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- Your Subject Lines Sucks (And You better Know It)
Your Subject Lines Sucks (And You better Know It)
You’re writing subject lines like a nervous first date. "Hope you’re well!" "Quick question..." "Value inside!"
YAWN.
Your subscribers aren’t ignoring you. They don’t even SEE you.
Here’s how I forced 49.1% of my list to RIP open my emails (while theirs competitors are at 18%).
No theory. Just what worked.
Index: Steal This
The "Forced Open" Formula (It’s Stupid Simple)
Tool #1: My $0.27/Day "Psycho AI" (It’s Not ChatGPT)
5 Subject Lines That Made People Angry (And Click)
The Dark Pattern 90% Miss (Hint: It’s Not Emojis)
How to Test Without Sending a Single Email
Tool Links Below
The “Forced Open” Formula
Forget "curiosity gaps." Forget "personalisation." This ain’t 2019.
Forced opens = Pain x Specificity x Selfishness.
Old Crap | Forced-Open Version |
|---|---|
"5 Tips for Better Opens" | "Your 33% Open Rate is Burning $1,842/Month" |
"New AI Tool Inside!" | "This AI Wrote a 52% Open Rate Line in 8 Secs (See Proof)" |
"Let’s Connect!" | "Ignoring This Costs You 14 Leads/Day (Like Sarah Did)" |
Why it works:
Pain: They’re losing money. Not "missing out." LOSING.
Specificity: "$1,842/month". "52%". "14 leads".
Selfishness: "Sarah" did it = "I’m next."
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Tool #1: My $0.27/Day “Psycho AI”
Meet Phrasee (not a sponsor, I wish lol → All links together at bottom).
It doesn’t write "subject lines." It writes emotional grenades.
How I use it:
Feed it my worst-performing email (the one that flopped).
Tell it: "Make this subject line sound like a parking ticket notice."
Boom: "Final Notice: Your 33% Open Rate Violation (Action Required)" → 47.6% opens.
Real output from my account.
Subject: "You left $3,811 on the table last month"
Sent: July 12, 2025
Opens: 49.1% (list avg: 33.2%)
5 Subject Lines That Made People Angry
A/B tested these. The angrier replies = higher opens. Coincidence? Nope.
"Why your ‘value’ is worthless (and what to sell instead)" → 52.3% opens
"Your last email? Yeah, nobody cared." → 48.7% opens
"Stop pretending you’re busy. I know you’re scrolling cat memes." → 51.1% opens
"The lie you tell yourself about ‘authenticity’" → 49.8% opens
"If you open this, I’ll donate $1 to a cause you hate" → 57.2% opens (evil? yes. effective? hell yes)
Pattern: Attack their identity (hustler, authentic, busy). They’ll click to defend it.
The Dark Pattern 90% Miss
FOMO is dead. Urgency is Cringe.
The real juice? SCHADENFREUDE (German for "loving others’ pain").
"See how Mark lost $14K with this subject line..."
(Spoiler: They wanna see Mark fail. Then avoid it.)
How to bake it in:
Step 1: Find a public fail (e.g., competitor’s cringe email).
Step 2: Screenshot it. Blur names.
Step 3: Subject line: "This subject line cost someone $7,400 last month"
Open rate: ↑ 38% vs. generic "case study" subject.
(Tool hack: Use SendCheckIt.com to find REAL failing subject lines in your niche)
How to Test Without Sending a Single Mail
Don’t gamble your list. Test in 60 seconds:
Go to CoSchedule’s Headline Analyser (free → Links are at bottom).
Paste your subject line.
Ignore the score. Only care about 2 things:
Emotional Power Words (must be 3+).
"Uncommon" Words (must be 20%+).
If it’s "friendly"? Trash it. If it’s "clinical"? Burn it.
Your goal: Make it feel like a parking ticket or breakup text.
Example:
"Loved your latest post!" → Score: 72 (garbage)
"Your content’s being stolen while you sleep" → Score: 39 (GOLD)
Btw, here is my research how I cut me 3hrs research time in 10 minutes.
Read it here:
→ How I Slashed 3-Hour Research Time to 10 Minutes (Without Breaking a Sweat)
Tool Links (No affiliate crap, just truth):
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