CTA Template That Converts on Medium
How I Captured >1,000 emails in less than 12 months… Using only Medium
In the last 12 months, I’ve built an email list of over 1,000 subscribers using a framework born from the darkest moment of my music career.
But this isn’t a story about metrics or growth hacks.
It’s about how an empty merch table, a dive bar revelation, and a conversation that saved someone’s life taught me what really matters in building a business.
Let me take you back to that night…
Sweat painted the walls. Bodies pressed against bodies.
From behind my drum kit, I could feel every heart beating in sync with each hit. Five hundred fans screaming our lyrics back at us — the kind of energy that makes you believe you’ve finally “made it.”
But success has a way of lying to you.
After the show, still riding that performance high, I walked to our merch table. The same table where I’d imagined signing autographs, selling albums, connecting with fans.
Instead, I found nothing but echo of cheers fading into silence…
Five hundred people had shown up, lost their minds to our music, and disappeared into the night without a trace.
The $3,000 Lesson
The next night found me in a dive bar, drowning my frustration in an old fashioned, when I witnessed something that didn’t make sense: a local country band playing covers to maybe 50 people was making $3,000 per night — more than international touring bands made in a month.
After their set, I cornered the lead singer and words hit me like a punch to the gut:
“You’re treating your audience like a crowd. We treat ours like family.”
But it wasn’t until the following night that I truly understood what he meant.
Twenty Minutes That Changed Two Lives
Her name… was Becca.
I might have missed her entirely if the dive bar singer’s words hadn’t been echoing in my head. Instead of retreating to the merch table after our set, I walked into the crowd.
She stood alone near the back wall, fingers wrapped around an untouched drink.
Something in her eyes caught my attention — a familiar emptiness I recognized from my own mirror on those mornings after playing to full rooms but empty merch tables.
We talked about music at first. She loved the way the bass drum hit her chest during our third song. Said it made her feel alive, if only for a moment.
Then the conversation shifted to life, to dreams, to the weight we all carry when we think no one’s watching.
That’s when she said it:
“I wasn’t planning on being here tomorrow.”
The words hung between us, heavier than any silence I’d ever felt. She’d come out for one last night, she told me.
One last show.
The letters were already written, waiting on her kitchen table — one for her mom, one for her little sister, one for her best friend from high school.
“It’s funny,” she said, wiping away a tear. “I came here to say goodbye, but you’re the first person who’s really seen me in years. Not just looked at me, but really saw me.”
We talked for another hour.
About hope.
About pain.
About how sometimes the hardest part of living is feeling invisible in a room full of people.
A year later, I got a letter.
Becca was in school to become a counselor. “I want to see people the way you saw me that night,” she wrote. “Sometimes that’s all it takes.”
The Framework Was Born
These moments — the empty merch table, the dive bar lesson, and especially Becca — crystallized into what I now call the 4 Ps Framework.
It’s helped me build an email list of over 1,000 subscribers in just 12 months, but more importantly, it’s helped writers create genuine connections with their readers.
1. Pain
Start with the real pain.
Not the surface-level stuff, but the 3 AM thoughts that keep your readers awake. For writers, it’s not just about writer’s block or finding time to write.
It’s about the gulf between being great at writing and actually making a living from it.
It’s about having something important to say and feeling invisible.
2. Personal Credibility
Share your battle scars.
I spent a decade as a session musician, playing to packed venues but going home broke because I had no business sense.
Your struggles aren’t weakness — they’re your strongest connection point with your readers.
3. Promise
Offer hope, not hype.
My promise to writers is simple: I’ll help you make a living doing what you love. It’s not about getting rich quick — it’s about building something real and lasting.
4. Plan
Give them a clear next step.
For me, it’s sending business tips through email. For you, it might be something different. But make it simple and achievable.
Putting It Into Practice
Here’s what this framework looks like in action (the actual CTA I’ve used with Writerpreneur):
Building a business and being great at writing are two different skills.
I learned this the hard way, spending a decade as a musician making $0 because I had no business sense. Over the last seven years, I’ve dedicated myself to learning business.
Now, I’m here to help other writers make a living doing what they love.
I send out occasional emails with business tips for writers.
Click here to Join Writerpreneur.
Simple. Authentic. Effective.
The Real Measure of Success
Every time I sit down to write an email to my list, I think about Becca. About how sometimes the people who need our words the most are the ones sitting quietly in the back, waiting for someone to really see them.
That’s what this framework is really about.
Yes, it will help you build your email list.
Yes, it will help you craft better CTAs.
But more importantly, it will help you connect with the people who need your words most.
Sometimes I think about what would have happened if I’d stayed behind my drum kit that night instead of talking to Becca.
If I’d been too focused on selling merch to notice someone drowning in plain sight.
Your words have the same power. Your Call to Action isn’t just about building an email list — it’s about creating genuine connections with people who need what only you can offer.
Because at the end of the day, we’re not just in the writing business.
We’re in the connection business.
And sometimes, one genuine connection can change everything.
Want help crafting your own CTA using this framework?
Join the Writerpreneur email list and reply to the welcome message with your draft.
I personally review and respond to every single one.
