“Bad news” eh?
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And now you know that if you use a subject like “bad news…” you will get more people opening your email messages.
Is it because humans are curious?
Nah…
If you do not know what I am talking about then you need to watch the video at www.masscontrolgiveaway.com/a/?p=delavera&w=2
And then you will understand why you just received so many messages with that same title: “bad news…”
First things first:
I do believe Frank Kern is a great marketer indeed and has everything: the knowledge, the experience, the background. Plus he is handsome. 
He talks too much, OK but I respect the right of people that prefer watching lengthy videos instead of reading lengthy boring messages - like this one. 
However my personal opinion about Frank does not count. I shall promote his product if I think it’s good. I shall also tell you what worries me if he does something I do not like too. And this is what I am doing here, today.
On that video Frank Kern gives proof that emails with the subject “bad news…” are opened more than messages using any other subject.
I have no objection on that.
On that video Frank also talks about a secret “not told” by others, that is: you do not need to increase the numbers of your subscribers. All you need to do is to increase the READABILITY of your messages. So with a small list too, you can achieve better results if you use SUBJECTS that ultimately FORCE people to OPEN your message.
I have no objection on that either.
And how could I?
Frank documented what he says with numbers.
But I DO have a problem here.
You’d call that “bad news” indeed.
If you are one of those that feel EXCITED because of the 300% increase that will happen if you use that same subject when sending a message to your people, then I am sorry but you saw the tree but you missed the wood.
If you are so excited about what Frank “revealed” to you, then try this…
Send 1 message and use SPLIT testing.
Autoresponders like www.TurboAutoresponders.com allow you to do that. You can send 1 message, use split testing and thus send -say- the same message with Subject X to 33% of your subscribers, the same message with Subject Y to 33% of your subscribers and the same message with Subject Z to the rest of 34% of your subscribers.
So… do that, and use the same Subjects:
Subject X = Free bonus for you
Subject Y = bad news…
Subject Z = i am dying today…
Then check how many people opened those messages.
Can you guess which Subject will be the winner?
Z will win.
Yep… I cannot give you proofs because I have not tested that subject and also because I am not going to test it unless doctors tell me I am going to die soon.
For that same reason I am not going to use the “bad news…” subject, unless I have something bad to tell you indeed. Especially from today, I am not going to use that subject because from today 100s of people will start using that same subject too without having any bad news to say and only because the “trick” works.
And this is my problem.
I would not have a problem if what Frank did was done by someone with 100 subscribers. With say a 35% open rate, he would affect only 35 people.
But Frank has a list with some 10s of 1000s people. And another list of 1000s of affiliates… and those affiliates have lists with 1000s of people too… And now, from today, all those people will start using the subject “bad news…” because (and this is my real worry) Frank affected 1000s of people with that video…
Again my real worry is that Frank took a healthy conclusion and used an unhealthy way to document it; and by doing so he made others doing the same mistake.
The healthy conclusion is that YES, you can have a small list and generate AMAZING results if your people OPEN (and read) your email messages.
That is 100% true and healthy.
It’s not something new or a great discovery anyway.
Just open any ebook that talks about ezine marketing, copy writing and web traffic and you will read that the SUBJECT of your email messages make the difference.
What is “unhealthy” here is that according to my opinion when that advice comes from a great list owner, then there is a problem indeed…
THE UNTOLD SECRET here is that YES you can generate AMAZING results NOT if your people OPEN (and read) your email messages, but if/when your people TRUST YOU.
It is THAT trust that will make your people open your message with the Subject “bad news…” It’s because your people CARE about YOU that will “force” them to open your message… they do care about YOU…
Can you feel the responsibility here?
Do you want to KNOW HOW to make people opening your messages?
Then forget anyone, do NOT listen to ANY advice and DO only 1 thing: BE YOURSELF. Be sincere. Be true. Be unique and creative… and always, ALWAYS speak from heart to your people.
Do NOT use “tactics” just for “forcing” people open your message. And even if you do that, explain the reasons.
It may work once, twice or ten times.
But at the very end, that TRUST you have cultivated will be diminished.
If you do not care about what I am saying here, you do not need to listen to anyone either.
If you do NOT care about that TRUST (you need to build with your subscribers) and ALL you care is NUMBERS and how many of them open your message and buy your goodies, then ALL you need to do again is NOT to listen to anyone…
Just open your TV and watch the news.
Get a newspaper and read the titles.
You will read about sex, violence, crime and love.
Create a swipe file with the titles you like better.
Rest assured that big newspapers DO KNOW how to “manipulate” the mass - they are the best examples you should mimic, if this is what you want to do.
But even then, do care about your people.
I am not saying I am a saint because I am not. We are here because we want to make money and some times we try that through unorthodox ways by just hard-selling to people. I know that. I am doing that. Everybody does that.
And YOU (should) know that too.
However it’s the WAY of doing things that counts.
It’s the way you TALK to and educate people that counts.
As it seems - in case you have not yet realized that- there are different “schools” online. I do not characterize Frank’s action as good or bad because his students deserve the right to believe what is good or bad for them, and I respect their right and also their teacher’s right to teach them what he teaches.
So what I am just saying here is that Frank’s advice is not taught to my turbo school. And if it was a lesson, then instructions would differ.
Simple as that - no hard feelings at all.
Just business.
Even at this moment I have the feeling that many of you may say:
“You’re right John, however what Frank says works indeed…”
Yep.
I know that.
But again I never said it does not work. All I am saying is that when your voice goes to a list of 40,000 people (a population of a town) then you need to be very descriptive and also sensitive to the INSTRUCTIONS you give to people.
INTERNET is like a knife.
You can use it for curing people and also for killing people; it all depends to the INSTRUCTIONS you give to people on how to use that knife and also to the CHARACTER of the one that gets that knife - and the message.
From those 40,000 people some will get Frank’s message and use the “trick” for “curing” their business. But I am sure there will be another GREAT majority too that will use that same trick for “hurting” other people’s inboxes by just applying the “trick” for only “reproducing” the magic Kern’s results.
DO you need a proof?
Just look at the subject titles of the messages you received these days…
Use Internet and educate your people the right way.
Enjoy.
John Delavera
August 12th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Yes John, I agree with you whole-heartedly.
I enjoy Frank’s material and smile at his Devil-may-care approach, but the “proof of the pudding was in the eating” today - I already received so many “Bad News” emails (over 50 already) that I just deleted the lot as brain-washed Bull-Sh**!
It’s an interesting concept and I can see that in principle it will work, but it is a bit underhand for me and is probably of short term benefit but long term lack of trust!
Keep on trucking John.
Yours
John Reed, York, UK
August 12th, 2008 at 10:15 am
I don’t think you can assume the purchase rate will double because the open rate does, and to support what you’re saying John, although it’s not high, did you notice how the unsub rate went up…
Note by John: John, I did not assume that. FK did.:)
August 12th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Well said, my friend.
It is called “planting seeds”. Here is a good reminder..
The Seed
If you plant honesty, you will reap trust.
If you plant goodness, you will reap friends.
If you plant humility, you will reap greatness.
If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment.
If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective.
If you plant hard work, you will reap success.
If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation.
So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you reap later.
Have a good “seed-planting” day.
My Best,
Jim
August 12th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Thanks John,
Honesty — trying to figure out who you can trust among all the hype — who you can trust, is the biggest problem for newbies as I see it. Sure we need a product, traffic, conversion — but we have to learn from someone and finding that guru that tells the whole story in a way that I can understand it, has been a big problem for me. Also who to believe? This guru says this and another says that so I have wound up like a fish out of water flipping from one to another on what sounds best today.
thanks for your honesty
gene
August 12th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Your great logic and honest caring ways shine once again John,
In all honesty my open rate is very poor, but as I use your logic and produce my messages in my own style, every mailing I send gets a slight increase in open and response rate, I attribute that to the factor of people slowly putting their trust in me.
As my list grows and I improve my copy, I instinctively follow your lead with honesty integrity and the genuine will to help others, sensationalised headlines may have a place but NOT at the cost of destroying hard earned trust.
Thank you for once again putting your logic into words.
John
August 12th, 2008 at 10:46 am
@John D. - Yes, I did realise that John, I was referring to FK but didn’t make it clear enough… and the unsub rate does support your post and the subsequent comments.
August 12th, 2008 at 10:48 am
This could get confusing - 4 John’s, plus a Jim and a Gene!
August 12th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Great post. I too have received numerous “bad news” emails. After awhile one just ignores them. I really don’t understand why so many so called “experts” aren’t very original, it seems they follow and not lead. Really appreciate your comments and honesty.
John
August 12th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Sorry forgot my last name.
John
August 12th, 2008 at 11:01 am
I have two bad news’.
…
First it’s nearly 100 days we opened this url again
…
Second many marketers seem do not understand still
that medium is a message itself.
…
Recall how many bad news’ email you received today
but why only one from John you open it up.
(at least at happened to me).
no matter if it’s sent by Willie Crawford
no matter if it’s sent by Ed Dale
no matter if it’s sent by Rich Schefren
…
you know well which one is going to be opened!
… happy rambling again John …
August 12th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Excellent post John! Your message is for ‘advanced’ audience (as in most cases) while Frenk’s message is good for children. There is no honesty and no responsibillity in his ‘bad news…’ experiment.
I can’t help resalling David Vallieres’ course Advanced Email Marketing.
For those who are not familiar with the course, one of the basic messages
in that brilliant course is ‘ Your success in marketing to your list is in your
personal relationship to your subscribers. If you really want to succeed you MUST build a personal relationship to your subscribers, you must let them know you as a human being to whom they can trust and turn for advice. ‘
It’s easy to build a list in terms of number of people who subscribe.
It’s easy to automate the process of giving away a free report in exchange
for email addresses and then follow up with preloaded autoresponder emails.
But it’s also very easy for subscriber to click the ‘unsubscribe’ link!
What does clicking the ‘unsubscribe’ link actually mean is not only ‘ I don’t want
your emails’ but it means ‘ I don’t want YOU! Get out of my life!’
Now, if you are internet marketer and your first message to your subscribers is ‘ I am here to help YOU to achieve YOUR goals’ ( which is all marketers’ message) then you really must stand behind that message in order to build a following for years to come. Why is it so ? It is so because what really counts is not so much what you are writing in your email messages but what you are DOING on a consistent basis in order to help your followers to achieve their goals. If you are honestly helping people to earn some money online or even to build a real business, then it doesn’t matter what is your subject line, what matters is that the email is from you. People will open it every time only because it is from you.
I never open your emails becuse of the clever subject line, I open it because it is from you.
Just keep doing what you are doing and I will read all your emails regardless of subject line :).
August 12th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
John, there is nothing to “worry about”. The students will either learn or they won’t. In the end, it is up to them, not Frank.
Below is what the GSD* said in last night’s email. My take on it is this. Frank is attempting to convey something that truly is an art form. And what we see today is not Monet, but paint-by-numbers. I would expect nothing more - except your follow-up on trust was a pleasant and insightful surprise.
Maybe he should have quoted “Uncle Ben” to the “boys who are crying wolf” today.
-xearther
*GSD = Genius Surfer Dude who has said, and I quote, “We’re all a bunch of amateurs”.
Here is (most) of last night’s email from Frank:
“Listen. This is important:
PLEASE BE CAREFUL WITH WHAT YOU LEARN IN THIS
BRAND NEW VIDEO:
I *just* released it at midnight (eastern time) and it shows you
how to literally DOUBLE your business by simply changing ONE SENTENCE
in your marketing.
HOWEVER - if you use it incorrectly, it could have dangerous consequences.
So - please remember to ALWAYS “turn it around into a positive”.
Note by JD: I agree with you indeed. As said, I do believe too that Frank is one of the best marketers. But think about it this way: One day someone comes on town T and gives away 1 gun to EVERY citizen of that town with these instructions: “If you use it incorrectly, it could have dangerous consequences.” That’s how I see it.
August 12th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
I wrote about it on my blog last night. In my inbox at the time of the writing, I had no less than three separate emails (I named names on my blog - shame on me!)
Before the pushing the ‘Publish’ button, I checked my inbox again, and sure enough, two more! When I got up this morning, sure enough, Ian was there, and yours right above his, (of course yours was draped in reference to this post, but I caught it and necessarily got here,) and Mark James after that, and well, Mark Joyner is shouting something about a tragedy at the Olympics (I haven’t checked that one out yet.)
Of course there are a few marketers who still think my name is !name or !firstname, (when are they ever going to get that right? I changed it long ago and made everyone I know aware of that fact!)
But seriously John, thank you for pointing this out. I jumped on it the second I saw it happening and had to wonder: why didn’t the essence of the message come through for these people? You said it right:
I’m looking forward to crafting creative subject lines, and when I do, I don’t think i’m going to be using those exact words that way. I think Frank made them “bad news.”
Pop over and have a look at my post from last night.
Mitch
August 12th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Awesome Post!
As someone new to the industry, it just boggles my mind to see how low some of the “so-called” gurus will stoop to make sales. Not that I’m trying to hit out at Frank’s ideas here, but it’s like more and more of the top income earners are resorting to underhand tactics to make sales, which in my humble opinion leads to a mis-guided philosophy, especially for newbies.
As you said John D., when someone has built a huge list or has a large following, care should be taken about what is passed on. When a guru teaches something — it starts a movement, so the end result is going to be whether or not the original message was negative or positive.
Now getting online as a new person, we are all looking for guidance — and not many of us are fortunate enough to come across genuine leadership and insights like what you portray, at least not right away. Most of us end up getting caught up into the quagmire of underhand and sometimes devious marketing practices — and even the ones who have the right attitude towards achieving their objectives, suffer along the way — mainly because of mis-guided teachings and insights.
I think a lot of top income earners are not ready for the challenge of leadership. Some of them might have gotten lucky, or came into this industry with a lot of cash and/or internet techno knowledge to buy their way to the top without paying the price of true leadership development –and we as newbies suffer for it.
Just wish more of the “so-called” gurus would adhere to the plight of newbies, not just to line their already fat pockets, but to provide genuine servant/leadership guidance to the ones who need it most.
Once again thanks for this article John D. You are an exception to the rule!
Godfrey
August 12th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Hi John
You certainly hit the nail on the head.
I have gotten so many “Bad News” emails that as a result I am ignoring every one of them and deleting them unread. So of course, the whole purpose of sending a “bad News” email has been defeated. Wonder how long these marketers will use this tactic before they realize they are hurting themselves.
I can’t believe how many well known marketers have jumped on the bandwagon. You would think they would know better.
I am sure glad I am on your list because I know you don’t jump on the latest fad. And I ALWAYS open every single one of your emails no matter what the subject line says. I see that it came from Use-Sell, The Internet Marketing Company, or John Delavera and I don’t even read the subject line! I autiomatically know that you have sent something I want to read. I can’t say the same for any other marketer whose list I am on.
Donna
August 12th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
I’ll be brief.
Totally 100% agree with your post John.
Great seed poem Jim, very true.
And Sudarmaji says it perfect, get many, only open John’s
August 12th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
I read your message. I had not seen any emails with “Bad News” in the title before reading this message. I then went through my unopened email messages and discovered three titled Bad News or and Bad News in the title. I found that very interesting. They were all deleted without opening them.
August 12th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
I haven’t counted how many “Bad news” messages I’ve received - who cares, anyway - but again, yours is the only one I’ve opened. No matter what the subject is, I always open emails from you, John (here we go again, one John to another!).
The attitudes and the mentality that you demonstrate here is exactly why I trust you and consider you my friend.
The “technique” that FK teaches in the video is not really new. I’ve seen similar “tricks” from other marketers over a long period of time, and for every single one, I’ve been thinking that I could never bring myself to do that. I simply refuse to use a “creative” (untrue, unrelated, misleading) subject line just to force people to open my email.
It’s just not me.
I guess I’m one of the marketers who do feel responsible for the people on their list. And so is everyone else who has posted a comment here (at least up to this point). We should all keep in mind that the people on our lists are just that: people, not cattle.
And that is precisely the point that JD is making: If you care about your subscribers, your subscribers will care about you. THAT is what builds trust and a solid business foundation, and not some kind of trickery with subject lines or otherwise.
Thank you, John D., for taking this up.
May your God bless you all for your caring personalities!
John Hill
August 12th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
So what if the Z’ders that click “Bad News”:
1/ beleive that you are a freind and really care if something has gone wrong?
2/ see it is a sales pitch and ignor your next catastrophy.
I think all this could end up like the boy that cried “Wolf”!
or worse!
a wso said, “click here if you want to save your cats life”!
I did not click it and the next week my cat died from vetenary mishap!
Louis sent me an email saying my computer would crash,
I lost my hard drive…
I dont like these tactics I prefer:…..
I have this product, it does x and it is this price…
If I am interested I click, or often just to see what it does etc.
Surely the products should sell themselves if they are good, usefull, good value
and presented well with a good explanation of what they can do for you.
Time to be simple plain upfront and honest!
Shaz
August 13th, 2008 at 7:43 am
Well said John!
If Frank or anyone else that has to stoop so low just to get a email open is fooling themselves more than anyone opening it. And if the ones that read his message will most likely be turned off by any of his future emails no matter how good a deal he may offer.
I won’t have to worry about getting any more email from the ones I received with “bad news” in the title because they all had a link at the bottom of them that I happily clicked on.
Of course if they had a list anywhere close to the size of Frank’s, it didn’t matter to them if hundreds of others did the same thing.
Thanks for sharing this with is John.
Neil
August 13th, 2008 at 8:22 am
I see where you are coming from Neil
I did not click any unsubscribs tho.
The thing is also,
“don’t thro out the baby with the bath water”
I have noticed that before someone “ripps” you off,
they tend to try to “piss” you off.
Something about justification I think.
They also don’t want you on there list for sure.
So I dont unsubscribe, just observe.
And definately don’t take the notice I used to of emails.
Sad really, how we are being conditioned not to care,
not to believe when someone is in need or ill.
They call it a social experiment, I call it killing kindness!
Shaz
August 15th, 2008 at 8:46 am
People stop looking for bad news the second they realise who the email is from!
Great post John. Thank you for that. I agree with your observations and professional opinion. Bad news means very little once you know who the email is truly coming from.
I tend to bin them without ever reading them. Only a newbie should be fooled into reading every bad news email!
Trust is the winner. If I know who the email is from, and I trust their opinion, then I’m more than happy to open and read the message.
The money is in the list ONLY when you have a responsive group of people who respect and trust you, no matter what subject you use.
Thanks for your wisdom, as usual.
Sincerely,
John Adams
http://www.Honest-HomeBusiness.com
November 21st, 2008 at 5:12 am
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