I want to give you a peek ‘behind the curtain’…

You see, I decided to go back through a year’s worth of the What Really Makes Money email newsletter’s data.

I wanted to know which of the 178 subject lines got the highest open rates and see if there was a pattern.

The subject line is the text you saw in your inbox next to my name.

Chances are it helped you decide whether to open this email or not.

The most recent industry benchmarks show that almost TWO-THIRDS (64%) of recipients still decide whether to open or delete an email based primarily on the subject line, making it the single most important factor in getting your message read.

Now, I’ll be honest – part of me hoped to find a neat, logical formula.

Something like: “Use X words… add Y curiosity… include Z benefit…”

But that’s not what I found.

Instead I discovered something far more revealing.

And, if I’m honest… a little uncomfortable.

Because when I looked at the subject lines that performed best and compared them to the ones that didn’t…

A very surprising pattern emerged.

The winners were NOT the most “useful” “important” or “urgent”.

They weren’t even the ones promising to reveal the best money-making opportunities.

They were the ones that made the reader feel curious… intrigued… even a little confused.

For example, consider these subject lines:

“Is this cheating or genius?”

“The £60 Bottle of Water: Bargain or Rip-Off?”

“Something Was Horribly Wrong this Morning”

It turns out these consistently generated higher opens than more obvious benefit-led subject lines.

Why? I guess it’s because they create a question in your mind…

And your brain needs to resolve it.

Now here’s the uncomfortable bit…

When I looked at the weaker performers…

They tended to be the ones where I played it safe – more sensible, straightforward and “helpful”.

Things like:

“How to Make Your AI Content R.I.C.H.”

Or:

“Why Any Audience Can Make Money On this Platform”

Perfectly decent subject lines you would think – clear, logical and informative.

And yet…

They just didn’t pull you in the same way.

Which leads to a slightly awkward conclusion that goes against what a lot of people think works.

Your subject line is not there to explain what’s in the email!

It’s there to compel.

In other words…

Your job isn’t to summarise what’s inside the email.

Your job is to make it impossible to ignore.

And when I looked deeper…

There was another pattern hiding underneath all of this.

The best subject lines weren’t really about the topic at all.

They were about:

A moment…

A decision…

A conflict…

A curiosity gap.

For example…

Instead of saying:

“How to Make Money With Substack”

A stronger angle might be:

“Why Some Substack Writers Get Paid… and Others Don’t”

Or even better:

“This Trick Feels Like Cheating…”

Same topic, but with a completely different appeal.

Now, there’s one more thing worth mentioning.

Because if you’ve been tracking your own open rates…

You might have noticed something similar to me.

They’ve probably dropped over time.

That’s not necessarily because your subject lines are getting worse or your readers are getting bored.

In many cases…

It’s because your audience is growing.

New readers are colder.

Email tracking has also changed.

And what used to look like a 40% open rate…

Might now show up as 28% for the exact same level of engagement.

So don’t panic.

And don’t start second-guessing everything.

Instead…

Focus on what actually gets results.

From everything I’ve seen, it comes down to this:

If your subject line feels slightly intriguing… a bit unusual or maybe even a little risky…

You’re probably on the right track.

If it feels safe, polished and perfectly clear…

It’s probably going to be ignored.

And yes…

I’m as guilty of this as anyone.

Which is why I’m paying closer attention to it going forward.

Because in the end…

It doesn’t matter how good your email is if nobody opens it!