Nobody reads the welcome email. We start with email four.
We write and A/B-test onboarding, trial-to-paid, and win-back sequences for software companies. One price per sequence. The strategy call, the copy, the variants, and a read of the numbers 30 days after send are all inside it.
Three sequences, taken apart
We write three kinds of email and nothing else. Here is how each one is built, before anyone argues about subject lines.
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- D0Your login works. That’s all this one says.
- D1Connect the first data source
- D3Two people use it better than one
- D5The report you haven’t opened yetA/B
- D9What week two looks like
01 · 5 emails · days 0–9Onboarding
The welcome email has one job — confirm the login works — and almost nobody remembers it. The sequence earns its keep on days 3 to 9, when a trial user either finds the feature that makes the product make sense, or quietly doesn’t.
We find that feature with you on the call, then trigger each email off the activation event rather than the calendar.
Package 01 — $3,450 -
Every trial has a deadline. The emails are written backwards from it. 02 · 7 emails · trial days 1–14, plus one afterTrial-to-paid
Written backwards from the expiry date. The last three emails do the asking; the first four make sure there is something worth paying for — a saved project, an invited teammate, data the user would miss.
No countdown timers unless your product actually stops working when the trial ends.
Package 02 — $4,875 -
- D30
- D45
- D60
- D90
03 · 4 emails · 30–90 days after cancelWin-back
Split by the reason they gave on the way out. The first email offers no discount — it says what changed. If nothing has changed, we’ll tell you on the call that a win-back sequence won’t fix it, and you keep your money.
Package 03 — $2,690
Every email arrives twice
Chosen before it ships
Each email comes with one variant — the subject line, the opening line, or the ask. The variable and the reason for it are written down in the handover doc, so the result means something.
Two versions of every email. One version loses. You keep the reasoning for both.
Read 30 days after
A 45-minute review call once the test has enough sends to read. What won, what didn’t, and rewrites of the two weakest emails. Already in the price.
Subject lines we wrote, then killed
The first draft of most subject lines is the one everyone else already sent. These are the kind that get crossed out on our desk, and the kind that replace them.
- Killed
Welcome aboard!!
Says nothing the login screen didn’t.
- Kept
Your workspace is empty. Add this first.
One ask, and it’s the activation event.
- Killed
Don’t miss out on these features
Features aren’t what they’ll miss.
- Kept
3 days left. Here’s what stops working.
Specific. Slightly uncomfortable. True.
- Killed
We miss you
They don’t miss you. Say what changed.
- Kept
We fixed the export you cancelled over
Only sent to people who said so.
- Killed
Quick question
It wasn’t quick, and it wasn’t a question.
- Kept
Invite one teammate. That’s the whole email.
It was, in fact, the whole email.
Lines written for this page to show the method — not lifted from client work.
Asked before the call
The questions that come up most in the first five minutes. If yours isn’t here, it can wait for the call.
Book the 75 minutes- 01
Who is this for?
B2B software with a free trial or freemium plan, and enough signups each month for a test to finish inside a quarter. If your volume is too thin to read an A/B result, we say so on the call and suggest the audit instead.
- 02
What happens on the strategy call?
Seventy-five minutes. We read your current sequence, agree on the activation event, and look at where trials drop. You leave with the plan in writing whether or not you book the package.
- 03
How long until emails send?
Drafts arrive 10 working days after the call. Final copy, with every variant, at 15. Most of the remaining time is your team building it.
- 04
Do you build it in our tool?
We write into the format your tool expects — Customer.io, HubSpot, Intercom, Braze, Loops. Your team builds; we check the build, triggers and delays included, before anything goes live.
- 05
What if the variant loses?
Then the test did its job. The 30-day review covers the result either way, and the rewrites of the two weakest emails are part of the package, not an upsell.
- 06
Do you write anything else?
No. No landing pages, no ads, no brand voice decks. Lifecycle email for software only — the reason a single call is usually enough to start.
House rules
One email, one ask Send on behavior, not on the calendar If it needs an exclamation mark, rewrite it Test the line you’re least sure of Short enough to read between two stops on the J
Alder & Ash Copyworks is a small studio at 574 Jefferson Ave in Brooklyn, NY. The name comes from two woods that burn differently: alder fast and hot, ash slow and steady. Onboarding needs the first. Win-back needs the second.
Whoever runs your strategy call writes every email and every variant in your sequence, and sits in on the 30-day review. More about the studio
Priced per sequence
Each package includes a 75-minute strategy call, the full copy with one tested variant per email, a review of your build before it sends, and the 30-day performance review. Invoiced half on booking, half on delivery of final copy.
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Onboarding · 5 emails
The First Week
Days 0 to 9, each email keyed to one activation event. Built for the trial user who signed up on a Tuesday and forgot by Thursday.
- Activation event mapped on the call
- 5 emails, 5 variants
- Two rewrites after the 30-day review
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Trial-to-paid · 7 emails
The Deadline
Written backwards from expiry, plus one email in the grace period after. The sequence with the most direct line to revenue, so the one we test hardest.
- Plan-page and pricing language checked against the emails
- 7 emails, 7 variants
- Two rewrites after the 30-day review
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Win-back · 4 emails
The Long Way Back
Sent 30 to 90 days after cancellation, split by the reason given at exit. Only worth booking if something has changed since they left — we’ll check that first.
- Cancellation reasons sorted into send segments
- 4 emails, 4 variants
- Two rewrites after the 30-day review
All three, written as one lifecycle with a single strategy call stretched to two sessions: $9,640. Ask about all three
Only want a second read? Send your current sequence and we return it marked up, line by line, within five working days: $685. Request an audit
Invoiced by package. We take:
Send us the email you’d rather nobody read.
One strategy call, one sequence, one invoice. Tell us which sequence and roughly how many trials start each month. We answer within one working day, weekdays 8am–5pm Eastern.
Brooklyn, NY 11221
- Weekdays
- 8am–5pm
- Weekends
- Closed
Ask for a strategy call
Seventy-five minutes, by video. Pick a package below or leave it to the call.