Most people send one letter. Then… they stop.
That’s their first mistake.
This is the true story of how I wrote three love letters - and made over $10,000 in just 10 days.
No ads. No lead-chasing. Just one offer, pitched the right way, to the right people.
The Setup
Back in 2015, I teamed up with a UK chiropractor. Together, we built a niche marketing agency helping other chiropractors around the globe attract more patients.
What brought us together?
We were both students of Dan Kennedy’s Magnetic Marketing system, and longtime members of his Inner Circle. In fact, my business partner first found me through this blog post I wrote back in 2014, where I talked about being a Kennedy-certified copywriter for info marketers.
One big opportunity we spotted?
Lapsed patients.
People who had visited a clinic for treatment once or twice… then never came back.
Most chiropractors ignored this list. We saw gold.
These weren’t cold leads. They were warm. Familiar. Some just needed the right nudge.
Direct Mail Is Not Dead
Before you roll your eyes - no, I’m not talking email.
I mean proper, old-school, stamped-envelope mail.
A core piece of Kennedy’s system is direct mail.
Real letters. Delivered by a real postie.
But here’s the thing - it’s not about the envelope.
It’s about follow-up.
Psst! I know what you’re thinking…
”Sending letters in the mail? That’s not part of my business.”
Stick with me here, ok? You’ll see where this is going.
Let’s say you mail one letter to 100 people. You’re offering something worth $1,000. You might get one sale - fantastic. You’ve made your $1,000.
But here’s where it gets interesting...
If you follow up with a second and third letter to the 99 who didn’t buy - each with a slightly different message but the same offer - your combined follow-ups will often match the performance of the first letter.
In our example, that second and third letter pulled in another $1,000 in sales - doubling the revenue.
Had we stopped at one letter, we would’ve earned half as much.
That’s the part most business owners miss.
They send one message… then give up.
But the pros?
They send three.
If You Hate Sending Mail…
You're not off the hook.
This strategy works across any channel. It’s the follow-up that matters - not the format.
If paper and postage aren’t your thing, try this:
A 3-part email series
Three short SMS reminders
A trio of DMs or voice notes
Even three back-to-back videos with the same call-to-action
The rule stays the same:
Message #1 might get ignored.
Message #2 might get skimmed.
But Message #3? That’s often the one that lands.
The Valentine’s Day Play 💝
Now to the Love Letters.
It was early January, and Valentine’s Day was just around the corner. We saw the perfect opportunity to package our follow-up strategy into a themed, done-for-you campaign.
The Power of Tying Your Message to the Moment
Here’s something most marketers miss:
It’s not just about what you say - it’s when you say it, and how you frame it.
We deliberately timed this campaign for chiropractors to go out just before Valentine’s Day. That gave them the perfect emotional angle to reach out to lapsed patients with a message of “We miss you. Come back.”
But instead of framing it as a boring “we’d like to see you again” reminder, we wrapped the message in the theme of love.
That’s why we called the package Love Letters.
The offer didn’t change. The ask stayed the same. But the presentation - timely, playful, emotionally disarming - made all the difference.
That’s the Hidden Power of Themed Campaigns
Hook your message to a calendar event that already means something to the reader, and you’re no longer interrupting - you’re joining the moment.
It doesn’t have to be Valentine’s Day. It could be a birthday. End of financial year (EOFY). Back-to-school. Even International Pizza Day. Pick a moment, match your message, and ride the wave of relevance.
That’s what we did. And it worked. Here’s how…
I wrote three templated letters for chiropractors to send to their lapsed patients - with a playful, affectionate twist:
“We miss you - and we still love you.”
“We’d love to see you again.”
“Never gonna give you up” (Yes, I quoted Rick Astley. 😀)
We didn’t stop at just writing the letters, either.
The full campaign included a handful of other clever marketing touches that tied into the Valentine’s Day theme - fun extras that helped the chiropractors message land even better.
But I won’t go into all of that here.
This post is about the strategy, not the full package.
We sold the full 3-letter campaign as a digital download for $197.
No printing. No postage on our end. Just editable templates delivered via download.
Here’s what made it work so well...
We didn’t advertise.
We didn’t hustle for leads.
We promoted it inside a private Facebook group of chiropractors - an active, engaged audience where we already had visibility and trust.
Over 50 chiropractors bought the package.
That’s $10,000+ in 10 days.
All profit.
Each buyer printed and posted the letters themselves, using their own lists and marketing budget.
We gave them the tools. They did the mailing.
Everyone won.
The Big Lesson
This isn’t a story about chiropractors.
It’s a lesson in doing what most won’t.
Most people:
Send one message
Get nothing
Move on
But if you follow up - once, twice, even three times - things shift.
You build trust. Stay top of mind. Multiply your results.
So ask yourself:
Where in your business do you need to send your own “love letters”?
Think about:
Past clients
Quiet subscribers
Lost leads
Abandoned carts
They don’t need a discount.
They just need to hear from you - more than once.
Three messages.
One offer.
No gimmicks. Just guts and consistency.
Try it.
Mike Searles
MENTOR MIKE
mentormike.net
P.S. Whether it’s letters, emails, or DMs - the rule holds.
One message plants the seed.
Two reminds them you care.
Three brings results.
Most people quit too early.
Don’t be most people.
P.P.S. If you liked this post - and want more money-making stories from my past (or just enjoy reading them) - hit the like button and drop a quick comment: “more like this please.” It really helps me know what’s worth sharing. Thanks.
About our author: Mike Searles (Mentor Mike) is a member of the Inkspired Community. He helps writers, professionals, and retirees turn their life experience and hard-won wisdom into extra income - by packaging what they know into high-value products and services that educate, inspire, and make a real difference.
It’s such a treat to get unique points-of-view from our guest writers. If you have a story idea for the Inkspired Community newsletter, direct message Maryan Pelland
