Email Teardown: Tarzan Kay’s Affiliate Promo - Part 2

Note: This post is not an endorsement of any business, program, or course. Unless explicitly stated, I am not an affiliate for any of these businesses or their programs. Please do your own research and due diligence before purchasing any of the offers mentioned in this post.

Welcome back! Today we’re tackling Part 2 of Tarzan Kay’s epic affiliate promotion for Amy Porterfield’s Digital Course Academy.

Catch up with Part 1 here.

At this point in the launch, the cart is open, Tarzan’s promoting a joint webinar with Amy, and we’re coming up on closing day (when Tarzan sends 4 emails!).

Let’s jump back in!

Email #10: Sorry

This email starts with a great open loop. Check out that subject line. What is she apologizing for? You gotta open up to find out.

By using a one word subject line, she builds a lot of curiosity. Short subject lines (1 to 20 characters) also stand out in the inbox and have the highest open rates.

Tarzan is apologizing for a trend in her industry that’s led people astray. She’s been part of the damage that’s leading people to believe making money with an online course should be fast and easy. But these promises have led many would be course creators to quit too early when they get overwhelmed by everything that goes into a successful launch.

By apologizing and calling out this issue, Tarzan is helping the buyer forgive themselves for past mistakes. They didn’t fail because they’re bad at this. They failed because they got bad info.

Showing them that it’s not their fault, it helps release blame for past mistakes so they can move forward. Helping your buyer make this shift is critical. They’re not going to buy your system for creating a successful online course if they’re still clutching to the sunk costs of the online course that never got off their hard drive.

Not only does Tarzan apologize, but she offers to make it up to them with her live workshop. This is a great way to frame a webinar. It positions it as the logical next step to finding true success as a course creator.

Email #11: Registered yet? (It costs $0.00)

We’ve got one last invite to the live workshop with Amy. Tarzan positions it as a way for know-it-all marketers to learn something new. Even as an expert, she’s learned new things from working with Amy.

In the P.S. Tarzan also mentions the bonuses she’s offering when you sign up for the course.

Over the last several emails, we’ve had multiple calls to action: sign up for the webinar AND buy the course. Ideally, you want to only have only one focus per email. Sending too many ideas breaks your readers focus and can lead to less follow through.

Email #12: [REPLAY INSIDE] Tarzan & Amy Take On The World

Just a quickie announcing the replay and playing up Tarzan’s gigantic bonus bundle. The point is to get people on the replay, because once they watch they’re more likely to buy. On average, 15% of webinar attendees convert into buyers.

Be sure to follow up your live presentation with a replay. Only 16% of B2B consumers prefer to watch a live webinar. Send out a replay reminder to catch the other 84% who missed the live show.

Email #13: [CLOSING SOON] Why some courses flop, while others make millions

This email digs into launch flops and reframes in a positive way. Most people try out launching, fail, and give up. But Tarzan’s here to tell you that even if you’ve failed, you can still be successful. It’s almost a prerequisite for success. Tarzan’s had a flopped launch. So has Amy. (Remember way back in Email #1?)

Most business owners struggle during their first launch. But Tarzan wants to talk to the people who are willing to give it another try, despite unsuccessful past attempts. It’s about the long game.

You’re already doing the hard work. Launching something is hard. Whether it flops or flies, you’re still doing the work. Tarzan offers DCA as the way to make sure that work pays off.

Then she positions her bonus as the missing link to make your launch soar.

Tarzan does a really great job creating bonuses that enhance a course experience. A lot of affiliates give access to a course they already offer as a bonus. Tarzan creates bonuses that help students implement what they’re learning. Rather than piling more training on their plate, she gives them what they need to succeed with the investment they just made.

She also adds a cool new thing to the mix — a chance to win a private intensive with her. She’s giving you the tools you need to create your course and rewarding you for completing it. It’s great motivation to get students that buy through her actually taking action.

It also shows that Tarzan’s not just out for the sale. She wants the people who sign up through her to succeed. And she’s giving them everything they need to do that in her bonus package.

When you’re thinking about a bonus for affiliate launches, step into the student’s shoes. What do they need to get the most out of this course? What do you wish you had when you went through the course? What could you give someone that would enhance the course they’re buying — not compete for its attention?

If you can come up with a bonus that hits this sweet spot, your marketing will be so much more powerful. It will also position you as someone who’s truly invested in seeing buyers succeed.

Email #14: [VIPS ONLY] You’re going to want to kiss me for this

Here’s a great example of how you can use segmentation in your launches.

Tarzan’s only sending this email to people on the launch list who have also bought from her in the past. Since they’re VIPs, she’s offering a super exclusive bonus — 1:1 time with her.

It’s worth reaching out to your current customers with a special offer. They already know you and are likely to buy from you again. Returning customers spend 67% more than new buyers.

Email #15: My phone number (this is 💯legit)

We’re on the final day of the launch. This is the first of four emails Tarzan sends on cart close day. This might be my favorite email of this whole series.

It’s a total pattern interrupt. Most people would remind you of the deadline, drop the lineup of bonuses, and add a countdown timer for good measure.

But Tarzan does something completely different.

Tarzan gives out her actual phone number and invites people to call her about joining DCA.

The way she frames this is key:

Tarzan’s not going to get you on the phone and twist your arm until you buy. She’s looking out for you. If she doesn’t think it’s the right fit for you, she’ll tell you. It builds so much trust and positions you as someone who genuinely cares about helping your potential buyers make the right choice.

I was so curious about this email that I asked Tarzan how it worked. Was she flooded with calls?

Tarzan did something super smart. She only sent this email to people who had engaged with this promo in some way. So it was a small, targeted segment of her list.

She said she only had a few people reach out, but the ones who talked to her bought the course. Totally worth the time it takes to field these calls.

Most people are scared to send an email like this, but it’s absolutely something you can do too. If you have a small list, you should definitely try a variation of this email in your next launch.

If you’re worried about giving your real phone number out to the internet, you can always set up something like Google Voice for an extra layer of privacy.

Email #16: your 1:1 session with me

Here we have another segmented email just for Tarzan’s VIPs. While I got 4 emails from Tarzan on closing day, some people may have only gotten 2 or 3 depending on how they interacted with the launch.

This email shares the special 1:1 opportunity that’s only available to Tarzan’s paying customers. She shares the actual price of one of these sessions, but puts the emphasis on the value you’ll get. She includes testimonials from past clients that show how much you’ll benefit from this bonus session.

If you’ve been thinking of buying the course, this extra bonus makes saying yes a no brainer.

Email #17: made you a video

Here’s another email that breaks the pattern of your typical “cart’s about to close” email.

First of all, the formatting is different from the other emails in the series. If it didn’t have the ConvertKit sending info at the top, I would have wondered if it was a personal email from Tarzan just to me. This is why I LOVE sending plain text emails. They can feel super personal. Instead of feeling like I’m one of thousands on a list, it totally feels like a 1:1 convo.

Tarzan’s got a special message for me and she made a video to tell me about it. Including videos in your emails can increase click rates 300%.

The video is the only CTA in this email and it’s a genuine heartfelt message from Tarzan. Videos are a great way to connect with your audience and build trust.

She’s using a tool called BombBomb to deliver these videos. Bonjoro is a similar tool. Loom is my go-to for videos, but it doesn’t automatically generate a GIF like this. (But you could totally make your own using something like this.)

Tarzan went pretty hard on cart close day, but with short emails like this mixed in it’s not overwhelming. There’s not a huge obnoxious countdown timer in every email or all caps subject lines screaming about your last chance.

Email #18: My Starbucks budget.

Instead of going all in on FOMO and focusing on the ticking clock, Tarzan takes a different approach in her final promo email.

She shares a story that gives you a look inside her business. She reveals investing in training (specifically Amy’s training) helped her fast track her business growth.

Tarzan also puts the price of this course in perspective by comparing it to her Starbucks habit. That’s a tangible example that a lot of people can relate to.

Then she asks you to make a choice. Is growing your business a priority? If so, walk your talk and buy this course. (Tarzan says it nicer than that.)

Tarzan reminds us that the deadline is coming up fast. But the whole email isn’t about the deadline. Too many people spend the last day of a launch screaming in all caps that THE CART IS CLOSING SOON!!!!

But you don’t have to take that approach. (I know it makes a lot of you uncomfortable and you don’t want to come off as too sales-y.) Instead, you can do something like Tarzan’s done here: giving the buyer the information they need to make a choice.

Final thoughts

Whew — that was a long one! Tarzan has earned the honor of being our longest teardown to date.

If you’re planning an affiliate promo and you want a spot on the leaderboard, it takes more than modifying swipe emails. You have to show up in a different way to stand out — especially if it’s a popular program with lots of affiliates. Take a lesson from Tarzan and make the promotion truly your own.

That’s all I’ve got for this week!