Announcement ·Local service ·Friendly
Make sure nobody arrives at the wrong place or the wrong time.
Write a plain-text notice from [SENDER] at [BUSINESS] about a practical change: [WHAT CHANGED], from [FROM WHEN]. Words only — no HTML, no layout notes.
The job of this email is that nobody turns up at the wrong place or the wrong time.
Rules:
- 90 to 130 words. Plain language.
- Lead with the change and the date. Both in the first sentence.
- Give [THE PRACTICAL DETAIL] its own short paragraph. Parking, which door, the nearest stop, whether the old address still works for a while. This is the part customers actually need and the part most of these emails leave out.
- Do not turn it into a celebration. A new address is news, not an achievement, and a paragraph about our exciting new chapter delays the information people opened for.
- No offer, no discount, no invitation to book. One quiet line about how to reach you is enough.
- Never invent a number, statistic, address detail or opening time beyond what I have supplied.
- No exclamation marks. No emoji. Sentence case.
Write a subject line under 45 characters naming the change concretely. Return subject, preheader, body, sign-off.
Follow-up ·Local service ·Professional
Get a decision. A no now is worth more than a maybe for six weeks.
Write a plain-text follow-up to someone I sent [THE QUOTE] to, who has not replied. Words only — no HTML, no layout notes.
A clear no is a good outcome here. Write it that way.
Rules:
- 60 to 100 words. Shorter than the quote email.
- Reference the quote and roughly when it went, so they do not have to go looking.
- Address [THE OPEN QUESTION] in one sentence — the thing they were probably weighing. Naming it is what turns a nudge into a useful email, and it often surfaces the real objection.
- Do not discount. Do not offer to "work with their budget". A price that drops on the first follow-up was never the price, and they will remember that on the next job.
- State [WHAT CHANGES WITH TIME] only if it is genuinely true. If nothing changes, say the quote stands and leave it there.
- Make a no easy and explicit: one line inviting them to say if they have gone another way, with no guilt attached.
- Never invent a number, statistic, price or deadline beyond what I have supplied.
- No exclamation marks. No emoji. Sentence case.
Write a subject line of five words or fewer referencing the job, not the follow-up. Return subject, body, sign-off.
Newsletter ·Local service ·Friendly
Stay in the inbox as a useful sender, so the next offer email gets opened.
Write a plain-text monthly note from [SENDER] at [BUSINESS] to the customer list. Words only — no HTML, no layout notes.
Nothing is being sold in this email.
Rules:
- 150 to 220 words. Plain language, the way you would explain something to a customer standing in front of you.
- Lead with [THE USEFUL THING] and give it most of the email. Something a customer can act on without hiring anyone — the seasonal check, the common mistake, the thing people always ask.
- Cover [WHAT IS HAPPENING] in one short paragraph, at the end. Hours, a new person, a busy month. If there is nothing, leave it out rather than padding it.
- No offer, no discount, no booking push. One quiet line saying how to get in touch is enough, and it belongs last.
- Do not write a preamble about the month or the weather. Start on the useful thing.
- Never invent a number, statistic, saving or rating. Where a figure belongs and I have not supplied it, leave [XX].
- No exclamation marks. No emoji. Sentence case.
Write a subject line under 45 characters naming the useful thing. Never the business name plus "newsletter". Return subject, preheader, body, sign-off.
Promotional ·Local service ·Professional
Get the reader to book the offer before it ends.
Write a plain-text promotional email from [BUSINESS] about [THE OFFER]. Words only — no HTML, no layout notes.
The single action this email drives: [HOW TO BOOK]. Nothing else in the email competes with it.
Rules:
- 110 to 160 words. Short sentences. Plain language a neighbour would use.
- Lead with the offer in the first line. Not with the season, not with a greeting, not with how busy we have been.
- Say exactly what the reader gets and what it costs. If I have not given you a price, leave [XX] rather than guessing at one.
- Name who it suits: [WHO IT SUITS]. One sentence. This is what stops the rest of the list feeling sold to.
- State the deadline as [THE DEADLINE], in the body and near the ask. Write "ends [THE DEADLINE]", never "limited time" and never "act fast".
- One ask, written as an ordinary sentence. Repeat the same ask once at the end, in the same words.
- Do not stack reasons to buy. Two is plenty.
- Never invent a number, statistic, discount, review or customer count. Where a figure belongs and I have not supplied it, leave [XX].
- No exclamation marks. No emoji. Sentence case.
Write a subject line under 45 characters that names the offer plainly. Return subject, preheader, body, sign-off.
Review request ·Local service ·Friendly
Get a review on the platform that matters, or a reply if something is wrong.
Write a plain-text review request from [SENDER] at [BUSINESS] to a customer whose [THE JOB] is finished. Words only — no HTML, no layout notes.
Rules:
- 70 to 110 words. Plain language, as if spoken.
- Reference the actual job in the first line so it is clearly about them.
- Ask for a review on [WHERE TO REVIEW] and name it. One platform. Offering a choice of three halves the completion rate, because choosing is work.
- Say roughly how long it takes. "Two minutes" removes the main objection, and it should be true.
- Do not say you would appreciate a five-star review, do not say reviews help small businesses like ours, and do not attach a prize draw. All three read as pressure and the third breaks most platforms' rules.
- Offer a direct reply if anything was not right, in one line, before the review link. A customer with a complaint should find that route first.
- One ask, written as an ordinary sentence with the link inside it.
- Never invent a number, statistic, rating or review count. Where a figure belongs and I have not supplied it, leave a bracketed placeholder.
- No exclamation marks. No emoji. Sentence case.
Write a subject line under 40 characters referencing the job. Return subject, preheader, body, sign-off.
Welcome ·Local service ·Professional
Reduce the no-show. Everything else is secondary.
Write a plain-text welcome email from [BUSINESS] to someone who has just made their first booking: [WHAT WAS BOOKED]. Words only — no HTML, no layout notes.
The single job of this email is to make the appointment happen.
Rules:
- 110 to 150 words. Plain language a neighbour would use.
- Repeat the booking back in the first two lines — the service, the day, the time. That readback is the reassurance, and it is why this email gets opened again the morning of.
- Say what to have ready: [WHAT TO HAVE READY]. If there is nothing, write that there is nothing. An unanswered question is what makes people cancel.
- Give a real way to reach a person: [HOW TO REACH US]. Say plainly that changing the time is fine.
- Do not sell anything. No upsell, no review request, no newsletter pitch. Those come later and this email is not where you spend the goodwill.
- Never invent a number, statistic, rating or review count. Where a figure belongs and I have not supplied it, leave [XX].
- No exclamation marks. No emoji. Sentence case.
Write a subject line under 45 characters that repeats the booking rather than saying "welcome". Return subject, preheader, body, sign-off.