I opened up ye ol’ social media this morning just before heading out.
It felt like the Great Pancake Invasion of 2025 was going on.
I clearly missed it was Shrove Tuesday.
Every business owner I know and every influencer I saw was posting something about it being pancake day.
Maybe it’s just a thing here in the UK. But it happened.
And so I likened it to the shenanigans that go down in email…
So bare with me while this gets weird.
Today everyone is sharing pancake related content.
Just like everyone who knows how important email. They’re sharing the usual cookie cutter shit.
They all sound the same.
Stuff like: “Here’s our newsletter update.”
Instead of: LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THE TIME I TRIED TO FLIP A PANCAKE AND ACCIDENTALLY STARTED A SMALL KITCHEN FIRE
(over exaggerated to make a point obviously, although I won’t tell anyone if you send something like)
We need more chaos, more energy and people being themselves instead of still thinking corporate speech is a thing that everyone enjoys.
Nobody wants another boring ass email about:
Product updates
Corporate news
Whatever the hell “touching base” means
Synergistic pancake opportunities
They want:
Stories that make them snort coffee through their nose
Content that feels like it dreamt up while battling through a fever dream
Emails written by someone who clearly needs sleep but chose violence
That’s the type of thing people enjoy and if you don’t believe me.
Open up Reddit and go spend a few hours on there.
The stories are wild. The people are even wilder and it doesn’t matter what product/service or market you’re in. People still share insane shit that bares their soul to the world.
That’s where you find out what to write about that truly hits the reader and draws them in.
If you can make things wildly entertaining while giving them a little bit of the sauce.
They’ll come back for more.
As for today. Stay unhinged,
Stephen Walker
P.S. The squirrels watching through my window are starting their own newsletter. Competition is gonna get fierce.