How I Wrote 1 Email in 30 Minutes That Made $4,635.11 (in an Industry I’ve Never Worked In)

This short essay will teach you how to write simple copy that converts—and can be done in minutes.

It’s the same blueprint I use. Nothing new, nothing fancy. You’ve probably seen a version similar to it. But it’s got a slight twist. And with that twist, it works. I’ve yet to see it not work. If you’ve seen it not work, phone me. You’re likely doing something wrong.

Okay, here it is:

The first step in finding a solution is admitting there’s a problem.

Write it down. Engrave it in stone. Ask your lover to tattoo it on their body. I’m not the first to say something like this—or a version of it. Google it. You’ll find different takes that sound familiar. No, not now. Do it on company time so you at least get paid for it.

We’ll get into why it works shortly. But first, let’s bring into view the copywriting 101 lesson of features and benefits. It’s a great framework to get started. It works, it’ll keep working—but it falls short in one area.

Where?

You don’t know your customer. You don’t know them—their attributes, their experiences, and everything that comes with them.

You’re missing the best part.

Only knowing the features and benefits is like watching the best scenes in a movie and skipping the rest. For whatever reason, you went to the bathroom and grabbed popcorn during the character intros, the dialogue, and the buildup—essential parts of the movie. You need to know why the character is experiencing a problem in the first place in order for the action scenes to make canonical sense.

So, back to the quote I gave you. I was recently tasked with writing copy for a beauty brand. Never in my life had I written for this industry. Staring at my screen, I’m reading the benefits of this cleanser, thinking, “Okay, sure—hydration. Hydrating. And?”

Look, you’ll have people who are already sold. They’ll read “Hydrating cleanser” and buy. Those people don’t need convincing.

But let’s look a bit closer: why would someone need hydration in the first place? Yeah, to look more youthful, glowing, whatever—but why would they need it?

If the solution is the cleanser, then the first step in finding the problem is by looking at the opposite of hydration—the opposite of your benefits list. Copy that focuses on the opposites will appeal to a wider audience. Why? Because your customers don’t currently have the benefits—which means they’re living on the other side of them.

So I just asked: Are you experiencing dry, cracking, dull skin?

There’s no need to convince or persuade them—they’ll do that in their head. Let them admit to themselves that they have a problem. Then, logically propose your solution as the tool that will fix it.

Look at your benefits. Ask AI to give you the opposites of each (they’ll all be problems), and boom—writing copy just got way easier.

It’s about opening up the idea of a problem, revealing why it’s happening, showing what’s at stake if nothing changes, and then giving them the opportunity to make a change in their life.

It’s by making them admit they have a problem—either through science-backed evidence or a simple question that promotes self-persuasion—that they move one step closer to finding a solution.

Or so I think,

George