A warning from the pet industry's resident lunatic
Do you like superhero films?
Me, I’ve pointedly ignored them for the last 15 years. And I’m glad that they’re finally dying off.
But there is one exception to my indifference... One superhero film that I actually think is pretty great:
The Dark Knight.
The main reason being it’s so much fun to watch the Joker running around being a complete lunatic.
And despite his insanity (or because of it?), at one point he says something very wise:
It’s when the Joker gatecrashes a meeting of mob bosses, and claims he can end all their woes by simply killing the Batman. To which one of them pipes up, “If it’s so simple, why haven’t you done it already?”
And the Joker replies, “If you’re good at something, never do it for free.”
Sage wisdom. And sometimes I feel like I’m the pet industry’s “Joker”, simply because I preach the same thing.
You see, giving your list free “how-to” information in your emails is completely crazy.
Why?
Because people do not value advice that they get for nothing.
Sadly, this is a law of human nature. And it doesn’t matter how good your advice is, either. You could literally lay out a proven, step-by-step roadmap telling someone how to become a bajillionaire. But if you don’t charge for it, they will never follow it.
In other words:
FREE = WORTHLESS
And as for giving away “how-to” info in order to build “goodwill” with your email subscribers?
Beware:
If your email readers don’t value your advice, then they won’t follow it.
If they don’t follow it, then they won’t get any results.
And if they don’t get any results from your advice… Do you honestly believe they’ll be grateful for it?
Nope. They’ll just go find someone smarter. Someone who doesn’t bore them with advice they don’t want.
So, if you don’t give how-to info in your pet business’s emails, what the hell are you supposed to write about?
Well, I could tell you here… But then you’d be getting free, and so you probably wouldn’t do it.
So instead, how about you “pay” me with your primary email address?