Let's Read Some Hate Mail :)

You have no idea how much I love hate mail.

Not only is it fun to see someone LOSE THEIR SH*T over something petty…

But it serves as a teaching tool for my non-snowflake readers.

Now, we’ll get to the hate mail in just a minute but first I want to explain the importance of knowing who your ideal client is.

The only reason to have an email list is to build the authority, credibility and trust your subscribers need so they will spend money with you.

To do that you need to have some personality in your writing.

You need to have opinions…

And anytime you have an opinion there will be people who don’t agree with you.

Another way to say that is, “To be magnetic to one group of people you’ll need to repel another group.”

So with this understanding, let’s take a look at the hate mail I got this morning. ??

(I’ve cut it down so you don’t have to read the entire book he sent me.)

+++++++

From a butt-hurt subscriber,

You are literally the only email newsletter I get into my inbox daily.

I’ve gotten your mails for over a year now because you offer really good value, and it helps me think about business in unique ways. It challenges me.

Until today.

Today you just stereotyped me and a whole group of Ivy League alumni into your neat little hate-box.

I mean, what the hell?

I went to an Ivy League school. And no– the education was not perfect, but I learned a sh*t ton about a lot of things, and those learnings daily help me.*

….Your email has been a sh*tty experience. I thought of you as a trusted teacher. Now I don’t trust you at all.

++++++++

Now let’s break this down…

The guy has been reading my emails for over a year and admits he’s gotten a TON of value out of them.

Then he reads one thing he doesn’t like and I’m completely untrustworthy.

That seems rational.

But let’s go back to the purpose of an email list. We want to separate the people who will spend money with you from everyone else.

I know that my best clients are tough, salty entrepreneurs.

Many of them didn’t go to college and most of them have an unfavorable opinion of your typical Harvard Business School grad who likes to pretend his years reading case studies in college is a substitute for the experience that comes from bootstrapping a business.

So by poking a little fun at them I make myself magnetic to my ideal client…

While repelling the tire-kickers and freeloaders I don’t want.

And to prove how well it works I took a look at this reader who got his panties in a bunch over my comments.

He’s been on my list since at least July 21, 2023.

He’s read 230 of my emails. (yeah, 230!)

He hasn’t signed up for a single thing I’ve offered in that time.

Not a free training, not a mini course…nothing.

He’s a guy who get’s value from my letters but I think it’s safe to say he’s never going to spend any money with me.

And that’s fine…

There are lots of people who will spend months or years on your list and never convert.

But do you think I’ll lose any sleep over the fact that he wasn’t happy with my depiction of him and his frat bros?

The answer is no - and neither should you.

Know who your audience is and write to them.

And when the haters come calling, you’ll know you’re doing it right.

Jason

P.S. I’m looking for a handful of clients that I can work with 1:1 to build a sustainable coaching business that produces predictable income without the constant need to create new products or run time-consuming product launches.

If that sounds like you, take a minute and read through this document where I lay out the entire program. Then email me to set up a time to chat.