Module 5: Write for the Channel
Emails that get read, social posts that land, pages that convert — adapting to the channel without losing your voice.
Emails that get read
Email is where business writing lives or dies. Rule one: one email, one job. Every email should do exactly one thing — ask one question, share one update, request one action. The moment an email tries to do three things, the reader does zero. If you have three things, send three emails or pick the one that matters.
The subject line is the hook: it has one job, which is to get the email opened — by the right person, for the right reason. Specific beats clever: 'Invoice #1042 — due Friday' beats 'Quick touch base.' Front-load the point: the first line should carry the news, not bury it under greeting. Don't make the reader scroll for the point. The point goes first.
Close with one clear action and a deadline: 'Reply with your size by Friday.' And don't skip the PS — it's the most-read line in any email after the subject, because skimmers jump to it. Put your real ask there too, in different words. One email, one job, point first, PS as backup.
Build brief
Audit your last five sent emails: how many jobs was each one trying to do? Pick the worst offender and rewrite it as one-job emails.
Saved
Social posts that land
Social is a different stage with different rules. Rule one: the first line is everything — it's the only part guaranteed to be seen before the 'see more' cut. Treat it like a headline: create the gap, name the payoff, make tapping irresistible. Everything after line one is for the people who already chose to read.
Write native to the channel. Line breaks are free — use them. One idea per line, short paragraphs, white space everywhere. A post formatted like a press release dies; the same words with breathing room live. Format is part of the writing on social. The line break is punctuation.
End with one CTA, not five: comment, share, click, follow — pick one. And keep your voice — the channel changes the packaging, not the person. Your Voice Print should survive the move from email to post to page. If your social posts sound like a different human wrote them, the channel ate your voice.
Build brief
Take your best-performing post and your worst. Compare the first lines. What did the winner's first line do that the loser's didn't?
Saved
Pages that convert
Web pages are scanned, not read — the data is brutal: most visitors read about 20% of the words on a page. So structure for scanners: the headline carries the promise, subheads carry the sections, and the first sentence of each section carries its point. Write the page so the skim tells the story.
The headline formula that never fails: who it's for + what they get + why it's different. 'Bookkeeping for service businesses — clean books every month, no surprises.' Specific, concrete, one idea. Below it, the same 4-part anatomy from Module 3: hook, promise, body, close — just with subheads doing the heavy lifting.
Every page needs exactly one close — the single action you want. 'Book a call.' 'Start free.' One. If the page asks for three things, visitors do none. And keep the voice: your about page, your pricing page, your emails should all sound like the same person. Consistency is the brand. Your Voice Print is the logo your words wear. You've now got the full system: habit, rules, voice, structure, editing, channels. The rest is reps.
Scanners
Write for scanners
- Read20%
- Skimmed80%
Build brief
Pick one page on your website. Run the scanner test: read only the headline, subheads, and first sentences. Does the skim tell the story? What's missing?
Saved
Alex's newsletter email covers a product update, asks for referrals, shares a job opening, and announces a price change. Open rates are fine but nobody acts. What's the fix?
Your turn: Rewrite one real email using the channel rules: one job, point first, one clear close with a deadline, and a PS carrying the ask in different words.
Saved.
Your next 24 hours
Rewrite one real email with the channel rules today: one job, point first, one close, PS backup. Send it.
Steal this template
THE ONE-JOB EMAIL
SUBJECT (write last): ___
LINE 1 — the point, up front: ___
BODY — the minimum needed: ___
CLOSE — one action + deadline: ___
P.S. — the ask again, in different words: ___
Module 5 cheat sheet
- One email, one job — three jobs in one email gets zero done.
- Subject lines: specific beats clever; write the subject last.
- Point first: don't make the reader scroll for it.
- The PS is the most-read line after the subject — put the ask there too.
- Social: the first line is everything; line breaks are punctuation.
- Pages are scanned: headline, subheads, and first sentences must tell the story.
- One close per page. Consistency is the brand — keep your Voice Print everywhere.
The channel rules