I received a question from a gent this afternoon about people opting out of your emails and how some of these folks are good customers, what we thought of as “lifers.”

The gent asked if I’ve ever had a customer on my list for 20 years or more, who bought everything, and then after you wrote something in an email that was viewed as “offensive,” that person turns into a former customer in a heart beat.

Well, as it turns out, el Furecat has NEVER lost a customer, much less a subscriber to his emails… but Matt Furey, that Zen Master of the Internet dude, well, he most certainly has had more than his fair share.

Now let me give you some of the best reasons for someone opting out:

1. A couple months ago, I wrote about the transfer portal in college sports, and how I was in favor of it. I sighted the great, but seemingly injury prone, Joe Burrow, as an example. Burrow was riding the pine at The Ohio State University, then transferred to LSU, won the national title and the Heisman Trophy and was drafted in the first round by the Nephilim (NFL). If he stayed a Buckeye, none of that would have happened. Why? Because, believe it or not, a lot of college coaches are dicks with a capital “D,” and despite recruiting you over apple pie and such, they have zero intentions of ever playing you. And one of the reasons they recruit and sign you is to keep YOU from going to other teams who also want you. Believe me, these coaches LOVE hoarding their power over the young and innocent.

Well hell’s bells, I got myself a good many opt-outs after that email, and el Furecat is still laughing his tail off about it.

One of my customers, who lives in Cincinnati, O-hi-Oh, forwarded my email to his brother who lives in Columbus, and the bro displayed his uncanny ability to see only one side of an equation. To wit, “No one should EVER transfer for any reason whatsoever,” or something fairly close to that.

2. Another email I sent talked about the deleterious effects of social media on the youth – not to mention adults… and this was met with more than “bah humbug.” Opt-outs galore.
3. And then there’s the best reason to opt-out I have seen: It’s the inability to appreciate my sarcasm. These pocketbook tofu-eating psychologists believe sarcasm is “sideways anger,” in all cases, and that no jokes should EVER be made in which someone else is the “butt” of the humor. Damn! I guess that would be the end of ALL jokes then, wouldn’t it?

So it happens to the best of the best, including yours screwballsy.

People come and go and when they do, the best thing you can do after shaking your head in bewilderment is get out of your chair, pump both fists and arms into to the “touchdown” position and scream HURRAH, followed by an FNA (effin A).

Don’t sweat those who can’t stomach some of what you write.

If your mission is to never offend anyone, you’ll never write anything of any substance, and you’ll never rise above the asses that desperately want to keep you down. On top of that, you’ll never make the kind of moolah you supposedly seek.

By the way, writing with the sole/soul intention of making money is not the way to make money. More people never make it because they cannot make up their minds on what to write, what will get approval, and so on.

The money goes to those who don’t give a damn, those who say “to hell with y’all,” and write what wants to be expressed.

More on this in the December issue of Wordsmith Wizards.

Matt Furey

P.S. Hopefully someone will take offense to my use of FNA and other minor expletives, and opt-out. Fingers crossed.

Good morning, Coach Furey. 

First, thank for the great energy wrapped into the wisdom in your monthly newsletters. I’m loving receiving and reading slowly through them every month.

Some comments on your Zen Mastery newsletter this month. The timing was uncanny, as last weekend I had a big article to write for an equine magazine. It was on the neuroscience of fear and building confidence. My interviews were done. I now had more insight into the neurochemicals and brain anatomy of stress. I had awareness of how to release it…. and I was supremely stuck with fear.

I’ve been writing magazine articles for more than a decade now. Some have even won awards. And yet, nearly every time I sit down to start a new article, the whispers start. “This won’t be any good. You should have started this a month ago. How are you ever going to distill 30 pages of transcript into 1500 coherent words? What if the you disappoint the editor? What if you miss the mark? If you were a good writer, this would be easy. You’d just sit down and write the right 1500 words. You wouldn’t thrash, slog, or procrastinate. You wouldn’t feel any stress.”

All those negative thoughts surrounded me as I sat down to write, ironically, an article about stress and fear and confidence in the brain. It wasn’t going well. I was locked up. Blocked. Worried about the outcome.

Then I got up, took a little walk outside, and re-read your newsletter. I recalled a memory of success… and walked through the writing steps you shared. I smiled. I let go of the result. I just wrote what I felt needed to be written.

Ah, finally, It started coming together. At the end of the day, I had a solid first draft.

But man, how I want to move beyond this stressful start to writing and replace it with ease, flow, and effortless effort.

You’ve covered so much in your newsletters and I’m using your teachings. If there’s one thing especially you’d recommend for an experienced writer who gets blocked writing, I’d love to hear it.

Sending my best and my gratitude,

Kara Stewart

Hi Kara. Ah, thank you so much for writing to tell me of your positive outcome from doing what I recommended. It’s amazing how the words fall into place when you find the “sweet spot” within. 

Writing to please others, writing to make money, writing to do anything but record what you’ve set out to write, interferes with the process. When you let all of that garbage go, and write whatever that monkey in your mind is saying, it’s amazing how you make more money than sense.

I’ll go into more detail in the December issue, but for now, it may seem odd because most of us DO want to make money from what we write. You can picture this, as I explained, but then you purge it from your mind and let yourself flow.

Pay attention to the space between the words more and the words less. There’s great power in that empty space, and it is always there for you.

And if this helps, you can picture yourself giving the whirld the middle digit as you write. This “I don’t give a flying fugg,” is one of the best things you can do to make what you write POP.

Matt Furey

P.S. You can subscribe to Zen Mastery in the NOW, turning turds into diamonds that WOW. Put all your fears of writing to rest, by ignoring naysayers who don’t have your best.

A little while after sending yesterday’s sob story email, I received a number of comments from people questioning whether or not I was “alright,” showing their inability to interpret sarcasm.

Then several others wrote to ask various questions, such as “How do you come up with such incredible ideas?”

They wanted to know, for free, I must add, the methodology to my madness.

Typically, when dealing with non-buyers who have proven themselves to be dishonorable, via their frequent submissions coupled with their promises to buy very soon, all their replies are subject to “the round file.” I don’t have time and will not give of my energy to these types, nor is it a good idea for you to do so.

Focus on the movers and shakers, the DOERS, who don’t just tell you they love your writing, but prove it by partaking in your goods and services.

As for the dishonorable lot, aside from deleting their comments, including their attempts to stroke your almighty ego, either do not reply, or if you do, reply tersely in Gary Halbertese.

Here are some ripe examples:

“F.O. Unsubscribe.”

“Thanks for nothing. Unsubscribe.”

“Go away.”

Now, if you need for me to spell out what F.O. means, which Sir Gary clearly would do to the aforementioned ingrates (I’m much more civil, hehe), then I surmise you must be one of those “swipers” from Nigeria, or some such abode, who sign up to your email list en masse, and NEVER buy a friggin thing.

Another key point: Delete all Nigerians who subscribe to your email list.

Anyway, as rudeness would have it, sometimes when you people out, a morsel of honor can be found in the soul of the almost departed/deleted… and they pony up and become buyers.

And that is how I made my first sale yesterday.

Don’t be nice unless you want to finish last. Stop caring about whether or not you can make a sale. Be unattached.

It’s surprising what can happen as a result.

Now is about that time in my email where I segue into the mentioning of one of my dear products… and so I’m sure you’re putting your defenses up.

But there is no defense that neutralizes the unwilling masses who want to see if they can figure out what I’m doing and why, all by their lonesome. You can assume you’re schmart enough to see it all without my direct insights, but as my dear ole dad used to say, “There’s more books written on the ‘interpretation of Shakespeare than Shakespeare ever wrote and none of them know what they’re talking about.”

Indeed, especially if you’re of the belief, as I am, that Shakespeare never wrote anything. He’s yet another historical fabrication. And perhaps, so am I.

Matt Furey

P.S. For those of you who are punch drunk by my words, now might be a jolly good time to become a subscriber to Zen Mastery, so you learn the true “interpretation” of what I do and why (straight from the ass’s mouth). Then again, it might be THC time for you to unsubscribe and refrain from sending me questions or compliments. Hate mail, on the other hand, is always welcome as I can use that as subsequent email fodder.

F.O. – man I love that! Thank you, Sir Gary.

P.P.S. This here email was written without one word of editing in any way, shape or form. If that impresses you, or displeases you due to any potential Thai-po’s, I could care less.

I have a confession or two to make. And it’s not easy to admit them, but here goes:

I am the worst email copywriter on the planet, or as I prefer to say, the whirld. Those who say otherwise are full of bullonie.

I can’t spell. I can’t sing. I can’t even write without using apostrophes.

I claim to have gone into semi-retirement… for years upon years. But the fact is I’ve never taken a single second off since my early 20’s, and I’m nothing but a pauper pissing into hurricane force winds.

Worst of all, I haven’t made a single sale in almost 40 years, and no one but me is counting. I haven’t made millyuns from what I do, or teach, or proclaim. Nor do I ever have a shot at doing so.

The udder day, I was reading Ben Settle’s newsletter, and he wrote that everyone making a living from email owes me a debt of gratitude, or something along those lines. He says that I’m the guy who paved the way for the entire industry.

Balderdash!

That is absolutely not true.

I’ve done no one, and I mean no one, any favors, nor do I accept any.

Truth is I don’t even know where my next meal is going to come from. I am contemplating making a new cardboard sign to showcase at stoplights throughout the city, but my whitish Irish skin can’t take the heat. So I’m left to sit in my fake leather lazyboy the remainder of the day, drinking my sorrows away… but then again, I can’t afford whisky, even the Irish kind, spelled with an ‘e.’

What a shitty, pity, itty bitty life I get to live.

And yet, I have the stones to send out emails telling y’all to get my products or to subscribe to my Zen Mastery newsletter. Shame on me.

I’m a joke. And a bad one at that.

I wish I could be like everyone else, but I definitely don’t fit in, so I guess the fetal position will have to do. Sadly, I’ll have to do it on the cold tile-less floor as I can’t afford a bed, much less a rug.

Even as bad as I have it un-made, somehow, somewhere, I’m going to give it one last shot by asking for the millionth time (unsuccessfully, I must add), that someone take a truly risky risk and get my… ah, I can’t do it. I’ve lost all hope. Maybe I should try dope, but I can’t afford that neither.

Matt Furey

P.S. My dog, Rambo, insists I at least include the following links to my…

Original Email Copywriting Course
Zen Mastery Newsletter​

I was talking to Marge, a woman I trained back in the days long gone bye, and she says, “95% of people who have jobs hate what they are doing for a living.”

Marge’s number may have been a little high, or a little low, but one thing is for sure, it ain’t far off. And it begs the question: Why?

There are many answers I could give, such as bad attitude, shiddy boss, change of heart, not enough moolah, negative environment, co-workers you can’t stand, not being heard, lack of creative expression, ad infinitum, ad nauseam.

All these reasons are valid, and when tossed together they don’t make for a scrumptious salad, even if you throw in some croutons and spicy dressing.

But one of the BIGGEST reasons for hating your job is the simple fact that a lot of people balk at someone else telling them what to do. It sucks having someone else tell you when to show up and when to leave. It sucks having to sit in meetings or listen to people drone on and on about their personal problems.

Even worse is the feeling of boredom; the “been there done that” scenario.

The great thing about writing and copywriting, assuming you’ve set yourself up for success correctly, is that you don’t have to deal with anyone you don’t want to deal with. You work when you want to work. You choose the time and the amount of work you want to do.

You can spend all day writing and creating, filled with splendiferous levels of energy, or you can write for five or ten minutes, here and there, throughout the day.

It’s all a mindset that you get to choose – and I cover it in illustrious detail in my most recent issue of Zen Mastery coaching newsletter.

 I break the process down for you in such an enjoyable way that you will see why it’s a good idea to leave the past behind… when you’re ready.

Matt Furey  

P.S. My Original Email Copywriting Seminar is worth your time and energy as well. I show you how easy it is to knockout stellar copy within minutes, provided you are willing to listen to and trust that still voice within.

Yesterday I got pissed off. Really pissed off.

’twas a good thing. A really friggin good thing.

Why? Because when I plopped my rumpus in a chair and began to write, the words flowed onto the screen with unbelievable ease. And I didn’t need to make a single edit when I finished.

Man, if I could just get upset more often, think what I could do, I mused.

Then it occurred to me that I do this “effortless writing” thingamajig all the time – on a daily basis, and it is rare that I am pissed when I write… but when I am, I don’t block it. I let it flow. And I’ve been teaching the flip side of this coin now for more than 20 years.

Yes, I’ve been teaching you how to put yourself into a calm, tranquil Zen-like state so the words come out with surprising speed, allowing you to knock out an email in less than ten minutes… an email that probably doesn’t even need much editing. More importantly, the copy sizzles and sells.

I’m not against planning and strategizing what you’re going to write in your emails, other than the time it consumes and how it cannot match the power and precision of the flow-state method I teach.

True, some people don’t trust their greater nature. They fear that if they “let go,” their writing will not come out in an engaging and prosperous way. I don’t agree. At all.

There’s a force in this Universe that knows things you don’t, and works in ways that you cannot fathom.

I have taught how to tap into this “force” in previous seminars – and over the weekend I pulled the transcripts from one of my events, and went to town on it, adding a ton of detail on the Furey Method, that I have not covered before.

This material is going to make up the lion’s share of the November Zen Mastery Newsletter. It will be a “book” in and of itself, totaling more than 20,000 words – more than double what is covered in most issues. And when it does come out “as a book,” it will not be cheap.

So if you’ve been thinking about becoming a subscriber, I suggest you make haste quickly and do so NOW.

To paraphrase Clubber Lang in Rocky 3, this issue “cain’t be beat.”

Click here to subscribe. You’ll receive your November newsletter on Wednesday evening, before the bell tolls midnight. After that, you will miss out on this important milestone.

Matt Furey

My dear students, let me be as blunt as a Mack truck. If you think that swipe files are the key to becoming a great email copywriter, or any type of copywriter, think a-freaking-gain.

I don’t have a swipe file. I have collections.

Collections of books from various authors I admire. Collections of newsletters. Collections of a few emailers that I think are solid.

But I don’t have a single, solitary swipe file of anything that I ever refer to so I can “steal and distribute” or “swipe and deploy.”

Oftentimes, before I write, I will read from a great book. Usually it is the same book – and it isn’t a book on copywriting.

Instead, it is a book that inspires me, that brings out the best in me.

I have a few files of writings from those whom I admire – but I don’t write the way these people do, nor do I advocate YOU doing so.

I don’t bullshit you with pictures of myself on the beach, sipping a martini as I bask in the sun’s glow, admiring my bank account.

What I tell you is the unvarnished truth. You can learn to become an email copywriter much faster than a long-form sales letter copywriter – although that doesn’t take a long time either.

I could promise you that you’ll make 5K, 10K or a million K if you get my course, but I don’t do that either, even though that’s a so-called rule.

Neither do I use scare tactics, fear, phobias, hexes or spells to create so much panic inside of you that you’ll pull the trigger and get my product.

I’m not a fan of using fear to sell, or tapping into or exploiting any other negative emotion.

I could argue with myself and say, “Perhaps you should.”

But the truth is that using negative emotion to manipulate you into buying goes against my Zen nature. I prefer to tap into your desire to create the life you want, which includes leapfrogging the problems you think are holding you back.

If I were to give you some advice, I would say, if you want to become an email copywriter because you want to get out of debt, pay off your mortgage and have a nest egg packed away for the storm that’s about to hit – then give it up.

On the other palm, if you want to become an email copywriter because you’ve always wanted to be a writer, to express yourself, to sell the books you’ve written, or to help others who want to increase their sales dramatically, then go for it.

Do it because you want to create something that lasts, or to serve others who want to kick more ass.

Don’t do it because you’re afraid you won’t have any scraps or morsels of food to eat when the dollar goes bye-bye, or WW III, IV and V hit.

Write because you feel CALLED to write… and you’d love to make some sense and cents out of this whirld from what you’ve written.

And make sure your emails always have something to sell to those who want to go to the next level.

That’s what I do, and I suggest you do so unapologetically.

At first, you may have some guilt or fear about selling, but you’ll get over it when you shift your mind into a different set of mental images.

Anyway, I’ve probably told you more in this email than I “should have,” so I hope you take this message to heart.

If you dig my style, that’s awesome.

And if you want more – that would be wise. My Zen Mastery newsletter subscribers hang on my every word – and it’d be the highlight of my day if you join us by clicking here.

Matt Furey

P.S. On a daily basis, someone writes to ask if I still sell my Original Email Copywriting Seminar. The answer is yes. Click the link highlighted above and get yourself the course that has made some people millions, and others a rather handsome sum.