Episode Overview

Podcast: The Email Sound Booth with Liz Wilcox
Episode Title: SALES EMAIL SUMMIT Ann K Emery – mini workshops for mega bucks
Date: August 20, 2025
Host: Liz Wilcox
Guest: Ann K Emery, Data Visualization Expert and Online Course Creator

This episode features a practical and honest conversation between Liz Wilcox and Ann K Emery about creating effective sales emails for online mini-courses, specifically in a B2C context. Ann reveals her streamlined approach, impressive results, and her philosophy on balancing simple marketing tactics with personal workload and life as a parent.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Ann's Sales Email Approach (01:07–04:37)

• Background & Results

  • Ann has over a decade of experience running her own business and selling online courses since 2018.
  • She consistently makes $200,000–$250,000 in net income annually from her online courses, providing solid support for her family of seven.

• Streamlined Email Process

  • Released four mini-courses in summer 2025, using the same minimal-effort email series for each.
  • Structure of her sales emails:
    • Starts with a personal picture and update (as taught by Liz).
    • Bullet-point list of what’s included in the course (“fact-based,” not overly focused on transformation).
    • Copied-and-pasted FAQs from the sales page.
    • Omits testimonials on new courses, as they're not yet available.
  • Quote:

    “I am a course creator, not a marketer, so email has to be fast and easy for me.”
    — Ann K Emery ([01:33])

• Follow-up Sequence

  • Sends one main email to the whole subscriber list.
  • Sends a second, shorter follow-up only to those who clicked the first, highlighting early bird bonuses or urgency.
  • Quote:

    “The second email just says like, ‘Hey, this course is going to be open year round, but the early bird bonus expires tonight. So like, if you’re on the fence, go for it because it’s expiring.’”
    — Ann K Emery ([02:24])

• Open Rates & Conversion

  • First emails: 37%–50% open rates (higher than regular newsletters).
  • Follow-up emails: 80%+ open rates; one recent email reached 87–88%.
  • Sold 128 seats in six weeks for mini-courses using this approach.
  • Efficiency: Email templates take 20 minutes; $150–$175 earned per hour calculated on course creation.
  • Quote:

    “I am super glad with that. I think that’s fine. That’s about what I’d make consulting, and it’s only going to go up if or when I do real email marketing.”
    — Ann K Emery ([04:22])

2. Liz on "Real" Email Marketing & Encouragement (04:37–05:44)

• Reframing “Real” Marketing

  • Liz emphasizes that Ann’s approach is real marketing, highlighting Ann’s years of commitment and results.
  • Encourages beginners to persist and experiment, noting Ann’s longevity in the business.

• Quote:

  "You do real email marketing! ... So if you’re just getting started out and like, oh my gosh, I wish I could take home $250,000. You can. You just have to keep at it and keep trying new things."
  — Liz Wilcox ([04:37])

3. Mini-Course Pricing Structure (05:44–06:35)

• Mini-Courses:

  • Priced around $97 ($100).
  • Group rates and regional discounts available (e.g., adjustment for participants in Africa).
  • Intentionally short: 1–2 hours of content, vs. full courses which are $1,000 and akin to a university class with live office hours.
  • All courses include lifetime access.

• Quote:

  “Mini courses are meant to be like short and sweet. You know, an hour or two of learning, a hundred bucks. And then the full courses are like taking an entire university course.”
  — Ann K Emery ([06:15])

4. How to Join Ann’s Email List (06:49–07:20)

• Ann invites listeners to subscribe to her newsletter at depictdatastudio.com, with a clear “Subscribe” button.

• She reassures listeners that it’s perfectly okay to subscribe just to peek at her email style and then unsubscribe if they’re not interested in her actual data-viz courses.

• Quote:

  “Totally, totally fine.”
  — Ann K Emery ([07:13])

5. Liz’s Advice & Takeaway for Listeners (07:20–08:50)

• Liz encourages listeners—especially those in B2C—to copy Ann’s style: straightforward, personal, and designed for repeatable success, not only for “corporate” or serious topics.
• Highlights a template resource ("Steal These Sales Emails Template Pack") making it easy for listeners to adapt the exact email formulas discussed.
• Quote:

  “It is the perfect example of how you can do it your way, do it differently.”
  — Liz Wilcox ([07:38])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Ann K Emery [01:33]:
  "I am a course creator, not a marketer, so email has to be fast and easy for me."

• Ann K Emery [02:24]:
  "The second email just says like, ‘Hey, this course is going to be open year round, but the early bird bonus expires tonight. So like, if you’re on the fence, go for it because it’s expiring.’"

• Ann K Emery [04:22]:
  "I am super glad with that. I think that’s fine. That’s about what I’d make consulting, and it’s only going to go up if or when I do real email marketing."

• Liz Wilcox [04:37]:
  "You do real email marketing! ... So if you’re just getting started out and like, oh my gosh, I wish I could take home $250,000. You can. You just have to keep at it and keep trying new things."

• Ann K Emery [07:13]:
  "Totally, totally fine." (On subscribing and then unsubscribing.)

• Liz Wilcox [07:38]:
  "It is the perfect example of how you can do it your way, do it differently."

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:07: Ann’s streamlined sales email process and personal context.
• 02:24: Breakdown of mini-course email sequence and follow-up strategy.
• 04:22: Open rates, sales numbers, and Ann’s satisfaction with results.
• 04:37: Liz reframes "real" email marketing and encourages new marketers.
• 05:44: Ann discusses course pricing tiers and accessibility.
• 06:49: How listeners can join Ann’s email list, guilt-free.
• 07:20: Liz’s B2C takeaway and template pack plug.

Final Takeaways

• Simplicity Sells: Ann demonstrates that short, direct, and repeatable sales emails can outperform more elaborate strategies, especially for busy marketers and course creators.
• Personalization Pays Off: Even non-transformational, “fact-based” emails can drive high engagement and sales when they share a glimpse of the creator and offer real value.
• Persistence & Adaptation: Years of experience, steady experimentation, and willingness to adapt or “do it your own way” are keys to online sales longevity.
• Permission to Copy: Both Ann and Liz encourage listeners to borrow these approaches and adjust as needed—there’s no single, rigid formula for email marketing success.