London, UK
I began publishing daily emails for my Blogging From Paradise list subscribers recently.
I include 1-2 links per email pointing to the 1-2 new blog posts that I publish daily.
My email list began to shrink after boosting email frequency.
Why?
The split second you stop doing what’s popular to be popular you appeal only to strongly loyal fans who mushroom your presence for other like-minded, loyal fans.
In essence guys, the pretenders vanish, the contenders stick around for a few before disappearing and the 100%, dyed-in-the-wool, fully committed readers who intend to go the full distance follow each email, each link and read each blog post.
Fully committed readers make your blogging work really fun.
Fully committed readers endorse and promote you to boost your targeted blog traffic and blogging income.
Fully committed readers purchase your products, hire you for your services and increase your referral business.
List numbers shrink to reveal who is serious and who ain’t.
Why the World Never Understands this Truth
The world thinks upside-down.
Happy, successful bloggers think right-side up.
The world greedily builds as big an email list as possible to be popular, using popularly held methods to get a high number of subscribers. This upside-down level of thinking blinds you from the truth: loyal readers build successful blogging businesses, not numbers on a screen. Big numbers are inanimate objects; non-sentient things cannot do anything.
Happy, successful bloggers peacefully publish detailed blog posts solely for loyal fans who enjoy the posts, share the posts with friends and collaborate to amplify the collective success of all involved.
Which approach drives highly targeted, business-building traffic? Why the right-side up approach of course.
Which approach appeases the ego, wastes time, wastes work, wastes money on inactive subscribers and promises muted blogging success until the email list grows into a titanic-sized subscriber base (if it even does)? Why the upside-down approach of course.
Why the Subscriber Drop?
Every day or two, my engaged subscriber count drops because I trigger fears in the minds of subscribers who instantly question their values.
Most minds value fear and comfort over love, abundance, freedom and discomfort.
Perceiving a heavy volume of detailed, valuable posts contained in frequent emails rockets this crowd outside of their comfort zone into fears.
Each email and 1-2 fresh, new blog posts delivered triggers fears like:
- this is too much content
- I do not have the time to read, process and apply the blog posts
- I do not have the time to even check my email this frequently
- if I do read, process and apply each email I may just shift my value system from victim who fears he or she has not enough time to victor who lives a life of fun and freedom
Guys; these are just a few fear scenarios fueling the subscriber unsubscribe rate.
Most people love what I do but when I give them more love they shy away from the love. Unsubscribes follow.
Anyway, when you step it up 1, 5 or 10 levels most of humanity fears following your lead. Most fear the discomfort associated with stepping up 1, 5 or 10 levels. Subsequently, most unsubscribe.
Folks who unsubscribe have every right to do as they wish in a world of free will. But I want to help you bloggers who fear losing subs by bumping up your email frequency to understand why it happens, what resides in the minds of unsubs, and why you want to keep the emails coming to bond deeply with loyal fans.
Unsubs Direct You Towards Fans Not Loss
Each reader who unsubscribes points you toward engaging, listening to and helping loyal fans who remain subscribed and relish each email, versus worrying about what you lost.
As the list numbers shrink you have more time to value relationships with readers who actually grow your blogging business.
Treasure each meaningful relationship instead of bemoaning the list shrinkage.
What you have accelerates your blogging success, not what you lost.
What About Burning through Your Email List?
The meme about burning through your email list is more bullshit trope bandied about in the blogging niche.
True; emailing subscribers with a “Buy my stuff!” advertisement 10 times daily does in fact burn through your list. People tire of suffering endless commercials.
But emailing detailed, long-form blog posts daily only sheds uncommitted subscribers to make room for subs who plow through a brick wall to:
- read your blog posts
- buy your eBooks
- buy your courses
- hire you
- promote you
- increase referral business
Do you have something detailed, thorough and valuable to share?
Share it.
Fans who love the value will love you for it.
Everyone else will vanish.
The fans build your business, not the vanishing crowd.
Does It Sound as if I’m Bitching Out People Who Stop Receiving Your Emails?
I love folks who unsubscribe from the Blogging From Paradise email list because it reveals this truth:
I am on the right track.
Being less popular as the world deems things adds more love, meaning and value to heartfelt relationships. Not only do these bonds feel fun to cultivate, these loyal readers share my blog posts with like-minded friends who resonate with my blogging message.
I appreciate readers who unsubscribe because each reminds me the secret to happiness: try not to change the world but change your mind about the world.
Lunch with a Disgusted Internet Marketer
I recall enjoying lunch with a successful internet marketer over 10 years ago.
He felt disgusted any time one person unsubscribed from his huge list.
Changing his mind about the world would have reframed the disgust into delight; one more unsub meant more time, energy and fun for the people who actually increased his online business profits.
Change your mind about the world.
See a dwindling list not as a red flag but a signal marking increased business growth.
Conclusion
Invite list shrinkage associated with increased email frequency as a clear sign that increased blogging success awaits.
Stop panicking.
Cease scrambling desperately to appease every subscriber.
Numbers cannot do anything.
Raise yourself a few levels higher.
Bond with loyal followers who decide to raise themselves a few levels higher to keep up with you.
These are the people who amplify your blogging success exponentially over the long haul.
Anyone who decides not to follow you up the ladder of success is not a source of worry.
Let them be.
Focus on having fun with the success collaborators who stick around not grieving the folks who hit the road.
