Thank You for Being Here

What if we focused our energy on serving the people who want to be here?

For many years, after sending a newsletter, I would look at the unsubscribes. 

Each time I did, whether it was someone I knew, or someone I didn’t know, I would feel a tiny pang of sadness or disappointment.

This person no longer finds value in my newsletter.

I pour a tremendous amount of love, care, time, and energy into my newsletter - Friday Favorites - each week. It is a free offering for my community; an attempt at adding a bit of joy to other people’s inboxes; a way to be of service. 

And each week, inevitably, at least a handful of people subscribe. 

A couple years ago, I stopped looking at the unsubscribes. 

I had a realization: I’m writing my newsletter for my community. For the people who are here. For the people who want to read it. For the people who are delighted by it. For the people who read it, week after week, and sometimes joyfully reply back with their thoughts, reflections, or perspectives on the way in which the content was meaningful for them - or on something related that they’re reading or watching or grappling with in their lives. 

These are the people who I write the newsletter for. 

Why would I focus time and energy on worrying about the people who have self-selected out?

We can see the same idea play out in business. So many companies are bombarding us with hyper-targeted advertising, growing their customer base at a rate that is faster than what they can sustain. Meanwhile, their customer service tickets go unanswered.

Our communities, our customers, our people are the ones who are here. They are the ones who are reading and listening and following along. They are the ones who are opting in - not the ones who are opting out.

Rather than chasing down the people who have walked away, why not open up the door a bit further to those who are standing on the front step - delighted by the idea of coming inside?