My email last night about James Altucher drew a surprising number of thoughtful and emotional responses…
#1 “If that’s what got James Altucher to stop, that’s really sad. I too enjoyed his writing.”
#2 “Great email. I always enjoyed James Altucher’s writing, too. It’s so quirky and off-beat.”
#3 “So… your email couldn’t have had better timing.”
#4 “I appreciate you sharing the email you never sent and hope he finds his confidence again someday.”
… but what my email yesterday did not do is get any sales. And in fact, it also didn’t get almost any clicks to the sales page – not compared to what I’m used to seeing.
To which, all which I can do is give a Gandhi-like smile, shrug gently, and then hiss through clenched teeth:
“Come on people, don’t you realize I’m trying to run a little business here? Buy something or move on.”
But a little more seriously, such is the world of not-really direct response marketing in daily emails.
Last night’s email drew a lot of engagement, but seems to have been worthless for business. But maybe not.
I’ve sent similar emails to this list that made me multiple thousands of dollars. In fact, I might collect all such emails into a course one day, which I will call:
“Multiple-Thousand-$$$ Emails I Sent Right Before A Deadline — And You Can Too”
The truth is, if you have a daily email list, and you’re not just spamming people with random affiliate offers, then it’s often the cumulative effect that makes people buy.
And even when people are mostly “sold” by a single email, it’s often not the email from which they clicked through to the sales page.
So the way I see it, it doesn’t make too much sense to stress over an email that seems to have been worthless for business.
Likewise, it doesn’t make too much sense to celebrate the emails that did make sales (except my “Multiple-Thousand-$$$ Emails I Sent Right Before A Deadline” — more info on that exciting course coming up soon).
So what does make sense?
I can only tell you the four things I do:
1. Keep an eye on sales over a longer time – like a month. Things tend to average out over a month, and hidden effects become less hidden.
2. Do worry if the total sales over that longer period are not going up. (If the total sales are going up, then still worry, but less.)
3. Do make new offers — again, keep your eyes peeled for my “Multiple-Thousand-$$$ Emails I Sent Right Before A Deadline — And You Can Too”
4. Follow Gary Bencivenga’s advice about getting 1% better each day. Except 1% better each day seems like a lot to me. So I aim for more like 1% better each week.
Which brings me to my offer:
It’s not new. And it’s certainly not the only way to get 1% better each week. But maybe it will be the difference that allows you to get better, regularly. Sign up for my email newsletter, and get more emails like this, every day.