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It’s quite amazing what some people think they can get away with when they market to their subscribers! I wonder what email marketing is coming to???

This is what I got a couple of days ago from someone who should know better!

Subject: this is a rant, and it’s about you stephen … yeah, you.

Hello again Stephen,

That’s right, this email is a rant … and it’s about you.

My part in this relationship is simple … I am supposed to find the good stuff, and then share it with you.

I’ve been doing that …

Then, it’s time for you to do your part in this relationship … trust me, and go check out the good stuff I’m telling you about.

The problem is, you’re not doing it… and it’s starting to suck

He then went on to say…

So, I’m drawing a link in the sand …

This email is a test.

It’s going to determine which side of the line in the sand you’re on …

There are two links in this email, one that will take you to Jeff’s page, and another at the very bottom …

That other one is a remove link …

Please choose one.

There’s no point in reading what I write if you aren’t going to take any action on it …

OK… I’d already been to visit Jeff Walker’s great training, so there was no need to click “his” link to prove anything. So that really only leaves me with one option! LOL

Trouble is, I wasn’t quick enough and got the follow up to the rant… which is even more priceless!

Oh… the underlined bits are MINE!

Subject: a half-hearted apology … the rant about stephen, yeah you.

Hello again Stephen,

First, let me start off my saying …

HALLELUJAH!

You’re alive, you’ve got some fire in your belly, and I certainly got a rise out of you.
(well only now - I was only going to unsubscribe… but your reply really needs to be shared for people to learn from)

And, that’s why this is a “half-hearted” apology, and not a full one …
(actually, the word “sorry” is not used in this email anywhere!)

I’ll admit it.

When I sent that last email … I was TRYING to get a rise out of you, and grab your attention …

It worked.

Mission accomplished.

My one regret about sending the “rant”, the one about you, was that I didn’t post it to to my blog …

The comments would have been spectactular!

(Hey - maybe you should’ve done that as well! The last post was way back in December so it needs a bit of a “kick-start” to bring it back to life!)

Colorful language overwhelmed my inbox, and I can not even begin to tell you how many names I was called …

But … I *LOVED* every minute of it!

?

??

???

WHAT?

At this point, you probably think I’ve gone and lost my mind …

(Please don’t “presume” anything about what I may be thinking about you after this email - you have NO idea!)

Let’s re-cap what happened …

- I sent an email rant.
- Got called every name in the book.
- Saw my unsubscribe rate rocket to 10x normal.
- Found my inbox flooded with insults.
- Got cursed out, on Easter no less.

And, loved it?

I know my enjoying that response could make me look crazy … but I promise, I’m not.

Here’s why.

As I mentioned in my “rant” … I have an obligation to you as my subscriber. And it’s an obligation that I take seriously.

My job is to find the good stuff, and then share the good stuff with you …

But, it doesn’t end there.

I feel that part of my job as someone you’ve trusted as an advisor, is to make sure that you’re acting on my advice …

And that just wasn’t happening.

If I know that I’m sending you something that has an overwhelming amount of value, and you never even see it … I feel that I’ve failed you.

(Maybe you should survey your list and find out what THEY want instead of assuming you KNOW what they want… and then you’d get better results for your efforts?)

Quite simply, I haven’t done what I promised you I’d do … and that doesn’t sit right with me.

So, that last email … the rant … it was designed to rattle your cage.

I wanted you to look for my name in the “From” field in the future, and know that when you open up emails from me, they’re going to be good …

(If I forget to unsubscribe, I’ll certainly easily identify which email to delete without reading)

They’ll have the “good stuff”. Period.

Now, here comes the half-hearted apology …

If you thought that last email was over the top, I’m man enough to accept the criticism, and even welcome it.

But, at the same time, that email was written with a clear mind, and with a specific intent …

(If your intent was to “cleanse” your list of subscribers… congratulations! You probably achieved it! However there are far better ways of doing that without p’ing off everyone in the community with your attitude!)

It wasn’t a mistake.

No one else wrote it.

No one else sent it.

It was all me.

I don’t regret sending it … so the best I can send with a clear conscience is a half-hearted apology.

(Gee… errr… thanks…)

Now, I want to respond to those nasty responses, and hopefully explain why I don’t feel bad about sending it, while attempting to clear a few things up …

To do that, I’m going to quote a reply I got.

—————————————————-
“First off! You need to quit your whining! It
must be nice to spew your venomous rant from
way up there in your Ivory Tower.

Come on! All any of you ‘gurus’ care about is
your own seven figure income, not anyone else
having any success, especially not me.”
—————————————————–

Nice one, huh?

But, I loved seeing that, because it really showed me how some of you are feeling … so, let me respond.

First off, I’m not going to apologize for having some level of success … and I hope you won’t when you’re there yourself.

I may be in the “Ivory Tower” … but let me tell you something you may not realize, or want to accept.

No one put me in that tower …

I put myself there!

(Errrrr… not quite! Your “customers” may have had a small part in it???)

I had to walk up a lot of stairs to get there, and if my level of success somehow disqualifies me as a good mentor or advisor … again, the remove link is right down there at the bottom.

I’m the owner, and run the autoresponder service that sent this message … so I know it’s there.

But, here’s why that response confused me …

Aren’t you reading this *BECAUSE* I’ve had some level of success online … and not in spite of it?

I hope, for your sake, that you’ve chosen individuals who actually know what they’re talking about …

And I hope that’s why you chose me.

Moving on …

As for, only caring about my own income … I have to wonder if that person read what I sent.

Here’s a quote directly from the “rant” email …

—————————————————–
“I’ve seen a bunch of garbage promoted this past
month … like tons and tons of it …

And you know what?

If I didn’t care about doing my part, the part
where I said I’d find “good” stuff, I could’ve
pushed that trash myself, and and made an easy
five figures in the process …

Plenty of other people did.”
—————————————————–

Now look, here’s some serious honesty for you …

Ready for this?

Really ready?

.

.

.

Alright, here goes …

Yes, I do care about earning a living … and passing up “easy” money isn’t easy to do.

And then, to pass it up, and feel like you did it for nothing … well, it’s no fun.

Am I looking for pity?

Absolutely not, and I’m not expecting you to pull out the world’s smallest violin and play me a tune …

I just wanted you to know where I stand.

That’s it, nothing more …

Writing has never been my strong suit, so I may have chosen the wrong words …

I’ll try to do better in the future.

Now I want to talk to you about something else that I think is a very valid point… and a point brought up in just about every single response I got.

I was asked this question …

—————————————————–
“Do you really expect me to buy a new product
every other day, or every other week?”
—————————————————–

The answer to that question is …

Heck no.

It’s a valid question, but if you asked that question I think you’re missing something …

I’m not going to insult your intelligence.

(Really? Are you going to stop now then?)

You know that these free videos, free audios, and all the other stuff typically leads into a launch …

Shocking, right?

Here’s the thing … and this is important!

When I send you a link to a free video, or report, or whatever … the content is going to solid.

Sure, the marketer that put the videos, or report, or whatever out there hopes you’ll buy something … but in order to accomplish that, they have to give you an incredible amount of value first.

Here’s what it all boils down to …

You can get great content, and learn a lot of totally useful stuff, even if you don’t buy a thing.

I personally watch hours of these videos every single week … and you know what?

I learn something … ( and I don’t buy everything )

(Note to self - send this guy an email when I launch my “customer relationship building” e-course for newbies)

That’s why you usually don’t hear about these reports and videos from me first …

I actually watch the things, before I fire you off an email to check them out for yourself.

It’s all a part of climbing those stairs … the ones leading up to my “Ivory Tower”.

And, it’s my job.

It’s my responsibility to know what I’m sending, even if that means I’m not the first person you hear about these things from …

Sometimes that makes me look like I’m “following” the crowd, but …

Think about it for a minute …

Who’s more likely to have actually reviewed the stuff they’re sending you … the person who gets it to you first? Or, the guy who gets it to you later?

Hmmmm … makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

Alright … rant over.

I hope you understand what I was trying to do … and apologize if you didn’t appreciate the method.

But, I can’t apologize for my motive.

I want to help, I want you to succeed, and appreciate the trust you’ve put in me …

Thanks & Good Luck,
(name removed to protect the incompetent)

Now the really “funny” thing is… there were TWO marketers who used this technique in the past week - both promoting Jeff Walker’s PLF launch - hey Jeff - you didn’t do a cut-and-paste email like this for your affiliates to use??? Nah - didn’t think so At least the other marketer didn’t sound so much like he had his head shoved up his RSS feed!

Oh dear….

Look - I’m sorry for foisting this garbage onto you.

But I thought you really should see a perfect example of building sound, long-term relationships with your subscribers

…NOT!

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