The welcome series I wanted to write myself today
Last week, I received a question from a reader who had just received a large number of new subscribers to their new newsletter.
‘How much should I invest in a welcome series? I hear different things. Some say seven emails, others say you should just send the standard email straight away.’
I understand the confusion. A lot has been written about welcome series, and most of it is about the number of emails. That’s the wrong question.
The right question is: What should each email do?
Here’s the framework I’d use myself today. 5 emails. 5 tasks: Give → Explain → Prove → Reflect → Invite.
That’s the backbone. The rest is details.
Email 1 – Give: Deliver what you promised
Open with the link. Not after three paragraphs about yourself. First sentence.
“Here’s the guide you signed up for. Download it here: [link]”
Then one sentence about what they can expect: which day you’ll send it, and what the email is about.
That’s all. The reader is most receptive right now – use that to deliver, not to talk.
Common mistake: Using the first email for a long introduction about yourself before the reader gets what they signed up for. You haven’t earned their attention yet. You’ll have to earn it in the next four emails.
Email 2 – Explain: Why you’re writing this email
Not your CV. The reason.
Start with what made you angry or curious enough to begin:
“I got fed up seeing self-employed people spend thousands of kroner on Facebook ads that stopped working as soon as they stopped paying. That’s why I’m writing this email.”
Two or three paragraphs. What you saw, what annoyed you, what you’re trying to change. Write it as you would say it to someone you met at a dinner party.
Common mistake: Listing years, titles and certifications. This is a LinkedIn profile, not a conversation. The reader wants to know why you’re spending your time on this – not where you went to school.
Email 3 – Proof: Your best point
This is the email that decides whether they’ll read the next ten letters.
Choose the one point you’d share if you could only share one. Give it your all. No teasers, no “read more in the next email”.
If you’re writing about newsletters: Perhaps your best subject line formula. If you’re writing about sales: The one sentence that secures the most meetings. If you’re writing about health: The habit that makes the biggest difference.
The reader should think, “If this is free, what’s the rest?”
Common mistake: Saving the best for paying customers. It should be the other way round. The best must come first. People only buy once they have proof that you know what you’re talking about – and the best email in the welcome series is your proof.
Email 4 – Mirror: Show them who the letter is for
Describe the reader in a situation, not as a target audience.
‘You may have written two or three newsletters and noticed how nobody opened the third one. You’re sitting there with a list of 400 and wondering whether it’s even worth continuing.’
The right readers nod. The wrong ones drop out – and that’s a gift. You’d rather have 500 readers who open every issue than 5,000 who delete it without looking.
Common mistake: Writing broadly so as not to alienate anyone. Instead, you end up alienating no one – and no one feels seen.
Email 5 – Invite: Ask one question
Something you actually want to know:
‘What’s the hardest thing about writing newsletters for you right now? Reply to this email – I read everything.’
Most people won’t reply. That’s fine. Those who do reply will become your best readers, and their answers will give you topics for the next 20 emails.
Common mistake: Asking three questions in the same email. One question gets a reply. Three questions get none.
Give. Explain. Prove. Reflect. Invite.
You can expand to 7 emails or cut it down to 3. But the order stays the same.
