Hey Greenblasters!

After the last newsletter, a bunch of people unsubscribed.

Which is cool, I completely expected that.

That means this new direction wasn’t interesting for the people who left.

If you didn’t read it, that new direction is:

Speaking, storytelling, and personal branding advice for “solopreneurs” to grow their business.

(Mixed with unhinged GIFs and overly personal stories of course).

The difficult-to-accept truth for business owners is:

To build something useful for some people, it has to be completely uninteresting to others.

And that brings us to today’s message:

But first, a word from our sponsor (never thought I’d say that):

Ready to level up your career with increased powers of persuasion? Subscribe to the monthly Captivate newsletter and get practical tips that will make you a more effective communicator right away.

 https://captivatenewsletter.substack.com/

Now, back to the show:

Putting yourself out there sucks

Dr. Ari Zelmanow - a solopreneur who’s building his personal brand through speaking and content creation - just joined my community Speaking Heroes, and to paraphrase a recent LinkedIn post of his:

“Every time people unsubscribe from my newsletter, it stings a little bit.”

Ari, like me, is building this phase of his career through:

• a newsletter

• LinkedIn content

• YT videos

• podcast appearances

• and onstage speaking gigs

… all leading to his coaching programs (he teaches businesses how to conduct product research faster).

For people who make our living by sharing about ourselves, and who really care about our message, when someone:

• unfollows

• unsubscribes

• leaves a nasty comment

• or our social media post just doesn’t do well

It feels like a rejection of YOU as a person.

But I want to offer a different perspective on this, one I’m telling myself these days, which can help you be bold in your message and not give up on your “storytelling journey”:

Every ‘unsubscribe’ is an indication that your finding your niche.*

*Niche is all important to solopreneurs. Follow Cait Holmes if you want a deep dive.

The point is:

If you never say anything bold, controversial, or even specific enough to be useful to your audience:

You won’t lose people, or get a lot of nasty comments…

(I mean, this is still the internet; people leave mean comments on kitten videos).

BUT:

You’ll NEVER build the kind of audience you want.

People who:

• love your perspective (not just kinda like it)

• can see EXACTLY how you’d help THEM

• and want to spread your message to others like them

So when something like last week’s flurry of unsubscribers happened - after I made my announcement about changing the direction of this newsletter:

I look at it as a positive.

It means I’m being bold and clear enough about who this is actually for.

And once the people who aren’t into it leave, then the growth can start.

That’s what I’m betting on, anyway 😂

THAT’S IT for this week Greenblasters!

Please reply “Cool” if you liked this newsletter, and “BORING” if you didn’t (I can take it).

AND if you’re a solopreneur here for the advice, let me know:

What do you need help with that I can cover next??

See ya next week. Greenblast… out 🚀