Rick Culleton sat down and wrote his readers an email about dropping out of school at sixteen, going to prison a week later, and realizing money was never going to make him happy.
Except he didn't. I did.
I wrote it for a book marketing agency, to help promote Rick's new book. Every email went out with his name on it. Every line was in his voice. First person. Raw.
The goal was simple: Anyone who opened it should feel like Rick sat down and wrote it to them.
That's the goal with every newsletter I write for a client. When it lands in a reader's inbox, it should sound like you. Like a person they know.
What a Brand-Sounding Newsletter Looks Like
You've seen these. Maybe you've sent one.
It opens with "We hope this email finds you well." Then comes a list of updates. A new offer. A sale. A tip that could have come from anyone in the field.
It signs off from "The Team."
Nothing in it is wrong. The grammar is fine. The design is clean. The links work.
But you could swap the logo at the top, and nobody would notice.
Your reader can't picture a person on the other end. So they skim it. Or they delete it. Or they stop opening it, and you never find out why.
A newsletter that sounds like a person feels like a letter from someone you know. You open it because you want to hear what they have to say this week.
That's what I set out to do for Rick.
What Made Rick's Emails Sound Like Rick
Three things did most of the work.
Real details. Imperfect phrasing. One point of view.
Let's take them one at a time.
Real Details
Brands talk in big, safe words. People talk about real moments.
Rick's emails were full of small, real moments from his own life. The kind of thing you'd tell a friend over coffee.
Those lines come from a life. A brand doesn't have one.
When a reader sees a detail like that, they picture it. They feel like they know him a little better.
That's what makes someone open the next email.
Imperfect Phrasing
Most business writing gets polished until it shines. Every sentence is neat. Every word is safe.
And it ends up sounding like a company.
Rick's emails sounded like him talking.
Some lines trail off, the way people pause mid-thought. A few words are in all caps, because that's how he'd say them out loud. Some sentences start with "And" or "But." That's how people talk. Nobody speaks in perfect paragraphs.
Those little "flaws" are on purpose. They're what make it sound human.
If I'd cleaned them all up, the emails would have read like a press release.
One Point of View
Every email came from Rick's side of the table. His opinions. His way of seeing the world. His sense of humor.
The part about his book sounded like him too, with no switch into sales mode.
And the ending invited readers to write back. The way a friend would.
A brand voice tries to please everyone. A person has a point of view.
That's what readers connect with.
What Happens When It Sounds Like You
When your newsletter sounds like you, readers start to treat it like a conversation.
They open it because it's from you. They read to the end. Some of them hit reply and tell you what they think.
Over time, they feel like they know you. They know what you believe. They know how you talk. When they're ready to buy, or a friend asks who they'd trust, your name is the one that comes to mind.
A brand gets skimmed. A person gets remembered.
Why This Is Hard to Do Well
Anyone can write a nice newsletter. Clean sentences. A friendly hello. A tip or two. A sign-off.
Nice is easy. Sounding like a real, specific person is the hard part.
To write in someone else's voice, you have to know how they talk. Their favorite phrases. The words they'd never use. How fast they get to the point. Where they stop to tell a story.
That starts with interviews. You ask questions and let them talk. You pay attention to how they say things, as much as what they say.
Then there's rhythm. Every person has one. Some people talk in short bursts. Some take their time getting to a point. Some crack a joke before they say something serious.
To get rhythm right, you have to hear it. You listen to them talk, again and again, until you can hear their voice in your head. Then you write a line, read it back, and ask, "Would they say it like this?" If the answer is no, you write it again.
If the rhythm is off, readers feel it. They might not know why. But something about the email feels wrong.
Then you have to do it again. Every email. Every week. For months.
One line that sounds wrong can break the spell.
That's the reason so many newsletters sound like a brand. Sounding like a brand is the safe choice. Readers forget it fast.
Want a Newsletter That Sounds Like You?
This is what I do.
I write newsletters for coaches, consultants, authors, and service-based experts, in their own voice. I write the emails. You keep running your business. Your readers get emails they want to open, in a voice they know is yours.
Here's how to work with me:
1. See how I can help. Newsletters are part of my copywriting work. You can see everything I offer on my Services page.
2. Book a call. You tell me about your business and your readers. We talk about where your message is getting lost and whether we're a good fit.
3. I get to know your voice. Then I write emails that sound like you.
If your newsletter sounds like a brand, or you don't have one yet, let's talk. Book a call here.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes a newsletter sound like a person? Real details from your life, the way you talk, and one clear point of view in every email.
Why does my newsletter sound like a brand? Most of the time, it's too polished. Safe words, neat sentences, and no details from your own life.
Can someone else write my newsletter in my voice? Yes. A good writer listens to how you talk, picks up your rhythm and favorite phrases, and writes the way you would.
How does a copywriter learn my voice? By listening to you. Interviews, calls, and the things you've written or said before all help. The more they hear you talk, the closer they get.
Should my newsletter be perfect? It should be easy to read. A few rough edges make it sound like a person. Too much polish makes it sound like a company.
If you want the fuller version of why sounding like yourself matters more than sounding impressive, I wrote about that in Marketing Without Performing.
Want to go deeper into this idea?
Read Marketing Without Performing