The Email Alchemist

What's your email about?

Pick the question that clicks for you right now — then tell me more.

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What are you most excited about in life or business right now?

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Did something happen recently — a conversation, a moment — that stuck with you?

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Is there anything you learned recently that you could teach someone?

The Email Alchemist Guide

Here's the truth about email marketing that nobody tells you: The words aren't the hard part. The patterns are.

I've written over 1,800 emails since 2011. Some of them moved thousands of dollars. Some of them moved nothing. After 15 years, I finally figured out the difference.

It's not talent. It's not luck. It's patterns.

👆 The Alchemist Wizard applies all of these patterns automatically. But if you want to understand WHY it works, keep reading.

The 7 Subject Line Secrets

1. The Curiosity Gap (...)

Leave the thought incomplete. They HAVE to open it.

Before: "Check out our new product"
After: "the thing that changed everything for me..."

2. The Story Tease

Signal that a story is coming. Make it emotional.

Before: "My experience with failure"
After: "It felt like he spit in my face..."

3. The Parenthetical Hook

Add a secondary punch in parentheses.

Before: "I paid off my mortgage"
After: "from a trailer-house to $487,717.34 (live tonight only)"

4. The Direct Question

Ask something they can't ignore.

Before: "Our new opportunity"
After: "do you believe in second chances?"

5. The Specific Number

Promise concrete takeaways. Specificity = credibility.

Before: "Keys to success"
After: "6 Word Shortcut To Freedom"

6. The Personal Address

Use their name. Make it feel like a personal note.

Before: "Important announcement"
After: "Hey [Firstname] — I need your help (please)"

7. The Bracket Tag

Add context or urgency with a bracket prefix.

Before: "Recording available"
After: "[Replay] The Money + Time Formula"

The Soft-Sell Close

Here's the biggest mistake I see: people ruin good emails with pushy CTAs.

What NOT to Do

"Click here to buy NOW!"
"Don't miss this LIMITED TIME opportunity!"
"Only 3 spots left — ACT FAST!"

What TO Do

"If you're curious, you can check it out here..."
"I wanted to show you, in case you're open to checking it out."
"If you'd like to join us, here's the link..."
"If you'd like to [benefit], you might want to [CTA]..." (if-then benefit pattern)

Feel the difference? One feels like a sales pitch. The other feels like a friend sharing something good.

The 6-Step Story Arc

This is the pattern I've used in some of the emails that have made me the most money:

Step 1: Vulnerability First

Start with the struggle. Be specific.

Not: "I was struggling"
This: "living in a trailerhouse, wife & family to support, savings dwindling with only a few hundred bucks coming in"

Step 2: What Made It Worse

Show the low point that makes the turnaround meaningful.

"Then to make matters worse, my son was diagnosed with a skull deformity that needed a $50,000 surgery."

Step 3: The Turning Point

Something changed. Name it specifically.

"A fateful prayer led me to Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich, and through a dedicated practice of his principles, I had a huge shift."

Step 4: The Transformation

Show the after. Make it visceral. Don't tell — make them FEEL it.

Not: "Things got better"
This: "My spirit took a deep breath, and my whole life was suddenly filled with oxygen."

Step 5: The Embedded Lesson

Never just a story — always a principle. The story earns you the right to teach.

"Life without a dream is like breath without oxygen."

Step 6: Bridge to Action

Connect naturally to what they should do next. No hard pivot.

"Anyway, if you're curious, you can check it out here..."

💡 A Note on Simplicity

Not every step has to be included. And not every story has to be super dramatic or life-changing.

This same pattern works for simple things — something you're excited about, a lesson you learned, a tool, product, or idea you want to share.

The simplified version:

Before X, I felt like this (or this less desirable thing was happening)
X happened
Now I feel like this, and these benefits followed
Wrap it up with a lesson or call to action
Sign your name
Put your call to action in the P.S. if it didn't fit naturally in the email

This makes it so you can write emails about almost anything beneficial that happens in your life.

The Shortcut

I just gave you 15 years of email wisdom. But here's the truth: remembering all this while you're writing is hard.

That's why I built the Alchemist Wizard. Answer a few quick questions about what's on your mind, and it writes the email for you — with all of these patterns baked in automatically.

Whatever you do — always go for your dreams.

— Paul Hutchings