Accurate… but forgettable.
Imagine two tour guides standing outside a museum.
The first guide holds a simple cardboard sign. It reads, "Museum Tours Here." It is accurate. It is descriptive. It is also entirely forgettable.
The second guide holds a slightly different sign. It reads, "Want to see the painting that caused a riot?"
Both guides are offering the exact same tour. But the second guide understands something fundamental about human nature. They combined a clear benefit (seeing the art) with a powerful dose of curiosity.
When it comes to our weekly emails, most of us act like the first guide.
The False Choice
If you are like the experts I work with, you likely struggle with how to package your knowledge. You spend hours writing a valuable email, and then you freeze at the subject line.
You want to be professional, so you write something descriptive like "5 Marketing Tips" or "Weekly Newsletter." It is safe, but it is boring.
Or, you see what the internet marketers are doing, and you try to replicate it. You write something vague like, "You will not believe what just happened." It feels like clickbait. It makes you cringe to hit send.
The lie we believe is that we have to choose between being direct and being interesting. The truth is, the best subject lines are both clear on the value and compelling in their mystery.
The Curiosity + Benefit Formula
This simple formula is the secret weapon for writing subject lines that earn the open without sacrificing your dignity.
It requires two elements:
The Benefit: What positive outcome will the reader get? (e.g., "Write better subject lines")
The Curiosity: What question, contradiction, or gap in knowledge makes them need to know more? (e.g., "The 2-part formula...")
When you only use the benefit, you get a boring subject line ("Newsletter Writing Tips"). When you only use curiosity, you get clickbait ("You must read this").
When you combine them, you get magic. "Why your best emails go unopened" implies a benefit (getting them opened) while creating a massive curiosity gap (why are they failing?).
As the writer Dorothy Parker noted:
"The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity."
Respecting the Reader
This formula works because it respects your reader's intelligence.
It does not rely on hype or cheap marketing tricks. It makes a clear promise of value while engaging the natural human desire to solve puzzles. Engaging that desire is the foundation of all great teaching. It is how you build an audience that actually looks forward to hearing from you.
Quick Win
Take the topic of your next planned email.
Write one subject line that states only the benefit. Look at it. Now, write a new one that adds a layer of curiosity. Feel the difference.
A Resource for Your Writing
If you want a deeper dive into crafting emails that build trust and drive revenue, I highly recommend exploring the Strategic Newsletter OS. It is a complete system that removes the guesswork from email marketing, allowing you to focus on sharing your expertise rather than fighting with the blank page. (Note: this is an affiliate link but I personally use the training found in this course. I may make a commission if you purchase through my link at no additional cost to you.)
Explore the Strategic Newsletter OS here
A word about this link. It will take you to a sales page that might appear to be full of hype. However, I would not recommend this source if I hadn’t used it and been helped by it. I trust anything that Justin and Brenda create and sell, because they always overdeliver. Their courses are step-by-step and do not contain any fluff. My newsletter is a result of their teaching, and the community that comes with the course is the best I have ever been a part of.