How Practitioners Can Make More Sales from Email (Without Being Salesy)
If you're a practitioner who offers online courses, programs, or memberships, your email list probably brings in some sales. But if you're like a lot of the clinicians I talk to, you've noticed it's taking more work to get those sales than it did a few years ago, and with the cost of everything rising, the sales may not be keeping up with what your business actually needs.
Hopefully it’s somewhat comforting that you’re not the only one experiencing this. You’re not necessarily doing email “wrong” either. But inboxes really are a very different place today than they were back in 2023 or before.
Email is still one of the best ways for practitioners to sell online offers. Despite shifting privacy rules and stricter deliverability standards, the overall return on investment remains remarkably high. (In Litmus's 2025 survey of email marketers, a third reported earning $36 to $50 for every $1 spent.) What's changed is what gets people to open, read, and buy.
Here’s what we’ll cover in this article:
Why it's harder to make sales from your email list right now
How to stand out when every email sounds the same
Small changes that bring in more sales without sending more emails
If you want email templates and examples right away, download Email Income Boosts for Practitioners here. It's a free email resource created specifically for practitioners.
How practitioners make more sales from email marketing (quick answers)
Here’s an ultra-quick rundown, but keep reading for the specifics and how to best put these into practice.
Break your own patterns so subscribers can't predict (and skim past) every email
Mix shorter emails in with your longer, story-driven ones
Put your point and your link near the top
Make it clear how people can get your help, in almost every email
Use short emails that ask for a reply, so you learn what people want before you sell to them
Why is it harder to make sales from your email list than it used to be?
My clients and practitioners I know with online programs are saying some version of the same thing: sales used to feel easier.
Some people are doing the same amount of work for fewer sales. Others are working noticeably harder just to keep their income steady. Either way, this isn’t the direction we want to go.
I’ve been in marketing since 2021, as the online course boom was building, and it seems to me that a few things are happening at once.
There are more online offers than ever.
The post-COVID boom brought a wave of people online including a lot of practitioners who built courses and programs. (In my totally biased opinion, practitioners should have MORE online offers to compete with others who don’t have nearly the depth of knowledge… but I digress.)
Your ideal client has more options than they did five years ago.
AI lowered the bar for creating content.
Almost anyone can put together a lead magnet, a course outline, and a month of emails. They may even be able to do all of this in one afternoon by using AI. Because of this, our inboxes and feeds are packed with content that sounds polished and says very little.
Your email is sitting between dozens of others that may look a lot like it at a glance.
Running a business costs more.
The cost of everything has gone up recently. Nearly every software tool business owners use to run their businesses has announced a price increase recently. Everyone is facing this expense increase, so people are being more discerning about where they spend their money.
That combination is frustrating, especially when you've been doing what you were told works.
Why do so many emails sound the same now?
A few years ago, the advice (including my own blog post on welcome sequences from 2022) leaned heavily on building connection through story. Open with a personal moment, connect it to a lesson, then make the offer. That structure worked well, and people read those emails.
But AI has learned this formula and overused it. Now nearly everyone has some version of the story-to-lesson-to-pitch email in every single email, and a lot of those stories are AI-generated, generic, or both. Readers skim past the lead-in faster, often because they aren't sure whether the story is real or just an AI-created tale.
Stories, persuasion, and objection handling still belong in your emails. They're a big part of how people decide to trust you. But, AI over-does the pattern. Every email can't be long, and every email can't follow the same shape.
People who already know you will read your longer emails, because they know the story is actually yours. But when people are first getting to know and trust you, they’re more skeptical and likely to unsubscribe than they were in years past.
Sending the same email at the same time each week may train subscribers to ignore you
This is counterintuitive and goes against most traditional email marketing advice.
Most coaches will tell you to send your newsletter, or weekly email on the same day and time each week for consistency. Supposedly, this would make people look forward to your email and be more likely to open it.
I don’t know about you, but I frequently forget what day of the week it is. I’m certainly not waiting around for someone’s email to arrive in my inbox every Thursday at 2pm.
In fact, if your emails land on the same day each week, follow the same format, and end with the same call to action, it may work against you. Subscribers know what to expect and may think, “I’ll read that later”. Or they unsubscribe because they decide the thing you always pitch isn’t what they’re looking for. They assume they already know what's inside, so if you offer something different, they totally miss it.
Get a little unpredictable with your emails
What if, instead, you email your list when there’s something new or helpful to share?
Put some spice back in your email marketing and don’t get in a rut. People won't know if it’s a one-time sale, a beta offer for a new program, or a rare opening for 1:1 coaching from you. If they open it too late and they miss out on something, they may be motivated to open faster next time.
If you’ve ever opened an email for airline flash sale a day too late, you know the feeling. (Tell me it’s not just me who feels the remorse!)
You want subscribers to think, "Ooh, it's Krista. I wonder what she's up to now," and actually open the email, instead of assuming it's another story about your kid's dance recital followed by some AI-generated advice.
Now, full disclosure, this makes it tricky to batch your content, but a little bit of spontenaity is a simple way to stand out when everyone else is following a pattern.
What happens if you’ve neglected your email list?
I'll be the example here, because I've done this a few times.
We moved to a different house in 2026. During the packing, prepping, and unpacking, I was terrible about emailing my list. It wasn’t a priority for me. Since there were only around 100 people on the list and I hadn’t added anyone new recently, I didn’t think there were any buyers there.
After the dust settled and I got over my embarrassment of neglecting my list, I started sending focused, specific emails with clear, benefits-driven offers.
A few things flopped, but when I tried a new angle, I earned around $500 from that small, neglected list. PLUS I got to connect with some really awesome practitioners and help with their SEO/GEO so they will be found through AI searches easier.
The $500 isn’t a “six-figure launch”, but it’s enough to stop and take notice of it.
The other benefit was the actual conversations that some of the emails sparked. Clinicians replied and told me what they were working on. They shared where they were stuck and what programs/tools/offers they’d already tried. Conversations with your email subscribers can be one of the best forms of audience research available to you.
You don't need a huge list to turn email into a profitable marketing channel. You need to be clear, make the offer, and let people say yes to the help they need.
Not all email strategies require sending more emails
When I talk about email marketing, most practitioners will say something like, “I know I should use my email list, but I don’t want to annoy them with too many emails.”
I’ll dig into this below. I understand where healthcare practitioners are coming from - you’re conscious about respecting your readers, so I have ideas even if I don’t think you’re annoying anyone.
In the Email Income Boosts for Practitioners resource, I share three simple things to try with your email list that don’t require sending additional emails.
Here is a peek at one of the ideas in the resource:
Open some emails with a TL;DR
Effective email marketing isn't much different from doing client visits. Tell them what they need to know, and leave them with clear next steps.
You don’t have to use the TL;DR acronym every time, especially if your audience won’t know what it means, but the concept is to get to the point of the email within the first 1-2 sentences.
People are checking email on-the-go. Plus, Gmail, Apple Mail, and other providers may show an AI-generated summary before people open the email. If the point of your email is buried 5-paragraphs deep, the summary may not reflect it, and people will be less likely to open the email.
This is an example with a made-up course:
Traditional opening: Hey Jordan, last week a parent asked me something after a session that I hear all the time...
To-the-point opening: TL;DR: If mealtimes with your picky eater are a daily battle, XYZ feeding course opens Tuesday. Here's the waitlist link. Now, the story behind why I built it...
Your story is still in there for the people who want it. The skimmers and the AI summary get the point without having to sift through extra text to find it.
Use short emails to do audience research
The other three ideas in the Email Income-Boosts for Practitioners resource are ultra-short emails to send occasionally, in addition to your regular emails.
These emails are only a few lines long and don’t include a story, teaching, or images. They stand out because they look nothing like the rest of the inbox. They look less like a marketing email and more like an email you would send directly.
The goal is to get a reply.
From the reply, you learn exactly what they're struggling with, what they’ve tried, or where they are in their search for solutions. This can show you how you can help and allow you to start a real conversation with potential clients.
The real conversation feels a lot more natural to most clinicians than a hard sell. It also means you can stop sending broad "spray and pray" emails and start sending specific, targeted ones based on what people actually told you.
In the email income resource, you'll find three of these emails, including subject lines and sample wording. If you try them, I would love to know how they work for you!
"Won't more sales emails feel pushy or be annoying?"
Now, back to this concern about sending extra emails.
This is the concern I hear most from practitioners, and it's a fair one. Healthcare teaches us to protect trust, and nobody wants to be the clinician who suddenly gets over-bearing in the inbox or sounds like an infomercial.
A few things to keep in mind:
Understanding your subscribers can help you send fewer emails. When you have a better idea of what people want and what’s holding them back, you can segment your list and/or be more specific with your writing and avoid having to send loads of emails.
People need to know how you help and how to get that help. If you knew a treatment would help a patient, you'd tell them about it. If a friend wants super comfortable dress pants and you have some, you’d give the recommendation. Your program or course genuinely helps people, so we need to make sure they know about it!
Your email list is a business asset. Maintaining a list costs you time and money, so there's no reason to feel bad about sending promotional or sales emails. When you make sales, you can help people more than you can with general content. When was the last time a big corporation felt bad about sending you offers? Never. 😉 Good people do good things in the world with their money, so go ahead and earn it.
People can unsubscribe at any time. This is the biggest one clinicians tend to forget. There’s no discharge or AMA paperwork required when people decide to walk away. The ones who stay want to hear from you. It’s perfectly fine and normal to have people choose to leave your email list. This is consent-based marketing working as intended.
Common questions about email sales for practitioners
Do I need a big email list to make money from email?
No. My own list was around 100 people when it brought in about $500 in a few weeks. Clear, specific offers and having the right people on the list matters far more than list size.
I regularly “clean” clients’ email lists to remove people who aren’t opening and clicking. I’ve also worked with practitioners who have never removed people from their lists because they didn’t want their list to shrink… but subscribers from 5-10 years ago are usually not the right-fit people anymore anyway. It’s ok to let them go.
Of course, adding new subscribers to your list is important, so DO try to bring new people in the door… just don’t assume a small list equals no sales.
Do long, story-based emails still work?
Yes, they can, especially with subscribers who already know and trust you.
The key is balance. Mix longer emails with shorter ones so your list doesn't learn to skim every message. The people who really know you actually are interested in hearing the back-story or behind-the-scenes information. These stories help them know you as a human and relate to you more, which increases trust.
How often should I send sales emails?
There's no perfect number when it comes to emails.
But, in-general, practitioners send fewer emails than they should. They (ok, we) also mention our offers less often than readers need to be able to make a decision.
If you’ve been emailing once a month, start by increasing it to twice a month. It’s completely reasonable to send an email every week and even more when you’re actively launching an offer or program.
Some email experts will recommend daily emails or 3+ emails a week, but I’m not sure I’ll ever get onboard with a daily email unless it’s a tech/news update like the AI emails I get daily. The data is your best friend here - send a weekly email or one every other week and see how your subscribers respond. Maybe they want to hear more and will engage more… or maybe they’ll unsubscribe. Either way, you have data to guide your decisions instead of guessing.
Is it unprofessional for a clinician to sell by email?
Not when it's honest and helpful.
Your subscribers opted in because they value your expertise. They WANT to hear from you and get your insights on a specific topic. If you’re ever unsure about what you’re promoting or how you’re promoting it, check with your licensing board and professional association for any specific rules on advertising and claims.
Do not follow the guidance from any program or coach that makes you feel icky or unethical. If they suggest you break marketing laws, trick people, or do anything else that you wouldn’t want shared with the greater healthcare community, just step back and re-evaluate.
The online marketing space is the wild-wild-west. Online “coaching” is totally unregulated to, so you have to vet the people giving you advice and always filter what they say through a clinical lens. (Or… shameless plug… hire someone who is also a clinician and understands the industry. 😉)
You absolutely can have effective email marketing without sleazy tactics or pressure.
What Practitioners Can Do Next with Their Emails
Look at your last three emails. Do they follow the exact same format and end the same way? Change it up if they do.
Add a TL;DR to the next email that mentions your offer.
Download this free email resource and pick one ultra-short email to try this month.
Get more sales from the email list you already have
Email Income Boosts for Practitioners gives you six ways to make money from the list you already have, including three shifts for the emails you're already sending and three ultra-short emails to drive engagement and sales. No huge list required.
Want someone look at your actual emails instead?
If you already have a welcome, launch, or evergreen sequence and you're tired of guessing what to change, an Email Eval gives you a written report and video walkthrough showing what's working, what isn't, and what to fix first.
About the author
Krista Frahm, MOT, OTR/L is an email and marketing strategist for practitioners with online offers. She’s also an occupational therapist who practiced clinically for a decade before retraining into marketing. She helps healthcare practitioners create effective, ethical marketing ecosystems and launches without living at their laptop. Visit the home page here.
Last updated: September 2026
