For most authors, seeing an unsubscribe notification in their email or on their MailChimp dashboard will cause them to feel nauseous all day long.
They’re wondering what they could be doing wrong that causing their email subscribers to flee.
But for me, I no longer care when someone unsubscribes from my mailing list.
I won’t deny that it’s sad to see someone leaves, especially when this person can be my true fan.
But at the same time, I’m glad that this person chose to unsubscribe from my mailing list.
Let’s just face it. It’s not easy to build an email list. So, it’s understandable why some authors feel devastated when people decided to unsubscribe from their mailing list.
That brings us to another question. Why do they choose to unsubscribe from your mailing list?
Here’s the hint. It’s not so much about you. It has a lot to do with them.
The truth about people who unsubscribe from your mailing list
There are many reasons why they decided to join your mailing list at first.
Perhaps they’re joining your mailing list because of what you offer in exchange for an email address. Maybe you’re offering a free novella like I do on my fiction author site.
Or they simply love your writing that they want to be the first to know when you have a new blog post on your website.
But for the most part, they’re only after the freebies you give upon joining your mailing list. They will eventually unsubscribe the moment they already get the freebies.
You don’t want these people who are freebie seekers to be in your mailing list. It costs money to maintain an email list. And having these people in your mailing list will only drain the money that you can use elsewhere in your author career.
Don’t get me wrong. Some people do join your mailing list because they love your book and would like to be the first to know when you release a new book.
But for some people, they’re only after the freebies. They couldn’t care less about buying your book when you release a new book. Don’t be surprised that they will immediately unsubscribe from your mailing list when you’re asking for the sale.
I’ve seen it myself on my author website. At that time, I realized that the person who subscribed to my mailing list immediately unsubscribed as soon as this person got the free ebooks that I offered. And this person did it in a heartbeat, way before my first autoresponder email started to kick in.
When it comes to email subscribers, it’s unrealistic to expect sales generated from each subscriber. But at the very least, most of them will be more than happy to buy your book whenever you have a new book coming out.
You’re saying something that offended them
Sometimes, the reason why these people end up unsubscribe from your mailing list may have something to do with what you say.
It can be something that you say in your email newsletter that rubs them the wrong way. Or they just simply disagree with what you say in your recent blog post that they choose not to follow you anymore.
It’s sad to say that people are being so fickle these days. They tend to feel offended regardless of what you say.
Which brings me to this question. Should you care about them in the first place?
I’m pretty sure that you already know the answer by now. If you try to please everybody, you’re pleasing no one.
Just let them unfollow you if they disagree or feel offended by what you say. Assuming that you’re not a douchebag, these people can’t seem to take the point of view that is challenging their thought or hurting their pride.
I can bet that there are many people out there who will agree with what you say. As long as you’re not being a prick, I’m sure that you’ll attract the right kind of people to your mailing list.
And you’ll never know that there are super fans among them.
Focus on the people that matter to you the most
Regardless of the size of your mailing list, it’s important to focus on anyone that is still on your mailing list. After all, there’s a reason why they still want to stick around with you.
I won’t deny that keeping your email subscribers engaged is an ongoing process. So, do what you can to improve your engagement with your email subscribers.
If you haven’t built an email list yet, don’t feel intimidated by the fact that some people are only after the freebies that you offer upon joining your mailing list.
If these people exist in your mailing list, just purge them all. I already did it countless time.
I feel much better with a smaller list but engaged with whatever emails I send over a large but unengaged mailing list.
As much as I’d like to think numbers matter, it seems that the engagement matters more than the number of subscribers in your mailing list.
So, celebrate the next time someone unsubscribes from your mailing list. You finally able to get rid of someone who doesn’t serve you well on their own accord.
