Summary

The author of the article deleted their email list of 700 subscribers to focus on a new writing direction, specifically sharing their faith, and found that this decision led to greater focus, freedom, and engagement with a more committed audience.

Abstract

The author describes the unconventional decision to delete their email list of 700 subscribers, most of whom were not engaging with their content. Despite the risks, this act allowed the author to fully commit to their new focus on faith-based writing, freeing them from the constraints of their previous productivity niche. The deletion led to a more engaged and committed readership, with higher open rates and a stronger alignment between the author's passion and their audience's interests. The author reflects on the benefits of this decision, including the ability to pursue their true writing interests without the pressure to maintain a larger, but less engaged, list.

Opinions

The author initially felt the pressure to maintain a large email list for security and income, as advised by common marketing wisdom.
Deleting the list was a bold move that reflected the author's desire to write authentically about their faith, rather than continuing with productivity tips which no longer aligned with their passion.
The author experienced a sense of liberation from the "golden handcuffs" of writing about productivity, which was a safe topic for earning money.
There was an acknowledgment that a significant portion of the original list was only interested in free offerings, not in engaging with the author's content.
The decision to delete the list was also driven by low engagement rates, indicating that the majority of subscribers were not reading the emails.
The author emphasizes the importance of having an engaged audience over a large, uninterested one.
The article suggests that other writers consider cleaning up their email lists if they are changing their writing focus or need to concentrate on a specific niche.
The author invites readers to join their new email list, which is centered around faith and offers a free prayer and meditation guide.

I Deleted My Email List of 700 Subscribers And Here’s What Happened

Maybe it is time to cut the fat

“Your email list helps protect you against cancel culture… your email list is the only thing you own… email marketing is a direct communication between you and your potential customers…”

We’ve heard every single of these lines before. In fact, you can’t throw a preverbal stone on any major writing advice blog without hitting one of these email marketing one-liners.

And yet, I deleted 700 subscribers. On purpose.

Yes, this might have been a terrible idea, but the truth is that most of those 700 people weren’t even reading my emails. And, my focus changed, most of my old list wouldn’t have wanted what I write now.

When I hit that delete button I was worried.

What would I do if I couldn’t get subscribers to show up anymore? What if I made a mistake and I need to go back to the old list or topic? How would I make it back to this level with my old list?

Yet, some great things happened for me the moment that list was gone.

№1 — I went all-in on my new focus.

I had been pretty leery to go all-in prior to deleting my email list. After all, I did have a list of 700 people who liked productivity tips. I even wrote a book about productivity, too. So, it was something I was well established with and I could always fall back to writing again.

Yet, I knew I didn’t want to be writing about productivity.

So, deleting that list helped me decide to go all-in on my new pursuit of sharing my faith through writing. At that point, I needed to re-think what I would write about regularly and how I would connect with those who share my faith or who were interested in learning more.

№2 — I found freedom in my new direction.

Sometimes we call our jobs the golden handcuffs. We know it is where we make money and sometimes we get so chained to the amount we are making that we get stuck with our day jobs and cannot break free to do other things.

Likewise, writing about productivity and self-help had become this too.

I know I could write a good productivity post and likely have it go big. It is still one of the easiest things to share about and people will want to read it. Even if they don’t intend on applying what you write in productivity, they will save it for later or read it over and over again.

Yet, deleting my old email list gave me freedom from feeling the need to write these posts just to keep making money.

№3 — It opened my eyes to where I am as a writer.

When I first started writing, I was trying to grow an email list as fast as I could. So, I started doing this, not at breakneck speeds or anything, but it was a good jump over the last year.

The problem was, most of those people joined my email list for my free things and then couldn't care less about what I was sharing. My open rate was crazy low, so it was clear people weren’t reading.

Me, as a writer, I want people to read my writing. If I have a giant list of no one reading, then I need to do something different. This is happening as I have a list of just over 100 people and I get about 50% opens. This is super high, but this is a much more committed list of people.

Final Thoughts

This was probably the best decision I have made as a writer in a long time.

Sure, it was risky. And it goes against conventional thinking. But, it was totally worth it for me to change things up so I could go all-in, find a little freedom, and realize some truth about where I am at as a writer.

I wouldn’t suggest everyone goes and delete their list of course.

But, if you are looking to change directions in the topic you are writing about or need to really focus on a specific niche, it might be time to do some email list clean-up so that you can really make the most of this list.

How do you keep your email list fresh? Do you go through and weed out the non-openers? Share in the responses below.

This is my new email list, it is about faith, and when you sign up you get a free prayer and meditation guide!

*Please note there is an affiliate link/sales link for my book in this post.*