EFAB: Email From a Bestie
Write to one trusted person, publish the message, and repeat.
- Difficulty
- Starter
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 97%
EFAB, short for “email from a bestie,” replaces the intimidating idea of addressing an entire market with a simple interpersonal exchange. The writer chooses one person they know well, imagines that person asking what is going on, and writes the response in the same direct language they would use privately. This removes generic corporate phrasing and makes personality easier to express. The method can be adapted beyond email to Instagram, Facebook, or another preferred channel. Its final stages are deliberately simple: publish the message and do it again. Repetition develops fluency, creates publishing volume, and reduces the tendency to treat one post’s response as a decisive judgment. The output is warmer, more specific communication that helps readers feel personally addressed.
Origin
Laura Belgray shared EFAB as a practical way to help hesitant creators put their personality into public writing. Extracted from The Jasmine Star Show.
Core principles
- 01Write as one person speaking to another person.
- 02A specific imagined reader produces more natural language than a faceless audience.
- 03Everyday conversation is a valid source of useful content.
- 04Publishing and repetition matter more than making the first attempt perfect.
How to run it
- 1
Choose One Medium
Select one channel where you are willing to communicate, such as email, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube. Avoid spreading the first experiment across multiple platforms.
Pro tip Start with the medium that already feels most natural.
Watch out Do not let platform comparison become another form of procrastination.
- 2
Picture Your Best Friend
Imagine one trusted person asking what is happening in your life or work. Address that individual rather than an abstract market or crowd.
Pro tip Use a real person whose reactions and conversational style you know well.
Watch out Do not open with generic language such as addressing everybody on the internet.
- 3
Write the Real Message
Share something you would genuinely discuss or text to that person. Preserve your natural vocabulary, rhythm, humor, and perspective while making the point useful to the reader.
Pro tip Read the draft aloud and replace phrases you would never say in conversation.
Watch out Conversational does not mean careless about facts, privacy, or other people.
- 4
Publish It
Release the message without waiting for universal approval or perfect confidence. Treat the post as a practical repetition rather than a defining performance.
Pro tip Set a short deadline between finishing the draft and pressing publish.
Watch out Do not keep revising merely to remove every trace of personality.
- 5
Do It Again
Repeat the process regardless of whether the first message receives the desired response. Let accumulated practice and audience signals shape future work.
Pro tip Schedule the next message before evaluating the current one emotionally.
Watch out Do not abandon the method because of one quiet post.
In the wild
A consultant imagines explaining a frustrating client lesson to her closest entrepreneurial friend. She turns that explanation into an email, keeps the plainspoken opening and concrete details, and sends it without adding corporate language.
→ Readers receive a specific, relatable lesson and gain a clearer sense of the consultant’s personality.
A product founder chooses Instagram, writes about a behind-the-scenes decision as if texting a friend, then publishes it despite uncertainty about engagement. Two days later, the founder repeats the process with another genuine observation.
→ The founder establishes a repeatable publishing habit and learns which personal stories generate useful responses.
Common mistakes
Writing to Everyone
Addressing a vast, undefined audience encourages vague greetings, formal language, and diluted personality.
Performing a Fake Casual Voice
Adding slang or jokes that you would not naturally use replaces one artificial business persona with another.
Stopping After One Post
Judging the method by one response prevents the repetition needed to improve and become recognizable.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for entrepreneurs and creators who sound natural in conversation but become formal or generic when writing publicly.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for regulated, legal, technical, or crisis communications that require formal review and precise institutional language.
From the transcript
“I tell them to make it an EFAB email from a bestie cause.”
“You always want to sit down and picture one person and remember that you are a person talking to a person, not a business talking…”
“And then hit publish, hit post.”
From the episode
How To Get Paid To Be You
Laura Belgray