My $3 Million Mistake

So every year, I have this little tradition...

I pull out my calendar, grab my notes, and dive deep into everything that happened over the past 12 months...

Relationships, business moves, marketing wins, and the flops too

...everything goes under the microscope!

It's a great way to get out of my head and see reality for exactly what it is.

The point is to do more of what works and less of what doesn't!

But a while back...

Oh boy!

When I ran the numbers across the last few years, I uncovered something so embarrassing it made me want to crawl under a rock.

A mistake so "obvious" it physically hurt to calculate.

By my math...

I'd left almost $3 million on the table.

The culprit?

Something so simple, it's embarrassing...

I didn't email enough!

The data was crystal clear...

When I emailed, sales came in.

When I didn't... silence.

Looking deeper, I found people who'd been on my list for over 15 years still buying...

That is, if I simply asked them to!

And that's when it hit me.

My list was the most valuable asset in the business.

I just... forgot to use it.

Why your list is the most underrated asset you have

We spend so much energy chasing new customers. New ads, new channels, new tactics.

Meanwhile, the people who already know us, trust us, and have bought from us are sitting right there...

waiting to hear from us!

Here's what I've come to believe about an email list:

• It compounds. Every person on it is someone you never have to pay to reach again.
• Trust grows over years, not days. Some of my best customers joined my list more than a decade before they bought.
• Nobody can take it away. No algorithm change can shut off your list.

And yet we avoid emailing because we don't want to "bother" people.

I get it. I did the same thing!

But the data says the opposite: the list is the part of the business that deserves the most attention, not the least.

What I changed

A few simple rules came out of that review...

• Email consistently, on a schedule, whether or not there's something to sell.
• Give more than you ask. Most emails should teach, tell a story, or help.
• Ask clearly when you do ask. People can't say yes to an offer they never hear about!
• Keep growing the list, because every new name adds to the asset.

Nothing fancy. Which is exactly why it's so easy to neglect.

So if you have a list, use it. Write to the people who already know you.

And if you don't have one yet... start building it today. Your future self will thank you.