Podcast Summary: The Email Sound Booth with Liz Wilcox

Episode: SALES EMAIL SUMMIT – Christopher Maselli (August 20, 2025)

Episode Overview

This episode of "The Email Sound Booth" features a conversation between Liz Wilcox and Christopher Maselli (of WritingMomentum.com), focusing on the strategies and results behind a particularly successful affiliate sales email Maselli sent for the Children's Book Mastery Summit. The conversation explores why the email worked, key tactics for maximizing engagement and revenue, and insights on building a responsive email list—all with a practical lens for online business owners who want their email marketing campaigns to both feel good and earn more.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Anatomy of a Lucrative Sales Email

• Success Story: Chris shares the story behind his most successful email in the past year—an invitation to the Children’s Book Mastery Online Summit by his friend Karen.

  • Personalization: Instead of using generic swipe copy provided by the event, Chris rewrote it in his and Gina’s signature voice, maintaining authenticity and connection with their readers.

    "Anytime we get [marketing assets], I like to just go ahead and rewrite the emails in our own voice... you run the risk of them getting an email from someone else in the summit and have it reading exactly the same." —Christopher Maselli (02:08)

• Structure & Subject Line:

  • Subject line: “Claim your free ticket to the Children's Book Mastery Online Summit”
    • Action-oriented ("claim"), clear value ("free ticket"), and immediate relevance.
  • Email explained the value, featured other speakers, included links, and used their recurring sign-off: "Together we have writing momentum."
  • Used a peer-inclusive approach: "We've already grabbed our free tickets. Get yours now!"

    "We wanted to make it a little more inclusive... we're participating in this too. We've grabbed our free tickets. Get yours now to come join us." —Christopher Maselli (05:26)

2. Metrics and Why This Email Worked

• List Management:

  • Chris and Gina cut their email list size in half (from nearly 2,900 to ~1,444) after advice from Liz, removing inactive subscribers to improve engagement rates.

    "Before we met Liz, our list was almost double that size... Liz really encouraged us to cut down our list and get rid of all the fluff, all the people who weren't active… it turned out to be one of the best things we ever did..." —Christopher Maselli (06:53)

• Campaign Results:

  • 1,444 emails sent
  • 706 opens (49% open rate)
  • 37 clicks on the summit ticket link (3% CTR) from the first email
  • A second follow-up email ("Hey, there's still time...") resulted in a similar open rate and slightly higher click rate—total about 6% of the list accepted the offer.

    "If we don't get about 50% open rate, we know we did something wrong or the subject line didn't work. And that's because we culled down our list..." —Christopher Maselli (07:31)

• Value-Add & Affiliate Angle:

  • The summit was free; affiliate commissions come from selling “lifetime access” to the videos post-registration.
  • Price point: $60 for lifetime access, with approx. 50% commission.
  • The major insight: selling the value of convenience (watching later, re-watching sessions) motivated sales.

    "The only way to get them all free is to watch them live... so in order to watch them at their convenience or watch them again... they have to then own the trainings." —Christopher Maselli (10:40)

3. The Power of Relationship-Based Email Marketing

• Chris highlights the importance of viewing email as a relationship tool—not just for short-term sales but for building long-term community and impact.

  "It's all about relationship. It's about building a relationship because, you know, you can, you can speak something into someone's life in the short term, but if you're able to email them every single week, you will speak into them for the long term." —Christopher Maselli (12:07)

Important Segments & Timestamps

• Sponsor & Episode Start: [00:01]
• Chris Introduces the Successful Summit Email: [01:07]
• Breakdown of Email Structure and Subject Line Choices: [03:56]
• List Culling and Hard Data/Results: [06:53]
• Discussion of Second Follow-up Email & Additional Sales: [08:39]
• Affiliate Sales and Email-Landing Page Interplay: [09:58]
• Philosophy: Relationship-Building via Email: [12:07]
• Liz’s Praise & Invitation for Chris’s List: [12:55]
• Chris’s Freebie/Membership Pitch: [13:31]
• Liz’s Endorsement of Writing Momentum: [14:18]

Notable Quotes

• On Avoiding Swipe-File Copy:
  "I don't want to just send something out and put our name on it and it not sound like us... Plus, you run the risk of them getting an email from someone else in the summit and have it reading exactly the same." —Christopher Maselli [02:08]

• On List Hygiene:
  "We cut our list in half and started building up from that point. And you know what? It turned out to be one of the best things that we ever did because all of our rates went up, our open rate, our click through rate, everything went up." —Christopher Maselli [06:53]

• On Inclusivity in Marketing:
  "It's not something we're pushing at you, but it's something that we're participating with you." —Christopher Maselli [05:41]

• On Building Relationships:
  "Financially, there's a lifetime value on someone who's on your list... But, more than that, it's about being able to make an impact in each other's lives by having those relationships." —Christopher Maselli [12:32]

• Liz's Testimonial:
  "Full disclosure, I am in Chris and Gina's writing momentum membership and I love it. I love it for the accountability... sometimes I'll go to like their co working... just because I like the accountability and I need the accountability..." —Liz Wilcox [14:18]

Key Takeaways for Listeners

• Rewrite affiliate/summit swipe copy in your brand voice to stand out and connect.
• Trim your list ruthlessly for radically higher engagement (open and click rates).
• Emphasize peer participation in CTAs—invite your audience to join you, not buy from you.
• Nurture email as a relationship channel, not just a sales tool.
• Leverage free events and value-adds to deepen goodwill, with optional upsells for revenue.

How to Connect / Next Steps

• Get Chris’s Free Ebook and Join Writing Momentum:

  • Visit writingmomentum.com
  • Scroll to the bottom for free download offers ("Finish writing your book in six week sprints")
  • Check out the Writing Momentum membership ($25/mo for co-writing, training, feedback, and more) [13:31–14:16]

• Steal Chris’s Email Template:

  • Liz offers a “Steal These Sales Emails” template pack for $35, featuring templates from the summit—including Chris’s high-performing email, ready for you to personalize and send.

This episode distills the art and science of engaging, profitable list-building emails—covering both technical strategy and a relationship-centered mindset for sustainable business growth.