{"id":"mkt-x-cold-email-lowercase-subjects","track":"marketing","audience":"sales","category":"writing-emails","technique":"examples","title":"Write cold email subject lines in your team's house style","free":false,"task":"You're an SDR at Shelfwise, an inventory app for independent bookstores, and your team's cold email subject lines follow a house style shown in your notes. Write exactly 5 numbered subject lines in that style: all lowercase, 2 to 4 words, no question marks, no \"free\" and no punctuation at the end. Plain text, only the list.","materialLabel":"Team notes (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"SHELFWISE - outbound notes (SDR team, Q4)\n\nWho we email: owners of independent bookstores, 1-3 locations\nTheir pains (from 30 discovery calls):\n- Counting inventory by hand twice a year, closing the store for a day\n- Ordering the wrong quantities of new releases\n- No idea which used books are actually selling\n\nOur top 5 subject lines this year (open rates):\n- inventory day (61%)\n- your back room (58%)\n- new release orders (55%)\n- quick bookstore question (49%)\n- used book shelves (47%)\n\nWorst performers:\n- \"Are you still counting inventory by hand??\" (22%)\n- \"FREE trial for bookstores!\" (18%)\n- \"Shelfwise: Revolutionize Your Store\" (15%)\n\nTeam lead (Annika): stay in our style. Lowercase, short, sounds like a coworker wrote it. Spam filters hate \"free\". No question marks; they read as pushy.","rules":[{"type":"numberedItems","count":5},{"type":"plainText"}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Not pointing to the examples","why":"Without the style, the AI writes Title Case lines with questions.","fix":"Add: \"Match the style of our top 5: lowercase, 2 to 4 words.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Letting it pitch","why":"The AI adds question marks, \"free\" and exclamation points to boost opens.","fix":"Add: \"No question marks, no free, no end punctuation.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Generic lines","why":"The AI writes lines that could fit any business.","fix":"Add: \"Each about one bookstore pain from the notes.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Getting a long list","why":"The AI gives 10+ options in bold groups.","fix":"Add: \"Exactly 5 numbered lines, plain text.\"","checks":["numberedItems","plainText"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Points to the house style","patterns":["lowercase","our (style|top)","match","like (these|our)"]},{"label":"Says how many","patterns":["\\b(5|five)\\b.{0,20}(subject|lines)","exactly \\d+"]},{"label":"Sets the length","patterns":["\\d+\\s*(to \\d+ )?words"]},{"label":"Rules out pushy patterns","patterns":["question mark","free","punctuation"]},{"label":"Asks for only the list","patterns":["only the (numbered )?list","no (intro|notes|explanation)","nothing else","plain text"]}],"hint":"Your best examples are right there in the notes. Point the AI at them, then spell out the style rules it would otherwise break.","rubricLabels":["Every subject line is all lowercase and 2 to 4 words long","No subject line has a question mark, ends with punctuation, or uses the word free","Each line ties to a bookstore pain from the notes (inventory counts, new release orders, used books, the back room) and the reply is only the numbered list with no intro or notes"]}