The Door Swings Both Ways

The first time somebody unsubscribes from your email list, it stings.

You worked to get that person. They found you, they trusted you with their email address, and now they're gone.

No explanation.

Just a number that went down by one.

It's hard not to take that personally.

I cancelled a few subscriptions myself not long ago. It was one more thing to get done that morning, somewhere between cleaning the stove and mopping the floor.

I'd guess most unsubscribes look a lot like that from the other side.

Not a verdict on you.

Just someone clearing space.

I've written before about why an email list is one of the few things in your business you actually own. The platforms can change the rules any morning they like. Your list stays with you.

But owning it comes with a responsibility.

A list is only worth something if the people on it want to be there.

Somebody who stopped opening your emails months ago isn't an audience.

They're a name.

Keeping them doesn't make your list bigger in any way that counts.

It just makes the number harder to trust.

So make leaving easy.

Put the unsubscribe link where people can find it.

Don't make them log in, confirm three times, or read a paragraph about how sad you are to see them go.

A door that only opens one way isn't a door.

It's a trap.

And people can tell the difference, even the ones who never plan on leaving.

There is one thing worth paying attention to.

One person leaving is someone clearing space.

A lot of people leaving right after the same email is information.

Look at what you sent.

Was it the subject? The timing? Did it promise one thing and deliver another?

Write down what you find, so you don't make the same mistake twice.

Then let it go and keep writing to the people who are still there.

They're the ones who matter now.

Every one of them could have left.

Let them leave.

The ones who stay chose to.