Why an Unsubscribe Is Like an Unripe Mango (and How That Pucker Can Prepare You for a Kiss)
I wasn’t intending to write every day, but it seems that lately, at least one thing everyday inspires me to the point I just HAVE to write.
Today, it was a bitter-sweet conversation I had with a client of mine who explained to me, with a heavy heart, that she didn’t like sending emails to her list because every time she got an unsubscribe it hurt her feelings.
Not to mention logging in to Aweber and seeing that anyone tagged her mail as spam… from the sounds of it, THAT could ruin her whole day. In fact, she said she has such “bad juju” with this list, that she is thinking of just scrapping it and starting over.
I felt a combination of compassion and awe.
Here she is, with a list in the triple digits–not huge but nothing to frown upon–that not only does she not write to anymore, but she is willing to THROW AWAY. That threw ME for a loop.
And, yet, I get it.
In fact, I know it from experience. When you pour your heart and soul into a business, a website, and a single email campaign you don’t want to be perceived as a nuisance and dumped into the same bucket as all those pharmaceutical emails selling you-know-what.
So I told her I would write this blog post as an attempt to present a “re-frame” of those unsubscribes and spam complaints. Plus I said we would do a little more work (probably using some EFT–Emotional Freedom Techniques) to address the “bad juju” when I see her in person later in the month.
Here’s how I see it…
Why An Unsubscribe Is Like An Unripe Mango
(and How That Pucker Can Prepare You for a Kiss)
You, me, this client of mine, each of us have a unique gift to offer the world. We influence the world in various degrees through the relationships we build with our clients (and of course through non-business relationships as well).
But no matter how beautiful, brilliant and powerful our message is, it’s simply not going to appeal to everyone. And on top of that, it isn’t going to be a perfect match with even the right people at all stages of their lives.
How often have you heard about a book or speaker at one point in time and only actually read it several years later?
In my view, the time just wasn’t ripe for you to read it when you first heard about it. And by the time you DID read it, it was oh-so-sweet and deliciously ripe.
But have you ever tried to eat an unripe mango? My mouth puckers just thinking about it. One of the best things in life is to enjoy a piece of fruit that is perfectly ripe.
What if, instead of taking it personally when someone unsubscribes from your list, you sent them a little love, imagining that they are a mango that isn’t quite ready to drop off the tree? What if you knew that they were like that mango clinging to the branch saying, “The time isn’t right just yet… Let’s try again another time! I promise you, I’m not so sweet right now anyhow…”
Maybe their life is busy and they just aren’t in the place to receive your message right now. Maybe they’re not at all on the same wavelength with you to begin with. Maybe you are going to transform their life one day, but they need to go out and do a little more living in the meantime.
To me, an unsubscribe is the tartness of the un-plucked fruit that makes the ripe one taste even more scrumptious.
And as for spam complaints… Most people have no idea that hitting the spam button is any different than hitting the delete button. They probably didn’t know you would ever find out about it, had no intention of hurting your feelings, and in any case, it’s just another indicator that the time isn’t right.
Does it say something about YOU that the mango won’t come off the tree? It says more about the mango than the picker.
An unsubscribe, an occasional spam report…
It’s like the pucker that prepares you for a kiss.
Because when you have people on your list who are ripe and ready for your message, THOSE are the people you are meant to be serving right now. THOSE are the people who are going to get the most out of what you have to offer and THEY are going to give you the MOST delicious experience as you share your gifts with the world.
Bless the rest as they go on their way and be grateful that they saved you from the bitter fruit.
