Have you ever been hesitating to do something and then just a little nudge, a little bit of pressure from someone, has got you over the line?

Like you've been considering buying something for ages but never pulled the trigger…until they announce the price is going up in a few days time?

That's pressure working positively. A little nudge to get you to take the decision you were eventually going to take anyway.

On the other hand, have you been uncertain about something and had someone push you for a decision when you weren't ready – and so you backed out completely?

That's pressure working negatively. It feels like you're being pushed too hard – so you push back.

Sometimes pressure works. It gets people to take action when they might otherwise have waited (and waited and waited).

But sometimes it backfires. Push someone too hard and they push back and you've lost all chance of getting them to do what you want.

Typically a little bit of pressure works if someone is just about ready to make a decision and they're just procrastinating a bit. Or other priorities have got in the way.

But if it's a big important decision and you're some way off being ready then that same pressure feels manipulative. It feels like they're trying to get you to do something you don't want and they lose trust.

So what does all this have to do with email marketing, the topic I promised we were going to focus on next?

Here's the thing: an awful lot of training on email marketing focuses on applying pressure to get a sale.

5-Day cash machine emails. Gain-Logic-Fear sequences. Flash sales. Product Launches.

That's because, whether they realise it or not, most people who train others in email marketing tend to sell lower-cost products to audiences who are pretty close to being ready to buy.

Marketing training courses, financial newsletters, self-help books and seminars are all situations where a little nudge gets buyers over the line.

6 or 7-figure consulting projects or life-changing coaching engagements aren't.

They're situations where the buyer is making a big decision. Where you need to build significant credibility and trust.

Where if you push too hard too soon, you lose them.

That's why in this series of emails about email marketing for high-value products and services you won't find any tricks involving scarcity or sequences of hot-button pushing emails designed to extract the most cash from your email list in a short space of time.

What you will find are strategies for using email to build the credibility and trust you need for people to be ready and willing to buy something high value and high impact.

And we'll start in the next email by looking at what it is your emails need to “prove” to get people ready.