There seems to be a trend among online marketers within a very narrow circle of influence to take on what seems to be on the verge of a flippant attitude toward one’s customers.
My theory is that one particular individual named Ben Settle, who is very influential in his own market, has a policy toward those who subscribe to his product, then for whatever reason decide to unsubscribe. Well, he won’t let them resubscribe again later on down the road.
I’m sure Ben has his reasons for this, and I’m sure they make sense to him and suit his purposes. However, people being people, a lot of Ben’s followers have followed suit with their own “no coming back” policies – and predictably, they miss the point entirely of why they’re even doing it.
People have a tendency to just mimic something that appears to be working for one person, without understanding the reasons why that person is doing it in the first place.
The result of this blind following of one man’s personal policy for his own business is there has cropped up a whole bunch of people with a product, and they’re careful to say, “If you quit my program, there’s no coming back, EVER!”
Ben’s way is very pragmatic, with hours upon hours of deep thought going into it, and even thoroughly explaining his policy to his customers, with point by point analysis of why he does it. So if you subscribe to his materials, you know exactly what you’re getting into, and what will happen if you cancel the subscription.
I subscribed to Ben Settle’s newsletter for about two years, and when I cancelled, I was told in no uncertain terms there’s no coming back. No surprises, and no hard feelings. I thanked him for what I had learned from him, and went about my business.
Other people take this approach and twist it into something into which it’s not intended to be. Ben doesn’t come off as a jerk, but some of his followers do. Things like, “If you can’t afford a measly $3 per day, well there’s nothing I can do for you…” in their sales letters. And if you choose to subscribe to their stuff, as I have, well it’s clear they’re simply mimicking a master at his craft, but don’t take the time to understand the principles behind why he does it in the first place. And the experience of unsubscribing, well, is just not the same thing.
An imitation is never as good as the original, right?
The end result is that these imitators come across as arrogant jerks for no reason other than they’re simply doing what appears to be working for someone else. And God help you if you unsubscribe to their materials. You’ll be branded a quitter, a loser and worse.
In other words, like that forgettable country song: “If I’m not #1 in your life, then #2 on you.”
I’ve admittedly allowed myself to fall prey to that way of thinking, without really thinking about why I do it, and am not proud of the results. I’ll just leave it at that.
This online marketing thing is always an adventure, and there’s nothing we can do when we err in our ways other than learn from it and resolve to not make the same mistake twice.
No major call to action in today’s email, other than to remember to ask and thoroughly study why someone who is successful is doing something a particular way before actually doing it.
