Dear ,

I was talking with a friend about her email list a few weeks ago.

She was frustrated because people OPEN her emails, but they don't click on them.

This is something I hear all the time from clients too - about email lists, but also about posts (people see them but don't respond/engage), videos (same).

And if this is you - if you're thinking 'my email (posts/videos/whatever) are NOT working', I have two useful things to share today.

First.

Before you decide whatever it is NOT working, take a beat and think about YOUR own behavior as a consumer of emails, posts, and videos.

Do you click on links in emails more than just once in a while (or ever)?

Do you reply to people who send you emails from their lists?

Do you respond to the FIRST email/message when something is interesting?

Do you 'like' or 'love' every post or video that you actually read, liked, or loved?

Do you comment often to tell people you're reading and listening?

And then...

Is what you're expecting of other people and THEIR behavior different from what you yourself ACTUALLY do?

Are your expectations out of line with what people normally DO?

(because it probably is, and they probably are)

When I asked my friend who was frustrated with people clicking on her emails if she ever clicked in emails she was like 'oh, hell no, I never do that'. And then she laughed.

Because she saw that she was frustrated about people NOT doing something that even she herself would NOT do.

Yes, I get that this isn't 'fixing' the problem of people NOT doing... BUT maybe the shift in perspective means noticing that people NOT doing isn't *actually* a problem.

You may not click on the emails, you may not reply, you may not like the post or comment - but you DO follow people, you DO learn from them, you DO buy from them, you DO connect with them... so maybe the same is true for the people following, learning from, buying from, and connecting with you.

Maybe things aren't actually 'not working.'

Second.

If tool is NOT working for you --- if the data says doing X thing over time (and I do mean over time, at least 3 months of doing the thing) isn't working...

Why are you still doing it?

Seriously.

If having an email list isn't working for you - you don't like sending emails, people aren't doing what you want them to do, your list isn't growing, all the things - it's ENTIRELY OKAY for you to put that approach down and do something else.

And I know your brain is like 'oh whattt??? But I'm *supposed* to have an email list and nurture people and all the things. I can't NOT do that...'

But actually, you can. You CAN put the email list or the posts or the group or the videos down.

You CAN.

If you are miserable making them, writing them, whatever then it's NOT helping your business and people don't want to interact with content you hated making. That's just the way this is.

So if you really feel like email isn't your thing - it doesn't have to be your thing.

There are 1000s of business that succeed without email list.

There are 1000s of businesses that succeed without FB posts.

There are 1000s of businesses that success without videos.

You could be one of them.

And really?

When you put down the thing you feel like isn't working, and you don't like doing - you've feel BETTER. LIGHTER. RELIEVED.

And how much more fun will it be to do the things you actually LIKE to do in your business?

Maybe you hate email and you love TikTok.

Cool, do that.

Maybe you hate FB and you love in-person networking.

Cool, do that.

What ever version of this you want to do - GO DO.

It. will. work. better than what you are doing now, miserably, I promise (and I have the data to back this up - I see the proof day in and day out with my clients when we let go of things they hate and lean into things they love).

So today, for you.

What if what's 'not working' is actually just your expectations of what working *should* look like?

And, if something's really not working, what if you just don't have to do it anymore?

Wouldn't that feel so. much. better?

It would. And you have permission to do exactly that.

Happy Friday :)

Sara

PS. If you don't know what's working and not working, OR if you're thinking 'well, crap, nothing is working, and I hate it all' OR you just don't know how to tell the difference between an expectations issue and something that truly isn't working...

I do.

I know the difference, and I will help you sort it out.

If you're ready for help and beyond tired of just being so freaking frustrated all the time, hit reply and tell me you're ready to talk.

Or if you're not someone who replies to emails, go pick a time of your own on my website.

Or if you really only talk to people on social platforms, send me a FB message, or a LI message, or whatever.

The mode doesn't matter. What matters is you getting what you need.

Do that.