In the beginning, every new subscriber is exciting. They trickle in day by day, and every single one is a signal that you’re onto something with your newsletter. You were right! People want this! You’re unstoppable!
Eventually, you think, there will be a day when you will count new signups in the tens, or hundreds, or even perhaps thousands per day.
But right now, each one is a big deal.
Then comes the morning where you wake up and the list hasn’t grown at all.
Wait… has it? Did I have 43 or 44 yesterday? Did it shrink?
The analytics show it definitely hasn’t shrunk. But what the hell? What happened to my little rocket ship? Do people hate this idea? Am I a failure? Was my second grade bully right about me? And most of all…
Why bother with this?
Here’s how to keep going in the face of all this nonsense…
Think about the list, however small, as a group of people in a room. Whether it’s 1,000, or 100, or 10 – however small it is, remember those are real people sitting in a room, waiting for whatever it is you’re writing.
Then treat the work the same way you would if you had to go stand in front of those people, and share it with them face to face.
Make something you’d be proud to show to ten people in a room, and you’ll end up with something worthy of ten-thousand. Then, when you get to ten-thousand, and that no longer feels like an accomplishment, put them all in a room and imagine yourself on-stage.
You can keep going with the exercise every day for as long as you work. Because the reality is that it always comes back to the people.