Sales has never been my superpower. In fact, it can be my kryptonite. That’s what I love about content so much; it does the selling without me. But it’s still important to make the ask.

I’d love it if you could forward this email to a friend who's in business and interested in content to help their marketing. I would appreciate it. And if you’re that friend? Subscribe today.

— Ann Gynn

🟩 attract → 🟧 CONVERT → ⬜ retain → ⬛ amplify

Q: People visit my site and follow me online, but no one's signing up for anything. What am I doing wrong?

A: You probably haven't asked them to do anything.

It sounds obvious, but it's one of the most common oversights. If you don't tell your audience what to do next, they usually do nothing. You need to spell out the next step. In marketing terms, that's the call to action — the CTA.

Make a clear ask: A strong CTA isn't just a button or a line of text. Effective CTAs do three things: They name the action, make the value clear, and remove hesitation. Here's what that looks like in practice:

Give only one option: Psychologist Barry Schwartz popularized the idea known as the paradox of choice — excessive options create anxiety, decision paralysis, and dissatisfaction. Researchers Iyengar and Lepper did a test known as the jam study. They opened a tasting booth with 24 varieties of jam, and only 3% of visitors made a purchase. When the booth offered just six varieties, 30% bought something. The lesson: Limit your CTA to a single action request per article, podcast episode, video, landing page, or newsletter section.

Match the CTA to where your audience is. A HubSpot analysis of 330,000 CTAs found personalized CTAs convert 202% better than basic ones. But personalized doesn't mean "Hey, [FIRST NAME], download this." It means matching the ask to where someone is in their journey with you. Someone who just found your website, watched your first video, or listened to their first episode isn't ready to book a call. They'll respond better to a low-stakes ask, such as a related piece of content or a newsletter signup. Save the bigger ask for people who've been around a while.

Place the CTA where people actually stop. For short content, the end is the right spot. For long-form content — guides, podcast episodes, longer videos — add a CTA in the middle too. Not everyone makes it to the end, and the ones who do were already engaged enough to get there.

You’re already getting attention. Now, a clear, well-placed CTA can make that attention count. Small tweaks here can turn a site full of visitors and followers into a steadily growing list of people who actually want to hear from you.

Got a question you’d like me to answer in a future edition of The Hotline? Call or text Marketing By One Hotline: +1.440.661.3984.

This week: Rewrite your weakest CTA — the one that just says "sign up" or "learn more" or "download" — using the three-element framework: Name the action. Make the value clear. Remove hesitation.

Don’t have a CTA? Add a strong one.

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I am working with a client to develop a workshop. We had a call to review the slide deck and exchanged an email about the PowerPoint content. I asked Claude to analyze the call transcript and email exchange along with the slide deck to create a list of what still needs to be done. It generated a master to-do list — big-picture tasks and slide-by-slide action items. It even went so far as to realize a single misspelling in the footer on one slide.

Have any AI tricks of your own? Hit reply, call, or text the Marketing By One Hotline: +1.440.661.3984.

Take a photo of something in your day that could become a social media post. Behind-the-scenes content is a popular and easy-to-execute trend.

🔥 Hot Reddit: AI engines love Reddit, and brands are making themselves and their expertise known. It’s a great opportunity for a solo entrepreneur to show up as themselves. Learn why in this article I wrote for the Content Marketing Institute.

🔓 Open the gate: Chuck Moxley shared a real-world example with some surprising numbers about what happens when you stop gating your content. I dug in and asked him some more questions to write this case study.

📚 Book list: A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned in What I Did With AI This Week that I organized book recommendations by categories and title. Here’s the final list of women-authored books for marketers (to celebrate Women’s History Month).

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Got a question you’d like me to answer in The Hotline? Email me or DM me on LinkedIn. Even better: Text or leave a message on the Marketing By One Hotline: +1.440.661.3984.