Hey, hey Reader,

I wrote another batch of role-focused cold emails for a client last week.

During feedback, I saw the same note pop up over and over again when I referenced the company name:

Now, I’m usually a nice, amenable person.

But clients don’t hire me just because I’m easy to work with. They hire me for my expertise.

So I pushed back.

Here’s why:

When you give readers too many options, you kill curiosity.

Every extra link dilutes urgency, muddies your CTA, and tanks your click-through rate.

(Absolutely add loads of links on your blogs/thought leadership pieces but avoid this in your emails.)

And if we're being honest, clicks aren’t even the goal.

You already know opens and CTRs don’t mean much.

If you see your open rates and CTRs skyrocket the second you hit send....

That’s usually security software or bots testing your links, not genuine human interest.

A click is only an indicator that someone was curious.

The real goal is to get them to act:

• Stick around and explore your site
• Fill out a form, book a demo, or start a trial
• Move one step closer to becoming a customer

That’s what Beth O’Malley calls “Return on Impact”: measuring how email supports your bigger business goals, not just what it converts today.

Because we know a singular email is never going to convert a district deal; it just ain't.

So instead of sprinkling five links into a cold, warm, or hot email and hoping something lands, give them one clear action to take.

Then let your website (and your follow-up sequence) do the rest.

Pro tip: Review your email performance quarterly (instead of per send) and look for things like:

• list growth
• engagement
• pipeline movement
• quarterly conversions

And if you want to get even cleaner email indicators, delete those inactive subs (I just removed 15 today).

That’s how you find out which emails strengthen your strategy and business outcomes.

That's it for me. See you next Wednesday.

And as always, I'm rooting for you, Kelly