Happy Friday, it’s time to wrap up our Incubation Email Series. But first, how did we get here?

We started by revealing the waiting room nobody talks about. Then we got into how incubators aren't just for chickens anymore.

From there, I outlined the hidden benefits of email, the resilient and ubiquitous marketing platform nobody brags about using. Then I gave you the 5 secret incubation email “ingredients” so you could cook your own.

And finally I showed you the common Incubation Email mistakes and how to avoid them so you can close distance between you and your leads.

“WE WANT MORE! WE WANT MORE!”

Alright, I hear ya. Let’s hit a few final FAQs about Incubation Emails.

“Do people have the attention spans to read emails?” Well… you do. You’re reading this and you probably read a number of my emails. Why?

Because Incubation Emails work well when done properly. Sure, attention spans are shorter than they were 50 years ago.

But consider shows like Stranger Things and Squid Games, some of the most watched programs on Netflix. You're talking 8-10 hours worth of shows in a season, and people will binge them back-to-back on a single Saturday.

So it’s less about ‘attention span’ and more about ‘are we giving people something worth paying attention to?’

“Does this replace my practice newsletter?” Nope. Newsletters are broad blasts for awareness (events, new tech, tips for everyone). Incubator emails are laser-focused on non-converted leads, educating them toward booking. Run both: newsletters build community, incubators support you in closing more deals.

Now, you will have some crossover in content. But your Incubator Emails are narrative-based, and look and feel like an email someone might send a friend. So there are key differences.

“What if people feel like I'm bugging them?” Think of this as helpful leadership, not chasing them for their business. (That’s what ALL followup should be, btw).

Your weekly cadence with stories and value (like my egg incubator tale) keeps it fresh. People want the solution you have to offer, and until they make that decision, they still need to be educated.

Include a clear "unsubscribe if this isn't for you" footer (which is pretty standard in all email softwares these days) so people can easily opt-out if the way.

“What do I need to know about subject lines?” Think of your subject line as the headline of the email. People read a headline of an article and decide “Do I want to get into this? Is this relevant to me?” Then they either read or they don’t. Your subject line serves the same purpose.

So to be clear - the goal of the subject line is to get them to open the email.

Keep 'em short (ideally under 50 characters). And you want them curiosity-driven and personal.

For example, my ‘big picture’ content focus is how to book more surgeries without being salesy. But to get you to open my messages and devour my expertise, I use subject lines like “Dove season (and THIS season) open today in Texas” and “Pool Shopping vs. Personality Styles” and “My wife ‘OK boomer’d me (was she right?)”

And part of you is like “what the heck is he talking about” or “this sounds juicy.” And you open to get the pay-off from the subject line curiosity / tease.

“What if I haven’t mailed my list in a while?” Start with anyone who's inquired in the last 12 months (clean it first), scrap anything older. Even just a few hundred names works.

Once you get rocking, if you’re marketing heavily to 2 different avatars (younger refractive patients and older RLE patients, for example) you can send different weekly Incubation Emails to each avatar.

“Can I personalize without a ton of extra work?” Yes, just use merge tags for first name, procedure interest, etc (e.g., "Hey Sarah, still thinking LASIK?"). CRMs auto-pull this, and it makes it feel 1:1 without manual tweaks.

“I don’t have a CRM.” OK, hit me up and I’ll steer you in the right direction.

“What kind of metrics should I be looking at?” Tag links in emails to track clicks/opens/books from this list. We’re looking for 15-30% open rates, 3-6% clicks.

“Should I still follow-up with these leads manually?” Yes, you should. Over the long-term reach out to all leads manually at least once a month by call or SMS. That should happen in tandem with the Incubation Emails doing their job of keeping you top of mind and building your authority on your behalf. 1-2 punch.

“Should I ‘sell’ in every email?” The goal here is not to push people to make a move, but every email SHOULD have a subtle (or not-so-subtle) call to action.

Mix these up - book a consult, reply to this email with a question, schedule a call with me, text me, go to our webinar, reply if you want XYZ new resource. Ultimately we want to create some kind of conversation, because conversations lead to conversions.

“How long does the Incubation Emails need to be?” Lean on the shorter side - 250-350 words - BUT some will be longer depending on the topic.

Short answer is they should be as long as they need to be. Take one page out of War and Peace and it’s too short. Add 1 word to Nike’s “Just Do It” tagline and it’s too long.

“This sounds like a lot, can you just do this for me?”

Great question. Short answer is yes. Here’s what we’re doing…

As you probably know, we have an unbelievable coaching system where we teach practices how to build value, establish their authority, and book more surgeries without feeling like or coming across in a salesy way.

We cover everything from how to connect with and book leads on the phone, scheduling more refractive surgeries, increasing cataract upgrades, managing and leading teams, persuasive marketing, and even strategies / tools to maximize your efforts on the OD liaison/co- management side.

And we do it via masterclasses, intensives, courses, live group coaching, and of course 1-on-1 coaching.

It kicks butt, and we’re always working on making our programs better.

And so for anyone at the VIP tier in our coaching program, here’s what we’re doing:

We will now be providing weekly incubation email templates as a value-add.

So we do the topics, the seasonality component, the actual copywriting, the curiosity-injected subject lines, almost everything soup to nuts. Just add in your practice info, drop it in your email software and you’re good to go.

It’s like a dot-to-dot where we’ve connected 98% of the dots for you.

So get excited about that. It's our pleasure to serve you and your team, and equip you with everything you need to maximize your success and conversions in 2026.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the Incubation Email series, and got some good nuggets out of it.

Have a great weekend, plenty more to come next week as we get into month 2 of the first quarter in what I’m confident will be an amazing 2026.

— Coach Troy