📩 AI & Personal Branding: When Great Opportunities Meet Terrible Emails

You know what keeps me up at night? Not the existential dread of AI taking over the world. Not the worry that my coffee maker might become sentient and refuse to brew my morning cup.

No, what keeps me tossing and turning is seeing potentially life-changing opportunities buried in emails so boring they make watching paint dry seem like an Olympic sport.

Today's email is the perfect example: a free training that could genuinely catapult someone's career... packaged in an email that feels like it was written by an AI that's never experienced human excitement.

Let's fix that, shall we?

👎 The “Bad” Email (ORIGINAL) 👎

Subject: The AI secret 99% of job seekers don’t know, Adrian?

Hi Adrian,

Psst… want in on a secret? There's a powerful amplifier for your personal brand that most professionals are completely missing. That amplifier? AI.

Right now, AI is quietly propelling some careers forward—while others get drowned out in the noise. But here's the good news: you can learn exactly how to make it work for you.

On Tuesday,** April 22nd at 8:00 PM ET**, I'm hosting a FREE training that shows you how to turn AI into your personal brand's loudest, smartest megaphone:  

**Training Details:

AI-Powered Personal Branding: Unlock Your Potential**

Date: Tuesday, April 22nd

Time: 8:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM PT

Secure your spot: (LINK)

We'll cover:

Unleashing AI's Potential – Make your brand impossible to ignore

Mastering Career Growth – Use AI insights to climb the career ladder

Integrating AI Tools – Amplify your strengths strategically

Embracing AI with Confidence – Turn AI into your career sidekick

Future-Proofing Your Brand – Stay ahead of trends

Nailing Your Personal Brand – Build a standout brand with AI

This isn't just theory. It's the practical, future-ready shift your career needs—and it's 100% free.

Ready to join the top 1% who get it?

Sign up now for your FREE spot:(LINK)

Let's turn up the volume on your impact,

-Anonymous writer 

Founder & CEO

P.S. Most people are still trying to figure AI out on their own—you don't have to. Join us on April 22nd and learn how to make AI work for your brand, not against it. Your future self will thank you.

❌ Why This Email Fails ❌

While this email isn't fundamentally broken (it has the core elements in place), it commits the cardinal sin of modern marketing: it's forgettable.

Let's diagnose specifically what's wrong:

1. Generic Opening Hook: "Psst... want in on a secret?" This tired opener has been used in thousands of emails. It creates zero emotional response and instantly signals "marketing email" to the reader's brain.
   

2. Vague, Jargon-Heavy Value Proposition: What does "turn AI into your personal brand's loudest, smartest megaphone" actually mean in practical terms? How does that translate to real-world results?
   

3. Benefit Bloat: The email lists six different topics to be covered, but they all blend together in sameness. "Unleashing potential" and "mastering growth" sound like empty corporate speak rather than tangible benefits.
   

4. Missing Emotional Stakes: The email fails to create any sense of what the reader stands to lose by ignoring this opportunity. What painful problems will they continue to face? What opportunities will they miss?
   

5. Weak Storytelling: There's no narrative arc—no before and after, no transformation story, no vivid picture of what success looks like after implementing these strategies.
   

6. Format Issues: Those random double asterisks (**) scattered throughout suggest this email was hastily copied from another platform without proper editing.

This email fails to follow the five levers framework we've been discussing: no story-based subject line, a weak open loop, no storytelling, abrupt transitions, and a generic call-to-action.

👨‍💻 How I’d Rewrite It 👨‍💻

Subject: My colleague used AI to steal a $120K job from under a Harvard MBA's nose (here's how)

Last month, my friend Sarah—a marketing manager with zero Ivy League credentials—beat out a Harvard MBA for a $120K dream job at Spotify.

The hiring manager later told her exactly why:

"Your personal brand stood out in ways none of the other candidates could match. Your industry analysis was sharper, your content more engaging, and your insights more original. How did you do all that preparation while working full-time?"

Sarah's secret weapon? She'd been using AI strategically to amplify her personal brand for the previous 90 days.

Not just throwing random prompts at ChatGPT, hoping for magic.

Not posting AI-generated LinkedIn content that sounds like everyone else's.

But using a specific framework to make AI her personal career accelerator—while her competitors were still using AI to write grocery lists and bad poetry.

Here's what's fascinating: Sarah isn't a tech genius. She's not a programmer. She couldn't explain how large language models work if her life depended on it.

She just learned a specific system for leveraging AI to make her personal brand impossible to ignore.

The same system I'm teaching—completely free—in my upcoming training:

"AI as Your Career Catapult: How to Use AI to Land Your Dream Job (While Everyone Else Falls Behind)"

This Tuesday, April 22nd at 8:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM PT

In this 75-minute training, you'll discover:

• The "Brand Amplification Framework" that helped Sarah beat 200+ applicants for her dream role (even with "just" a state school education)

• How to use AI to uncover your unique "career differentiators" that make hiring managers fight over you (hint: most people focus on the wrong things entirely)

• The 3-step method for creating thought leadership content so compelling, people will wonder if you've secretly hired a team of writers

• Why 87% of professionals are actually HURTING their careers with how they're currently using AI (and the simple shift that turns AI from a liability into your secret weapon)

• The "Future-Proof Protocol" that ensures you stay relevant no matter how quickly your industry evolves in the AI era

This isn't going to be one of those fluffy webinars full of generic advice that leaves you wondering why you bothered showing up.

I'll be showing real examples, sharing actual templates, and demonstrating the exact process that's helped my clients land positions at companies like Google, Netflix, and Salesforce—often with $30K-$50K salary increases.

And yes, it's completely free.

Why? Because I know that once you see the power of this approach, you'll understand why our paid programs have a waiting list. (No pressure though—this training delivers massive value whether you ever work with us or not.)

Spots are limited to 500 attendees to ensure I can answer questions, and my free trainings typically fill up within 48 hours.

[RESERVE YOUR SPOT NOW]

To your accelerated success,

-Anonymous Writer

Founder & CEO Catapult Dream Job

P.S. The career landscape is splitting into two distinct groups: those who know how to leverage AI strategically for career advancement, and those who will eventually work for them. Which group do you want to be in? Join us Tuesday at 8 PM ET and make sure you're on the right side of this career revolution.

✅ Why This Version Works Better ✅

The rewritten email transforms a generic invitation into a compelling success story that makes the reader visualize their own career breakthrough. Here's why it works:

1. The Story-Based Subject Line: "My colleague used AI to steal a $120K job from under a Harvard MBA's nose" creates immediate curiosity and desire. It suggests a David vs. Goliath narrative that most professionals secretly wish for themselves.
   

2. The Specific Success Example: Sarah's story provides a concrete, relatable example of what's possible. Instead of vague promises about "amplifying your brand," we see exactly what the outcome looks like: beating out more credentialed competitors for a premium job.
   

3. The Direct Quote: The hiring manager's feedback creates both credibility and desire. It reveals exactly what the end result looks like in practical terms—standing out, showing superior insights, creating engaging content.
   

4. The Curiosity Gap: The email creates a compelling information gap between what the reader knows (AI helped Sarah get a great job) and what they don't know (the specific framework that made it possible). This gap creates a powerful motivation to attend the training.
   

5. Clear Contrast: The email establishes a clear difference between the wrong way to use AI ("throwing random prompts at ChatGPT") and the right way (a strategic framework). This makes the reader question their current approach.
   

6. Specific, Tangible Benefits: Instead of vague promises like "unleashing potential," the rewritten email offers concrete benefits like "beat 200+ applicants" and "$30K-$50K salary increases."
   

7. Social Proof by Association: Mentioning specific companies (Google, Netflix, Salesforce) creates immediate credibility and aspiration. Most professionals would love to work at these companies, so this creates powerful motivation.
   

8. The Status-Based P.S.: The P.S. creates a compelling binary: either you're using AI strategically to advance your career, or you'll end up working for those who do. This taps into status anxiety—a powerful motivator for professional development.
   

9. Scarcity and Urgency: Limiting attendance to 500 and mentioning that trainings typically fill within 48 hours creates legitimate FOMO without feeling manipulative.
   

This email succeeds because it doesn't just tell the reader about a training—it shows them a specific, desirable transformation through a relatable story.

📝 What This Means For Your Emails 📝

1. Use specific salary figures in your examples: Notice how the email mentions specific numbers ($120K job, $30K-$50K salary increases). Concrete figures create more credibility and desire than vague promises of "earning more."
   

2. Create status comparison: The Harvard MBA vs. regular professional narrative taps into our natural competitive instincts. Look for ways to position your offer as the "great equalizer" that helps your audience compete above their weight class.
   

3. Include direct quotes from authority figures: The hiring manager's feedback is more powerful than any claim Jocelyn could make herself. Third-party validation, especially from people with decision-making power, creates instant credibility.
   

4. Establish the "wrong way" before presenting your solution: By pointing out how most people misuse AI (random prompts, grocery lists), the email creates contrast that makes the offered approach more valuable.
   

5. Create a binary future: The P.S. establishes two possible futures—being the AI leverager or working for one. This creates a stronger motivator than simply suggesting things will be "better" with the solution.
   

When you're promoting anything related to AI or emerging technology, remember that people aren't just buying technical knowledge—they're buying reassurance that they won't be left behind. The emotional core of these offers isn't tech mastery; it's career security and status preservation in an uncertain future.

To your higher conversion rates,

-Adrian

P.S. Notice how this email redo doesn't just explain what makes a good email—it demonstrates it. That's the difference between telling and showing, and it's why some emails get ignored while others get acted upon.

P.P.S. Speaking of emails that actually convert, I just discovered something you might find fascinating. While I've been obsessing over making normal emails better, my friend Andrew has been quietly perfecting cold email to the point where he can book qualified sales calls for as little as $3 each (while most businesses are paying $250-$500 per appointment).

He's running a workshop on May 5th that breaks down his entire system - including how to position your offers so prospects chase you instead of the other way around. If you're tired of the content hamster wheel and want a predictable client acquisition system you actually control, check it out here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qGvTSCG8_GHt0ayGN4Ifh-M9C1cVkMrsINjYYKSMmZQ/edit?usp=sharing.

Only $95, and enrollment closes May 5th at 10am EST.

P.P.S.