The title of this article should be the end of it. You can’t please everybody. It’s something that should be obvious to every living being walking this planet. And yet, we continually try to do JUST that and then get all bent out of shape when we don’t. Is it any wonder that I’m writing this? Well, if you already know this obvious “duh!” statement, you can skip the rest of this journalistic gem. If not, and you’re still trying to fit a round peg into a square hole, you just might want to keep reading.
I’m a self admitted stubborn mule. I find it very hard to take no for an answer without at least putting up some kind of a fight. In business, when that means making somebody an offer that I think should be a no brainer and they say “thanks but no thanks” I don’t leave it at just scratching my head and wondering why. I flat out ask them, “What the heck is wrong with you? Can’t you see that this is the offer of a lifetime? Are you daft?” Well, I used to do that, but I don’t anymore. Why? Because I learned a very important thing about running a home business.
You can’t please everybody.
True story.
I just recently started a newsletter that I wanted to be the best newsletter on the planet. So the first thing I sat down and thought about was how I could go about doing that. Well, what’s one of the things that most people hate about newsletters? At the top of the list has to be the fact that a lot of them try to sell you something every single time they send you an issue. The content is more like foreplay for a sales pitch than simply good content for good content’s sake.
So I decided that my newsletter was going to be almost pitch free. I’d email 4 issues a week with only Tuesday’s being of a promotional nature. And that’s if I even had something to sell. Many times I don’t and Tuesday simply comes and goes. Most weeks are content only and ZERO sales pitches. I thought that fact alone would completely eliminate any complaints or unsubscribes.
But I didn’t stop there. I decided that I’d try to make each issue as informative as possible without cramming so much down somebody’s throat that they couldn’t find the time to read it. While this is a tough balancing act, I’ve had other successful newsletters by other marketers to use as guides. I was pretty confident that the amount of content would be just right.
And for a long time, I went along doing very well. The only people who opted out were ones who simply didn’t have the time any longer and had to devote it to other things. That’s great. I’ve been telling people for years that they need to concentrate on the things that are productive. Home business owners waste way too much time on stupid stuff. I should know. I used to waste a lot of my time on activities that didn’t help build my business one little bit. But I digress.
The other day, I got an email from one of my subscribers. Now I don’t usually get emails from subscribers unless they have questions or want to tell me how much they’re enjoying my newsletter. Most of the ones that opt out will leave a message in the little Aweber text box so I can see their reason. Many leave no message at all. They just move on.
Well, this one person had to tell me that (1) I was emailing too often, even though I said up front that they’d hear from me 4 days a week, and (2) there was nothing at all useful in my emails and I should seriously consider thinking about what I wrote before I wrote it. In short, it was the worst tongue lashing that I’ve received in quite some time.
This is the same newsletter that I have heard people say was one they never miss.
Are we reading the same newsletter here?
Go back to the title of this article for the answer to that.
Now, what a lot of home business owners will do is drastically change their newsletter because of this ONE complaint. I’m serious. They’ll stop emailing as often for one thing. Instead of emailing 4 times a week, they’ll drop down to 2 times or even ONCE a week. They’ll shorten the length of their newsletter for each issue. They’ll second guess the content itself and end up, many times, not writing anything because they’re afraid that nobody will read it,
I could go on and on but I think you get the point. And ultimately what will probably happen is that the home business owner will end up with MORE complaints after the changes because there will be more people who don’t like the new format. Think about it. If it was just ONE person who said you emailed too much or didn’t have anything useful to say, and everybody else stayed on your newsletter, isn’t it safe to assume that MAYBE they’re getting something useful out of it and don’t mind the way you’re running it?
Changing something for ONE person is more than likely going to tick somebody else off. If you think you’re going to please every single person on your mailing list, you are sadly mistaken. Some people, if you sold them a pack of playing cards with a $100 bill in it for just $2, they’d complain about the way the $100 bill was folded, or insist that it was counterfeit or something. Somebody would find some fault with what they just bought. It’s human nature to complain and a lot of people do it very well.
Obviously you want to monitor your opt outs and if a lot of people start leaving then yes, you might want to reevaluate what you’re doing. But if it’s just one or two, you’re shooting yourself in the foot if you try to please people who are already gone while risking alienating those who actually LIKE what you’re doing.
Okay, got it?
You can’t please everybody.
Don’t try.
To YOUR Success,
Steven Wagenheim
If you want to get on a great newsletter that only a few people have left and learn a lot of great stuff about running a home business and marketing, sign up for my New World Order Newsletter and learn a whole lot of really great stuff FREE.
