The best prospecting move for an email marketer costs nothing but an email address. Sign up for the newsletter of every online store you'd like to work for, wait a week, and read what arrives. Most small stores send a weak welcome email or none at all, and you can describe the gap in a sentence.

Below are three emails built on that observation, a price sheet, and a way to track 40 stores without losing the thread. The buyer is the founder or ecommerce manager at an online store, and the first thing you sell is one flow, the welcome series, at a flat price.

How to use these templates

Use a separate email address for the sign-ups, for example a Gmail account you only use for audits. For each store, sign up with the pop-up or footer form, make a note of the date, and wait seven days. Screenshot or save every email that arrives, with the time it arrived. Then open the store's site and note how they present the offer.

That week of watching is your research. Each template below needs one concrete observation, and you will have it. Aim for 40 stores in the first pass; maybe 25 will give you something worth writing about.

Email 1: the signup-audit note

When to use it: a week after you signed up, when you have a specific observation. Late summer is a good time, because Q4 planning is starting and the founder is thinking about holiday sales.

Subject: What your welcome email did after I signed up

Hi Sophie, I signed up for the Wren & Harbor newsletter last Tuesday to see what happens next. I got one email, immediately, with the 10% code. Nothing came after that, and I haven't heard from you since. I do welcome series for small online stores: three emails over a week that introduce the brand, show the best sellers and bring back anyone who didn't use the code. Happy to send a one-page outline of what I'd send you. Rae Donovan, [mailing address]. Reply "no" and I won't write again.

Why it works: it describes what the founder's customer actually received. She can check it in her own inbox in a minute. It also asks for nothing except permission to send an outline.

Variation: if the store's welcome email is good but there's no abandoned-cart email (add a product to the cart and leave), say that instead. Describe what you saw and what is missing, and keep it to two sentences.

Email 2: the follow-up with a flow outline

When to use it: four days after Email 1, with or without a reply. If she said yes, send the outline. If she didn't answer, send it anyway as a follow-up that stands on its own.

Subject: Rough outline for a 3-email welcome series for Wren & Harbor

Hi Sophie, here's what I'd build, in your voice. Email 1 (immediately): thank them, give the 10% code, explain it expires in seven days. Email 2 (day 2): the story of how you make the candles, with your three best sellers. Email 3 (day 5): a reminder that the code expires on day 7, with a customer review. Each is under 150 words with one button. I'd write all three and set them up in your email platform for $450 flat. If you'd like to see a sample of Email 2 first, I'll send one tomorrow. Rae

Why it works: it is a plan she could pick up and use herself. That reduces the fear that you're selling vague "email marketing." It also contains a price.

Variation: for a store that already has a welcome series, replace it with an outline for one flow they lack: abandoned cart, post-purchase, or win-back.

Email 3: replying to "how much?"

When to use it: as soon as someone asks. The worst thing to do is go vague. Answer with a number and a choice.

Subject: Re: How much?

Hi Sophie, two options. Option one: the welcome series, $450 one time, done in a week. Option two: the welcome series plus a monthly campaign (one promotional email and one story email) at $450 setup and $600 a month, with a short report each month. Most stores start with option one and add the monthly work once they see the welcome flow performing. I'd suggest that, too. Want me to start this week? Rae

Why it works: two options let the buyer choose a size, not a yes or no. The smaller one is genuinely smaller.

Variation: for a store with an email list over about 10,000, a percentage of email revenue is an alternative, but keep a floor so you are paid for setup.

A setup-plus-monthly price sheet

Here is a sheet you can adapt. Use your own numbers; these are illustrative.

  • Welcome series, 3 emails: $450 one time.
  • Abandoned cart, 2 emails: $300 one time.
  • Post-purchase, 2 emails: $300 one time.
  • Monthly campaigns, 2 emails a month plus a report: $600 a month, 3-month minimum.
  • Bundle: all three flows plus 3 months of campaigns: $1,050 setup plus $600 a month, or $2,850 over three months.

The arithmetic: three flows add to $1,050. Three months of campaigns is $1,800. Together $2,850. If one store signs the bundle, you earn roughly the same as 6 welcome-series-only clients. That tells you where to put your attention once a conversation starts.

What to include in the audit

Keep the audit to one page: the date you signed up, the emails you received with timestamps, what was missing, and the outline for the flow you'd build. A screenshot of the first email beats a paragraph. Don't include revenue claims you can't back up.

Tracking 40 stores

A spreadsheet works. Columns: store, founder or ecommerce manager, signup date, emails received, observation, email 1 sent, email 2 sent, reply, price quoted, next step and date. Colour is optional, dates are not. If you want more on how to make this scalable, see personalisation at low volume and the follow-up sequence. For related buyers, see ecommerce brand customers and copywriter clients.

The stores keep launching, so the list never ends. Rocketship finds founders and ecommerce managers by name, emails them from your own Gmail, follows up, and books the call on its own. Plans that get you customers start at $24.99 a month (Launch), and both Launch and Frontier start with a 7-day free trial, card required. See what the AI workers take off your plate.