Breaking up is hard to do
It’s a week into the new year and I have already tackled one of the hardest things that I’ll do all year.
Not knowing how to start…
“It’s not you, it’s me.” or “We’ve grown apart, and we’re no longer right for each other”.
I sat at my desk and wrote the marketing equivalent of a “Dear John” letter. I had to break up and part ways with many of my subscribers.
Prepared for the inevitable, I set out to cut ties in the New Year. Marie Kondo would be proud. My content no longer sparked joy, and I had to be honest about it.
As I wrote the dreaded email, I knew that some people would take the gracious way out and click that unsubscribe button.
Maybe it was someone who met me at a store in Texas or at a fair. There was a time when I gave away a free digital product as a gift to subscribers, maybe midnight scrollers drunk on the anticipation of a dopamine hit and freebie had forgotten how they even got on my email list in the first place.
Alas, whatever the reason, we just weren’t meant to tackle 2026 together.
I winced as I refreshed my page to see how many people I had lost. I even wrote a note of encouragement to myself.
“Expect unsubs, it’s okay. You’re okay!
I was prepared for the shattering feeling of loss…
Plenty of fish in the sea, right?
I thought of ways to console myself, I whispered…
It’s better to have lost a subscriber than never to have had a subscriber at all.” “Time heals all wounds,” and “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”
The page refreshed, and the losses were tallied. I lost a few, but surprisingly, it didn’t sting at all.
No, in fact, I felt relief.
You see, I struggle to reach out to my friends via email because I worry that I would be bothering them. The nagging feeling that not everyone’s interests are represented in my new life and role since we moved from Texas to Minnesota has consumed me and really affected the management of my new business model.
To my great surprise, many old friends stayed because they are genuinely interested in what we are doing now.
Those who left made way for more good.
I am looking forward to more good.
To more of you.
You can’t start a new chapter if you’re still re-reading the last one.
I am grateful for the clearing, for the confirmation, and for those walking into the new year alongside me. With this valuable lesson, with your support, and with my renewed clarity of purpose,
I thank you so much for liking me. Cheers!
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