As I sit here writing this, I have an embarrassing confession to make:
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It’s been a minute since I’ve actually sat down, and typed an email to you like this, personally myself, with my own two hands…
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In fact, my confession to you is this:
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Virtually every email we’ve sent as a company with my name signed to it (barring a handful of exceptions) was actually written NOT be me – but instead by one of our in-house copywriters, signed with my name…
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For the LAST 7 YEARS.
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(Shocking, I know :-/ …)
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And while this may not come as much of surprise to you at all…
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If you’re wondering:
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Why the heck am I telling you this TODAY??
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Well… Because this is something that’s bothered me… for some time.
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And I’m *finally* in a place to share this.
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(I’ll explain WHY – and more importantly, what this all has to do with YOU, in just a moment…)
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But first, just to be clear – Yes. There WAS once a time and place…
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Where every email that we sent as a company with my name attached to it – was personally penned by me.
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BUT as our business grew and as it became more complex… and as my responsibilities expanded and I became more stretched…
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The volume of email we developed a reputation for sending (and which candidly became a critical part of our business model) necessitated having someone nearly full-time dedicated to writing all those emails…
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So we developed a system to bring in new writers, and have them STUDY stuff that I had actually personally written myself…
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And aim to replicate that VOICE… that TONE… that STYLE…
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And that became our model.
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But over time, especially in the last few years, I started feeling more and more that the tone and content of what we were putting out…
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Felt less and less authentic….
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Less and less like it was something that would ever come from me…
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And it started to have the flavor of watered-down orange juice from a can…
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Instead of the freshly-squeezed Sunday brunch variety straight from the source…
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Sure, there were certain things that needed to be sent out that didn’t require “me” to be the sender…
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Things like transactional emails… Course access details… etc. etc.
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But we got lazy as a company – and I take full responsibility for this – by relying on sending every email with MY name signed to it…
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And THAT…
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Coupled with the sheer VOLUME of email we were sending as a company…
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Created a sub-optimal experience for YOU, as a subscriber…
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For that, I hope you can forgive me.
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And the trust you’ve placed in me.
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THIS is what brings me to why I’m sharing all this with you TODAY.
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Because going forward, we’ve decided to make some changes.
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First things first, in an effort to be fully transparent:
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It’s my intent, that every week (starting with this email right here) – I’ll be sending a weekly email that will come from me personally…
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This is “Issue #001”…
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Going forward, I’ll be sharing resources, insights, and ideas – straight from me to you.
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I’ll be sharing what projects I’m working on at the moment, and what opportunities we have on the horizon.
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(Like “NEW Bucket” for example. The new “intelligent” quiz funnel software that we’ve been quietly developing over the last year…
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BTW – If you’re curious, you can sign up to see the Live Demo I’ll be hosting for a small group next week…)
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Separately, we’ll continue to send additional communication – like for example our [Bucket News] Weekly Newsletter – That will include product updates, feature announcements, and industry news- but that won’t be signed with my personal name…
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Instead that will be signed by “The Bucket Team”.
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That way you’ll know, what communication is truly coming from whom.
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Does that make sense??
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Okay, great.
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So…….. what’s this all got to do with YOU?
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And what’s the lesson in all this for YOU and your business?
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Well, I think there are many to take away…
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But if there’s one to wrap today’s email with it’s this:
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At the end of the day…
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Whatever you do in your business is as much about how you make people feel as it is the functional benefits they get from your product or service…
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People want to know that you truly care.
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People want to FEEL it with your words and with your actions.
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And you can’t fake it…
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You have to MEAN it…
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Because ultimately that’s what creates connection.
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And at the end of the day…
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That’s all we ALL want.
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Connection.
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Everything else?
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Is just noise.
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—
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All my best,
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Ryan :-)
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P.S. Thanks for being here, and for reading today. I appreciate you.
