John North
My Email Journey - February 2025 Report
As part of my commitment to transparency and accountability, I’m writing a monthly report to share my progress with you. This way, you get an inside look at what’s working, what’s not, and how I’m improving along the way. If you found this report useful, make sure to check out the audio deep dive as well. It goes into even more detail and gives you extra insights you won’t want to miss!.
On January 6th, 2025, I decided, "Screw it, just do it."
For six months, I researched the daily email concept, took courses, and followed industry leaders. But I got stuck in the complexity of something simple:
Write an email every day. Send it.
I planned a big launch—subscriber signups, a welcome series, the whole shebang. But with other projects demanding my time, I knew it would be another six months before I actually hit send.
So, I skipped all that and just sent an email telling my list I was going to email them every day.
On January 6th, I sent my first email: "My One Big Shift for 2025 (And a Gift for You)."
This is what I said to my list...
I’d been inconsistent, but after reflecting on the chaos of 2024—elections, wars, rising interest rates—I realized something: I can’t control any of that, but I can control what actually matters.
For me, that meant committing to writing more. So, I spent months studying daily emails, diving into research, courses, and enough coffee to fuel a startup. And I came to a simple truth:
Relying on social media for business is risky—one ban, and you’re done. But email? That’s like going to the gym. Show up consistently, and results follow.
So, in 2025, I’m all in—writing daily, sharing real insights, and actually helping my audience. Oh, and I threw in some free books as a gift.
The Journey So Far
Since then, I’ve sent an email every weekday. As of today, I’m 41 emails in.
Monthly Email Stats (February 2025)
Overall Snapshot
- Total Emails Analysed: 15 (from 10 Feb to 28 Feb, 2025)
- Average Open Rate: ~16.3%
- Average Click Rate: ~7.3%
Translation: On average, out of every 100 people who received my emails, around 16 opened them.
The Email Subject Lines:
Top Performers
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Highest Open Rate:
- “Your Future Self Will Thank You For This” (23 Feb) at 21.93%.
- Honourable mention to “The Weird Reason Smart People Stay Stuck” (27 Feb) just behind at 21.77%.
Takeaway: Mentioning self‐improvement or “weird” reasons folks get stuck seems to pique curiosity.
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Highest Click Rate:
- Tied between “Crocodile Dundee, a Country Town, and a Story You Won’t Believe” (24 Feb) and “The Ultimate Sales Story Hack That Converts Like Crazy” (26 Feb), each hitting 8.50%.
Takeaway: Quirky pop‐culture references (Crocodile Dundee) and direct benefit (“Sales Story Hack”) both nudged readers to click. Keep weaving in an element of intrigue (and maybe a hint of Aussie‐ness).
Strugglers
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Lowest Open Rate: “Get Paid to Write What You Love” (12 Feb), around 11.04%.
- Maybe folks weren’t quite ready to believe they can earn a living writing? Or perhaps they were worried they’d get roped into writing for your Aunt Beryl’s cookie blog.
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Lowest Click Rate: Also “Get Paid to Write What You Love,” at 5.36%.
- Next time, consider bridging the gap between curiosity and practicality. Spell out the “what’s in it for me” more clearly.
Patterns & Pointers
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Dates & Days: Notice that some of your best performers popped up at the start (Monday) or end (Friday) of the week. The sweet spot might be when people are either freshly motivated (Monday) or in “Friday wind‐down mode” and more open to a little distraction.
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Subject Lines That Surprise: Emails with phrases like “Are We Breaking Up?” or “Breaking News: You’re About to Love (or Hate) This” had higher‐than‐average open and click rates. That’s the power of genuine curiosity (and maybe a whiff of drama).
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Personal Angle Works: Anything that hints at personal benefits—“Your Future Self Will Thank You,” “Weird Reason Smart People Stay Stuck”—really pulled people in. Don’t hold back on promising that little jolt of self‐improvement.
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Storytelling Hooks: “Crocodile Dundee…” reeled people in with an unexpected Aussie reference. Memorable or pop‐culture nods can be rocket fuel for engagement—provided the payoff matches the intrigue.
This is the Combined (Jan + Feb)
I’m seeing a healthy performance across my emails, with unsubscribe rates hovering around a low 0.058%, an average open rate of about 17%, and click rates close to 7%. One particular subject line—“What If Everything You Believe is Wrong? Let’s Find Out!”—really stood out by earning top engagement in opens, reads, and clicks, showing me that curiosity-driven hooks resonate strongly with my audience. My variety of topics, from AI to personal stories, seems to capture interest, and by continuing to experiment with question-based or intrigue-driven subject lines, I believe I can further boost both opens and clicks.
Big-Picture Overview
- Number of Emails Tracked: 40
- Average Unsubscribe Rate: ~0.058%
- Average Read Rate: ~7.02%
- Average Open Rate: ~17.24%
- Average Click Rate: ~6.98%
(Note: some of these figures are approximate, since I’m rounding to two decimal places.)
Star Performer (a.k.a. “Email of the Match”)
Interestingly, one subject line snagged top spot for open rate, read rate, and click rate all at once:
“What If Everything You Believe is Wrong? Let’s Find Out!”
- Highest Open Rate: ~31.57%
- Highest Read Rate: ~15.81%
- Highest Click Rate: ~15.73%
Apparently, playing mind-bending mind games is a surefire way to get people to click. Who knew?
Other Notable Observations
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Consistently Low Unsubscribe Rates
An average unsubscribe rate of 0.058% is quite low, suggesting the content is resonating (or your readers are just too polite to leave). -
Moderate to Strong Opens
While the average open rate sits around 17.24%, a few campaigns beat that significantly. -
Clicks vs. Opens
The average click rate of ~6.98% is fairly healthy—especially considering some big daily sends. -
Email Topic Variety
You seem to have quite a mix: from AI minions and LinkedIn dramas to big “secure password” jokes. This variety keeps your audience on their toes—possibly a good strategy for boosting opens and clicks.
How Do You Get on My Email List?
Well, funny thing—I completely skipped the whole 'subscribe here' step. Oops. But hey, I’m working on it. In the meantime, I’m doing something even better…
I’m handing out a massive bundle of my best-selling books—for free. Yep, these books have been read, loved, and implemented by thousands, and they’re packed with huge value.
Grab Your Free Books before I realise I should be charging for them!
