainn for educating me on this.)

His solution does that job they need done.

Alright, let’s continue…

 

 

If the previous copy block was the problem, this part begins the solution. It is what I call the “big epiphany.”

Before you introduce the actual solution… you have to share the epiphany that LED to the creation of the solution. This part essentially unpacks the unique mechanism. We have this thing that does XYZ… but the reason WHY it works is because: [all the stuff in that paragraph above].

The problem with most wines is they literally contain poison.

Hey dumbfuck… maybe stop drinking poison?

Maybe that’s a good idea, yeah?

No wonder you feel like shit the next day.

What’s cool about this paragraph is that it introduces an “undeniable truth.” Once you read about all the other toxins in the wine you’ve been buying… and the fact that some of them contain POISON… how could you ever buy another bottle of wine from the store?

The next time you’re in that liquor store, you’re going to be thinking back to this email… are you really going to voluntarily buy and consume something that’s terrible for you?

How do you ever buy wine from anyone else?

Of course, people are not rational and we are all morons when it really comes down to it. So a certain number of people won’t be affected by this undeniable truth.

But I think a majority of people who read this will experience a profound shift in their worldview… so much so to the point where they wouldn’t think about buying wine from anyone else besides Dry Farm Wines.

It’s a beautiful copy technique.

And I love how Todd used it here.

Onward…

 

 

Here’s where this email really shines.

It seems like the “problem” has been solved. He found out about natural wines… hurray! We can all drink happily.

Not so fast my friend!

Todd is keto.

So he can’t have sugar.

What do you do when you’re on a diet where sugar is restricted? Does this mean wine is completely off-limits?

Nope!

You’re in luck.

Todd actually lab tested these wines to find the ones that wouldn’t mess you up. And he’s played the role of a curator. Because face it…. there is no way in fucking hell you’re going to lab test thousands of bottles of wine yourself.

So…

If you want these benefits, Todd is your guy. He saves you time and effort and gets you the outcome you want.

It’s brilliant.

Really great stuff.

He also does a great job of explaining how this idea turned into a company. He started sharing it, it caught on… demand rose… and here we are! Now we’re helping people everywhere!

An organic (pun intended), American Dream success story.

Love it.

 

I gotta tell ya…

I LOVE when people get blatant with their call to actions.

I can tell you how many copywriters I’ve seen pussyfoot around with the close.

They’ll be unclear about the next action for people to take… or they’ll have a super long CTA sentence and then only hyperlink the word ‘here’ when telling people where to click.

Don’t do that shit.

You got something awesome, be like Todd and dedicate an entire paragraph to telling people what to do next.

Todd isn’t ramming the offer down you’re throat, but he’s very clear with what you should do next.

Order a half case.

Start the adventure.

You can almost taste that first ‘magical sip’ of wine that gives you all the benefits without the bad side effects.

For all those watching at home right now:

THIS IS HOW YOU WRITE A GREAT eCOMMERCE EMAIL!!!!!!

TAKE NOTES

Overall, Todd and the team at Dry Farm Wines did an incredible job with this email. I love their USP. I love the long copy approach. I love the bond they built. I love it all.

Awesome job Todd and DFW team, you guys rocks.

Special Shoutout to Drea Fecht

I wanted to give a special shoutout and thank Drea for sending in this email.

In case you don’t know Drea, here’s a little bit about here:

Drea Fecht is an email copy expert who helps entrepreneurs bring their personality and sell their stuff inside thousands of unsuspecting inboxes. She likes chocolate chip cookies too. You can find her at dreafecht.com and grab her shameless freebie: 39 Cringe-Worthy Buzzwords You Shouldn’t Use in Your Copy.

Get this woman a fucking cookie, she earned it.

And get on her email list while you’re at it.

Here’s what she had to add in terms of analysis of this email:

This is the second email I received from this company. Does a great job of hitting the pain points of wine fanatics (headaches, stomach issues, impaired sleep… not keto-friendly) and goes into what he discovered and voila! Solution. 

Simple and uncomplicated. 
I totally agree with Drea. This email removes all of your objections to enjoying wine. It positions their wine against every other bottle… and presents a strong reason why you should only buy from them.
Drea pegged it perfectly: it’s simple and uncomplicated.
Email marketing doesn’t have to be complex.
It doesn’t have to be painful.
In fact it SHOULD be easy, profitable, and fun.
Thanks so much Drea!

Big Takeaways from Dry Farm Wines

  1. Tell stories
  2. Show, don’t tell
  3. Introduce yourself
  4. Help people put a face with your name
  5. Build a bond from the beginning
  6. Share your origin story in a simple way so other people can pass it on
  7. Frame the problem you set out to solve
  8. Reveal the big epiphany
  9. Position your product as the ONLY option that makes sense
  10. More good stuff with less bad stuff
  11.  Have a strong CTA, don’t hide
  12. Introduce an ‘undeniable truth’ that shows the flaws of every other competing product
  13. Don’t just sell your product, take people on an adventure
  14. Time-place-tension

Sneak Peek for Next Week

It’s about damn time we talked about cart abandonment!

Having a good cart abandonment sequence is one of the easiest ways to pick up all the money you’re leaving on the table. And what better way to do it then to look at how ANOTHER alcoholic beverage does it?

So, get pumped up!

And remember…

This email was ALSO submitted by a reader. So that person got a special shoutout. (If YOU would like a shoutout and link to your site… send me a really awesome long copy eCommerce email. If I use it, I’ll be sure to link to your stuff.)

Stay tuned for next week’s episode…

What You Should Do Next

  1. Subscribe to my email list so you can get ALL of the Emails of the Week delivered straight to your inbox, automatically.
  2. Leave a comment for me below and let me know what you liked about this email.
  3. Send this breakdown to someone you know who has a physical product business. You might give them some inspiration to write an email that strengthens the bond they have with their customers.
  4. Have a drink, preferably from Dry Farm Wines. It’s been a long week, you earned it!

2 thoughts on “[Email of the Week #7]: Dry Farm Wines”

  1. Chris: I’m really enjoying your Emails of the Week. I appreciate that you’ll be making this a long-term activity!

    Two suggestions follow to facilitate the readers’ review of your astute comments.

    1) You wrote above: “TAKE NOTES.” I printed a few pages of the Email of the Week #7 so I could write my notes at the appropriate pages and discovered the right side of each printed page, from top to bottom, shows your headings (home, articles, about, resources, work with me and the links). This extraneous stuff makes it difficult to read your analysis. (Print one page and you’ll see what I mean.) Can you or one of your tech persons make the adjustment to eliminate the headings when we print the pages?

    2) In addition to showing the Email of the Week exactly as you do now, can you please print IN ONE PLACE the entire email that’s being dissected if it’s short, or print IN ONE PLACE at least all the paragraphs of the email that you analyze if the email is long? We could understand the context better.

    Thanks for all this terrific work. Rich

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