For legitimate marketers, email marketing is still the most effective channel to reach your customers.

Did you know that 91% of all consumers check their e-mail daily? Did you know that 66% of US customers over 15 have purchased at least one product via an email campaign?

Below is one of my favorite welcome email sequences. Here are the important points:

The Welcome email doesn't start with lengthy introduction, but goes straight into the subject.
The person writing the emails has a firsthand "insider" information about the subject.
The emails are loaded with value and makes you want to open the next email.
The purpose is to get the person to the next step of the value ladder, which is a paid community and a 28-day challenge.

Welcome Sequence: Keto Dash

Business type: Weight loss

Email #1: [3-Day Weight Loss Challenge] Day 0: What it means to do a detox

Thanks for checking out the 3-Day Weight Loss Challenge.

I'm Elisa, the founder of Keto Dash. My goal for this challenge is to provide you with new techniques and approaches for becoming a healthier you while keeping them as actionable and succinct as possible.

And today, we start with a look at what how what you eat is affecting your body.

This is one of those "duh" kind of topics because you know what you eat has some type of affect on your body but you might not understand how much.

It's easy to say you shouldn't drink soda but why does that soda cause you so much harm?

Why do those tasty sandwiches seem to add inches even when they are labeled as low-fat and healthy?

The answer is usually that your hormones aren't cooperating with what you want.

Hormones?!

Yep.

Doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman, if you can't get a hold of your hormones, you're going to have trouble losing weight.

The main hormone that we are going to look at today is insulin.

What is insulin?

Insulin helps us absorb nutrients from our food. Whenever we eat those yummy carbs, the amount of sugar in our blood increases, and the pancreas releases insulin to help take the sugar out of the bloodstream and into our organs where it can be used for energy.

From now on I'll refer to this sugar as glucose.

When you eat too many carbs it can make you less sensitive to insulin. Why is this bad?

Because it means that you need to produce more insulin than your body actually needs in order to keep blood sugar stable.

This in turn means you have trouble digesting carbs and absorbing nutrients so you gain weight.

For some people, this insulin sensitivity becomes diabetes.

Insulin resistance isn't just a problem because of diabetes. It's also a big issue for thyroid problems and several kinds of cancer.

Yes, the main goal of this challenge is to help you burn body fat, but it's important to understand the other health effects you might be putting your body through without even knowing it.

With all of this in mind you can see that the less sugar you put into your body, the better your body can function.

Sugar doesn't just come from the sodas and cupcakes, but also all of the carbs you consume in the form of rice, breads, and pastas.

The goal of this challenge is not only weight loss, but to also show you the benefits your body will feel once it becomes less dependent on glucose as a fuel source.

Because you are going to be abstaining from carbs for 3 days you'll find that your body has more energy than usual. This is because your body will start the process of no longer depending on carbs and glucose as a fuel source.

Your body will soon be running on clean energy.

A word of warning, however. These couple of days might suck for you depending on how reliant you are on carbs to push you through the day. Don't be surprised if your body starts to fight back with small headaches and sniffles.

This is known as the keto flu, but don't worry there are ways to combat it.

Time to begin...

Wait, what?

Yeah, if you want to start now you can or if you want to make sure you are fully prepared then I suggest wait till you receive all 3 emails, read over them, and prepare accordingly.

If you are ready to begin now then figure out what time your last meal of today is going to be.

Why?

Because you aren't going to eat again for another 24 hours.

That's right, this 3-day weight loss challenge starts with a 24-hour fast.

Instead of eating, you are going to focus on drinking. The 3 drinks that you can consume in the next 24 hours are:

Apple Cider Vinegar (you'll probably want to mix this in water, 1-2 tablespoons is more than enough).
Lemon water. Fresh squeezed lemons, not the lemon juice in a bottle. I like to use seltzer water since it makes me feel like I'm drinking something cool.
Matcha green tea or plain green tea.

How exactly does the 24-hour fast work? If you finish your last meal at 7 pm today then you can't eat again until 7 pm tomorrow. Don't worry, this is the only 24-hour fast you'll endure during these 3 days.

After that, you'll be back to eating.

So you can get started right away or wait another day or two to mentally prepare for this journey.

This weight loss challenge will provide you with actionable tips on how you can cleanse your body and give it a proper restart in 3 days. More on that later...

Tomorrow, we'll be delving into why understanding your macros is one of the most important aspects of weight loss.

If you have any questions in the meantime, please hit the reply button and drop me a line. I will respond personally to every email.

And if you're ahead of the curve and want to get started on the Ketogenic Diet, feel free to learn more about Keto Dash here.

Until tomorrow,

ElisaKeto Superhero

Email #2: [3-Day Weight Loss Challenge] Day 1: The Fast

Yesterday, you learned about how insulin affects your weight loss goals.

Today is your 24-hour fast which technically started last night.

Why are you doing a fast?

The goal of the fast is to deplete your glucose reserves so that your body starts to learn to rely on a different fuel source: fat.

The reason why you are often hungry or craving that Snickers is because your body can't hold that much glucose and depending on your level of activity it can burn through it quickly.

This is why just a quick snack can provide relief for you because it gives your body the small surge of glucose that it needs.

Fortunate (or unfortunately depending on how you look at it) your body can store much more fat than glucose.

Essentially, you're gifting your body an unlimited fuel source because your body can store it easily.

However, your body can't access the fat it needs to use for fuel until there is no more glucose to use.

The main reason why is because you need to drop your insulin levels to allow the fat cells to move throughout the body.

This is why with almost every diet people first lose water weight. The fat cells that store the water needs to shrink in size for your body to use. You'd be amazed at how much water is being stored in the fat cells.

To let your body know it's time to get serious you are going to reduce consumption of things down to either:

Lemon water
Matcha green tea (or plain green tea)
Apple cider vinegar

The reason why these drinks are selected is because they each provide unique benefits. Most importantly, they can help to suppress your appetite.

Every morning I like to have a glass of lemon water because I do what is called intermittent fasting and I only eat during a specific 8-hour window of my day.

It might seem crazy to go 24 hours without eating but you'll be surprised by what your body can do.

The First Meal

At the end of the day you get to eat again!

But what do you eat?

Because you are training your body to become a fat-burner instead of a sugar-burner it's important that you pick a meal that is high in quality fats along with protein.

One of the weirdest concepts that you have to wrap your brain around is that to lose weight with this lifestyle, you need to eat more high-quality fats.

When you are no longer relying on carbs as your fuel source, fats become the energy that your body needs. Don't worry, your body won't store them if you are eating the right amount.

So what kind of meals should you consider?

Check out our post on Keto Dinners to give you some ideas.

Each of these recipes are keto-friendly and help to give you an idea of the delicious meals that you get to have on this lifestyle.

Macros

Looking at the recipes you'll notice that they contain macro information. The macros that you are concerned about are:

Fat
Protein
Net Carbs

Weight gain usually occurs when you consume more calories than you burn throughout the day.

Of course it also matters where those calories are coming from.

With Keto, you plan your day around a ratio of 75% fats, 20% proteins, and 5% carbs.

The idea being that it's possible to calculate exactly how much of each macro you need to consume in a day to lose weight.

The goal isn't to eat the least amount of food as possible. That won't get you anywhere.

The goal is to provide your body with the right type of fuel that it needs to power you through the day along with losing weight and feeling great.

While calculating macros goes beyond the lessons in this 3-day weight loss challenge (we do show you how to calculate your macros in our Keto Dash program along with calculating them for you if needed), you can find a number of online macro calculators to help you out.

It's very important that you understand your macro goals. You don't need them for this challenge because this challenge is simply meant to show you the affect of living a low-carb lifestyle.

However, if you want to adapt this lifestyle for the rest of your life, then you need to understand the importance that macros play in your goals.

Tomorrow, I'm going to run you through my weekly routine.

- ElisaKeto Marvel

Email #3 [3-Day Weight Loss Challenge] Day 2: Meal Planning

Do you want to know why many people fail at dieting of any type?

It's because they don't plan.

Life is pretty easy when everything is planned out for you, but unless you're doing Weight Watchers then often times you're left out on your own.

What happens when that occurs?

You start off well until one day you find yourself in a pinch and you need to pick up something quick to eat. You find yourself at a McDonald's trying to figure out what will fit within your diet and figure one cheat meal isn't going to do any damage.

Later that day you think to yourself that since you've already cheated for the day then it's a wash so you can eat whatever you want for dinner.

You'll start all over again tomorrow.

Unfortunately, more times than not, tomorrow never comes.

That's why I tell all of my clients that if they want to be successful with this lifestyle, in the long run, they need to know how to meal plan.

Some of you might think that meal planning is boring because it implies the same meals over and over again.

Sure that works for bodybuilders but not me.

Meal planning to me just means I know exactly what I'm going to cook and what items I need to cook them with.

It removes the stress of scrambling throughout the day trying to figure out what I'm going to eat that will help me reach my macros and stay on course with my health goals.

So in this email, I just want to walk you through my weekly routine.

Sunday

This is the big day. Your day can be Monday, Friday, or whenever. I just choose to go with Sunday.

Sunday I sit down and see if I need to recalculate my macros. This only takes a 2-3 minutes.

From there I start to meal plan.

I'm pretty consistent with breakfasts. I juggle between 2-3 different ones and since I use an app to help me track my macros I can easily plug in the different breakfasts that I want on which days.

That leaves me to plan lunch, dinner, and snacks.

I usually start with dinners because a lot of the recipes that I use to create more than 2 servings and since it's just my husband and me, that means we can have leftovers for lunch.

Once I figure out my dinners and have some of my lunches figured out with leftovers, I check to see how close I am on my macros.

From there I try to fill in the gaps with some snacks or fat bombs.

Some days I get to eat my pudding and some days I don't.

Then I go to the grocery store and get what I need and prepare a day or two of meals.

I don't cook for the whole week because that seems like it would be way more work than I am willing to invest on my day off.

From there it's simply waking up and looking at my app to see what I'm supposed to eat for the day.

I don't have to worry about if I'm eating right or eating what I need because it's all there.

Not only does this get me on track health-wise but it also helps me mentally because my mind is no longer focused on what I need to eat and when.

Daily Schedule

Because I do what is known as intermittent fasting I only eat between a set time frame throughout the day.

The version of intermittent fasting that I do is 16/8 which means that I fast for 16 hours and eat for 8. Usually I eat my first meal at 11am and make sure I finish my final meal by 7pm.This works out well for me because I can get the day started being productive without making sure I need to get food in me.

Lemon water in the morning usually does a good job of suppressing my appetite.

As for you...

Search for Keto meals on Pinterest to see what you can make for breakfast and dinner. Lunch usually doesn't require much preparation.

You're still trying your best to stay away from white carbs. A lot of the healthy vegetables that you consume will have some carbs in them but you would only know that by doing research.

Tomorrow, we are going to cover my daily routine along with the importance of drinking water and how to make sure you are replenishing your electrolytes.

- ElisaFat Bomb Diffuser

Email #4: [3-Day Weight Loss Challenge] Day 3: Treat Yourself

Congrats on making it to the final day!

A lot of people don't make it this far.

In fact, looking at our numbers almost 73% of the people that start this 3-day detox bail by the second day so that makes you pretty elite.

What do you do on the 3rd day?

Today you get to treat yourself.

This doesn't mean you jump back into carbs. It means that you get to make yourself a fat bomb.

What's a fat bomb?

While your body is burning off of all of the glucose that usually fuels your system it begins to switch over to burning fat. This metabolic state is known as ketosis and is the basis behind the ketogenic diet.

The Ketogenic Diet is a high-fat, moderate protein and low-carb diet which is what you've been experiencing over the past 3 days.

One of the keys of keto is ensuring that you get enough high-quality fats into your system daily. This can be difficult so what people do is create fat bombs to make life easier.

The great thing about fat bombs is they usually come in the form of tasty treats and are 100% good for you.

For example, I love to make pudding fat bombs where I get sugar-free pudding and mix it with heavy cream. That's it. This allows me to reach my fat macros daily along with satisfying my sweet tooth.

It's awesome!

But getting in high-quality fats isn't all that you need to do. One overlooked aspect of any type of weight loss program is water.

You need to drink a lot of it!

Why? Because you want your organs to function properly so they can do their jobs and it's hard to do that if you aren't drinking any water.

Your goal is to drink between 0.5 ounces to 1 ounce of water per pound of bodyweight.

If you aren't getting enough water then you won't see any results. It's simple as that.

More water also means more trips to the bathroom. This might not seem like a big deal until you take into account that your body is also getting rid of much needed electrolytes.

If you feel light-headed, drowsy, or like you are getting a cold, then chances are it's because you aren't replenishing your electrolytes.

This isn't a problem because you just need to get them back into your system. Salt, hot sauce, pickles, and lots of other things can help you get the sodium, potassium, and magnesium that your body needs to keep you feeling level.

If you want to flavor your water and get electrolytes then I suggest getting some MiO Electrolytes and you can easily add this to your water when needed.

Congratulations on going 3 days on a low-carb diet. Hopefully, you are noticing some results. Remember, everybody's body is different so some people see drastic changes (5-7 lbs) while others might just see a drop of 1-3lbs. Either way, you are doing something good for your body and that's what is important.

I have one more thing that I want to share with you tomorrow so keep an eye out for it.

- ElisaTurning into a seal with how much water she drinks.

Email #5: [3-Day Weight Loss Challenge] The Keto Dash System

A lot of the principles that you learned in this 3-day challenge are based around the ketogenic diet.

The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, moderate protein, and low-carb lifestyle.

We call it a lifestyle because it isn't a fad that you do for 30 days and quit. You incorporate it into your life so that you can live a much more fulfilling one.

Because going on the keto journey alone can be challenging, we've created the Keto Dash Community where you and others can share your journey so you don't feel like you are alone.

We also provide you with a number of resources to help ensure that you succeed with the ketogenic diet.

Most importantly, we are with you every step of the way. If you have any questions you can always ask them in our Slack community or email me and I will personally respond.

This isn't a system where you are left hanging to do things on your own. That's no fun.

Instead, it's created to make sure that even if you slip up here and there, you have a community of people around to help pick you back up.

Because our goal is to help as many people as possible we've priced Keto Dash in a way that we feel is both affordable and valuable.

We have members of all ages. Here is what 76-year old Janice Falcon had to say about Keto Dash:

I have tried many different diets and diet plans. They include Dr. Atkins, South Beach Diet, Nutrisystem, Beach Body, plus just watching calories with portion control. Some walking was always included with the diets. All of these diets worked for a while, but I would lose five to ten pounds and stop at that point. After that, it was always a struggle. Sometimes because of hunger or lack of variety in the food. I actually became bored with those diets even though I always bought the cookbooks that went with some of the diets.

I started Keto Dash on June 5, 2017. It did take me a little while to learn how to get close to my macros, but I finally have reached that point. With the Keto Diet, I have never gotten hungry since there is a large variety of foods and recipes that I really like. I have learned to drink my coffee with butter and coconut oil plus heavy cream and found it to be delicious. I now drink flavored sparkling water with no sweetener and really enjoy it. I have lost 14 pounds and hope to keep it going until I lose 9 more pounds. No longer do I have swelling in my body that had me taking diuretics so I have stopped them. My blood pressure is better and I will be talking to my doctor next month about stopping my blood pressure medication. I would recommend this diet for everyone.

How awesome is that?!

Normally, Keto Dash membership is $147 but because you completed the 3-Day Challenge you can get in today at just $47.

If you're ready to continue your weight loss journey then let's get started today.

If you have any questions about Keto Dash then just reply to this email and I will be happy to help.

- Elisa

Email #6: The day my Grandmother called...

Losing weight is great but if I could sell people on the benefits of Keto, weight loss wouldn't top the list.

What I love about Keto is the changes it makes to your body that you might not notice until you sit down and think about them.

For example, my grandmother has been taking cholesterol and blood pressure medicine for a very long. This is pretty common amongst older people but the reality of it is, it can happen to anyone at anytime.

When she found out I was doing Keto, she was interested in giving it a shot because of the weight loss benefits.

Of course, I'm always happy to help someone when they wish to start their Keto journey, so I helped calculate her macros, gave her a meal plan and set her on her way.

Almost every day she would send me a text with a picture of the meal that she just prepared. Now, these weren't magazine worthy pictures, but you could tell she was proud of them because they were something new.

It's a weird feeling taking the time to cook a meal knowing that it's going to help you lose weight so I understood her excitement.

About 45 days into her journey she called me up and she was extremely happy.

"Elisa, guess what?!"

What?

"I no longer have to take my blood pressure medicine!"

What? Wow! Really? You sure?

"Yep, the doctor said I'm at normal levels and don't need it anymore."

I must admit when I saw that I was losing weight with Keto I was super happy. When my grandmother told me that she no longer had to take blood pressure medicine I was over the damn mood.

I don't think I've ever been so happy in my life and it all stemmed from her excitement.

But she wasn't done yet.

"I think within a month I can get off my cholesterol medicine as well!"

Okay, this was taking things too far!

I understand the benefits of Keto but I don't have blood pressure or cholesterol issues so I can't say that Keto has helped me in that regard.

Hearing it from someone I love really showed me why this isn't a diet, but a lifestyle.

I think we often get caught up in our appearance and forget that there is a lot of stuff going on within our bodies that we need to get right.

The less you have to worry about taking your daily medicine, the more you get to focus on experiencing life and I think really that's what it comes down to.

Helping your body be ready to live the life that you want.

That's why I love Keto and why I'm always so excited to hear the stories that Keto Dash members (even family members!) send my way.

- Elisa

PS: As always, if you ever have questions about the ketogenic diet, I'm here to help. Just reply to this email and ask away.

Email #7: The Mental Focus that Keto Brings

Hey there! Paul here, Elisa's much worse half.

I wanted to drop in today to talk about an aspect of Keto that always get overlooked and that is the mental focus that it brings to you.

Elisa and I are fortunate to run our own businesses from home. When you run your own business you want to be on top of your game as much as possible and I always thought I was until I started Keto.

What I didn't realize is that the way I was eating before Keto was causing me to have what is called brain fog. My mind would drift and I couldn't concentrate for long periods of time.

Of course, you don't know this is a problem if this is how things always are. You don't know there is a problem until you experience something better.

After being in ketosis for a couple of weeks I noticed that I was sitting at my computer and able to write for much longer periods of time withouT my mind drifting.

I was getting more done in a shorter amount of time.

It was a weird feeling and something I probably would've ignored had I not consciously been tracking what I was doing.

Once you're on Keto and you go off of it for whatever reason, you'll understand what I mean by brain fog.

It's like someone switched your brain out and you can't focus the same.

It's beyond weird.

Elisa and I aren't perfect. There are times when we knock ourselves out of ketosis and when that happens it's always my lack of mental focus that pulls me back in.

It's tough to imagine how your mind works when it's at full capacity but when it does you never want to go back.

This is probably my most favorite aspect of Keto but it's not something that I can ever explain accurately.

So even if you aren't trying to lose weight but you want to enhance your life in other ways, Keto can still be for you.

We've helped over 700 people lose weight over at Keto Dash and this year we're aiming to help 5000 more!

As the cool kids say:

Get your mind right!

- Paul

Email #8: Can you lose too much weight with Keto?

Something interesting happened the other day and in all honesty, I don't recall it ever happening before. A Keto Dash member asked if it was okay that they had lost 13 lbs in the first week.

That's a lot of weight!

Is this typical of what you can expect on the ketogenic diet? Of course not. If you weight 138lbs you aren't going to lose 13 lbs in your first week but if you weight 280 then it's definitely possible.

When you start the ketogenic diet, your body starts to go through changes. As there is less insulin blocking the fat cells from releasing water, you'll find that you lose a ton of water weight.

For some reason people like to rag on water weight. They say things like "psh, that's just water weight!"

Ummmm, okay. Weight is weight! If it disappears then that's all we care about.

What they don't mention is that to burn fat you have to lose the water weight first. Why? Because when your fat cells are too big from holding water, they can't be released into your bloodstream.

Keto helps to remove water from the fat cells so they can finally enter your bloodstream and be used as energy.

Your first week on Keto is usually your most dramatic and then things start to normalize a bit as your body gets used to things.

It's what we prepare you for in the Keto Dash program.

If you're ready to give it a try then check out the 28-Day Weight Loss Challenge and see what happens when you first drop the water weight and then the "real" weight.

- Elisa

Sample Welcome Sequence