Fly on the E-Commerce Cyberwall

Time to reassess
I got the latest One Stop newsletter out late last night. Got bummed with the results. My subscriber list certainly isn't large enough yet for my subscribers to sign up or unsubscribe without it getting my attention.

So I was disappointed today to find that one subscriber, husband and wife actually, had unsubscribed. Their signup had been one I had been particularly proud of. My client had shown me an e-mail he had received from them shortly after they had checked out my site after a mention in his update to his wholesale customers.

They were highly complimentary of both him and me for trying to help new wholesalers improve their businesses. I was pretty proud of their comments. So I was a little saddened to see them go today.

Now one unsubscribe doesn't mean the end of the world, but one that had been so excited to sign up for my newsletter does make me reassess whether I'm providing as much value as I'd like to.


Part of me, at this point in the blog, wants to launch into my big "expert" voice and expound on how each business has its ups and downs—like all this is a big intellectual exercise over which I am a distant observer. But I feel like I'd be doing anyone who reads this a disservice by disassociating myself emotionally from the roller coaster.

I can do better. And I intend to. I put a quote at the end of all of my newsletters. Ironically, the one I used for this one read, "'We are continually faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluable problems" (John W. Gardner).

I firmly believe that progress is the fruit that grows out of problems. Problems force you to focus, and focusing leads to progress.

So time to sort through all the directions I could go with the site and focus on where it needs to go in order to benefit others. Always make use of the obstacles in your business to force yourself to explore the territories you've been trying to avoid.
Jeff