The Energy-First Approach to Email That Actually Works

I used to start my email writing process by asking: “What should I send this week?” Wrong question.

The right question is: “What am I genuinely excited to share right now?”

When you use your energy as your guide for email creation, everything changes. Instead of forcing content through sheer willpower, you tap into natural enthusiasm that makes writing feel almost effortless.

Here are three questions to ask before writing any email:

1. Am I personally interested in this topic right now?
2. Does thinking about this give me energy or drain it?
3. Would I want to read this email if someone else sent it?

If you answer “no” to any of these, you’re about to create something that will likely underperform. Not because the topic isn’t valuable, but because your lack of energy will seep into every word.

I learned this after tracking my email creation process for months. Emails I wrote during my natural high-energy periods (for me, early mornings) consistently outperformed those I forced out during afternoon slumps. The difference wasn’t just in my writing speed—it showed up directly in engagement metrics.

Try this: Create a simple energy audit of your current email practice. Track when you write, how you feel during the process, and how those emails perform. You’ll start seeing patterns that no amount of “best practices” research could reveal.

MakerFlow Application: The Creative Rhythm Mapper helps you identify your peak email creation periods and build your schedule around them instead of forcing creativity when your energy naturally dips.

Curiosity-Driven Content

“What should I write about?”

That question haunts most email marketers. They browse competitor newsletters, scrape industry news, or rehash old content trying to fill their email calendar.

There’s a better way: Follow your curiosity.

What questions are you genuinely exploring in your business right now? What problems have you been turning over in your mind? What interesting connections have you noticed that others might miss?

When you write from a place of authentic curiosity, two things happen:

1. The writing process becomes energizing rather than draining
2. Your emails feel like fresh insights rather than recycled advice

I once scrapped an entire planned email sequence about productivity tips (yawn) because I realized I was more curious about why people resist systems that would actually help them. That curiosity-driven email series got more replies than anything I’d sent in the previous six months.

People connect more deeply with your learning journey than your polished expertise. When you share what you’re actively figuring out—complete with the messy questions and imperfect answers—you create space for your audience to join the exploration instead of just consuming information.

The trick is capturing these insights when they actually happen. Create a system for documenting your questions and realizations throughout your day, not just when you sit down to write.

MakerFlow Framework: The Journey Documentation templates capture your genuine insights as they occur, eliminating the “what should I write about?” problem by building a reservoir of authentic content ideas drawn from your actual experience.

The Reality Principle

I once spent three hours crafting the perfect email showcasing a successful client case study. It bombed. Hardly any opens, zero replies.

The next week, I sent a quick note sharing how I’d completely screwed up a product launch and what I’d learned. That email got a 78% open rate and dozens of thoughtful replies.

The reality principle is simple: Revealing the messy truth outperforms curated perfection every time.

Your audience is drowning in polished marketing. They’re bombarded with perfectly edited videos, carefully crafted social posts, and emails that make success look effortless. When you pull back the curtain and show the reality behind the results, you immediately stand out.

The trick is finding the vulnerability threshold—that balance between authentic sharing and uncomfortable oversharing. You don’t need to air all your dirty laundry, but showing enough of the struggle makes your successes more believable and your advice more applicable.

I’m not talking about manufacturing vulnerability as a marketing tactic. That’s manipulative garbage. I’m talking about being honest about where you’re actually at, including the parts that don’t fit the “expert” image you think you need to project.

When you normalize the struggles your audience faces by admitting your own, you create safety. That safety builds trust. And trust drives action far more effectively than any persuasion technique.

MakerFlow Example: One creator increased their open rates by 32% after implementing the Document Your Journey approach in their emails. Instead of just sharing polished advice, they started documenting their real-time process, including the failures and pivots. Their audience responded immediately to this more authentic approach.

Pattern Interrupts That Wake Up Your Audience

Most email marketing advice focuses on consistency: same day, same time, same format, week after week. The theory is that consistency builds trust and trains your audience to expect your content.

Here’s the problem: consistency also breeds complacency. When your audience can predict exactly what they’ll get, your emails become background noise—easy to ignore or save for later (which usually means never).

Pattern interrupts wake people up. They grab attention precisely because they’re unexpected.

Try these:

1. Format disruption: If you usually send text-heavy emails, try one with just a single question or a simple image. If you normally write long-form, try a rapid-fire list.
2. Tonal shifts: If your emails are typically upbeat and motivational, experiment with more contemplative or even challenging content occasionally.
3. Perspective flip: Take a common belief in your industry and argue against it. Even if you ultimately arrive at the conventional wisdom, the journey there will be more interesting.
4. Unexpected timing: If you always send on Tuesday morning, occasionally drop a quick note on Friday evening with a different kind of content.

I discovered this accidentally when my newsletter schedule got disrupted during a family emergency. I sent an apologetic email at an unusual time with a completely different format than usual. The response was overwhelming—more replies and engagement than I’d received in months.

The key is strategic inconsistency—not being random for randomness’ sake, but intentionally varying your approach to maintain freshness and attention.

MakerFlow Tool Highlight: The Question Transformation Framework creates emails that catch attention by reframing problems your audience thought they understood. Instead of answering the same questions everyone else is addressing, you transform the questions themselves, creating genuine “aha” moments for your readers.