Picture this: You’ve worked your hiney off on your blog. You’ve perfected every published post and ensured every hyperlink actually links to something. You’ve lost 6 pounds sweating over content, SEO, plug-ins, disclosures, marketing, affiliates, branding, images, traffic, getting subscribers, and on…and on…
Then, just when your confidence has peaked, you’ve figured out how to send a newsletter e-mail (or “Broadcast” if you use ConvertKit like I do), you’ve gotten up the nerve to push “send” and then, you wait…
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…and BAM, you’re heart falls to your toes and your gut feels like releasing every meal you’ve eaten for 3 days.
WHY?
UNSUBSRIBERS! “Nooooooooooooooooo!” 
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Wait, you mean, our readers have the audacity, the nerve, the boldness, the pluck to REMOVE themselves from receiving e-mails from us? Yep, they sure do. And….who cares? Not me, and you shouldn’t either. While I understand it feels like a rejection; it’s not. In fact, I reached out to other bloggers to get their take on unsubscribers; I hope you feel “lifted” and relieved in reading their individual views and how they use unsubscibers as an opportunity to fine tune their audience and catapult to their success!
Audrey from About With Love found a way to use unscribers as a way to evaluate her blog posts!
I look at the e-mail that they unsubscribed from and try to evaluate what could’ve made them unsubscribe. Was it an email with an unclear message? Was the content not of much value? To take the guesswork out of why a person is unsubscribing, you can ask this question before they officially unsubscribe. Every person who unsubscribes is a chance to improve your e-mails! However, sometimes people simply unsubscribe because they’re uninterested, and that’s the way things go!
Rebekah from RebekahAllan.com learned quickly to NOT take things personal!
Unsubscribers use to make me feel sick to my stomach. Like I had done something wrong. And that just isn’t the case. The truth? That not 100% of people will like 100% of your stuff!
I’m sure they unsubscribe for various reasons and have no ill feelings or malice behind unsubscribing. It isn’t personal, so don’t make it. Over time I have grown a thick skin and barely glance at the number (only to check if it is higher/lower than normal!) And every email I get 50 unsubscribing (to an email list of 20k). It is all relative.
Eric from High Five Dad has found he much prefers quality over quantity!
The goal of my email list is not to have the most massive list on the internet but to have a well curated list of individuals who crave my content. I look at unsubscribers as helping me prune my list down to my core group of followers. This provides for a much higher engagement on call to actions later on. It is not the size of the list but the quality and I aim for quality.
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Clara from The Balance Collective thinks that maybe it’s not about the e-mails at all!
I remind myself that sometimes people prefer to keep in contact through social channels or they don’t need the support the blog offers any more. In fact, I rarely read e-mails anymore so I can’t take it personally when people are digitally de-cluttering.
Brian from BrianManon.com has found a way to reach out to his unsubscribers!
Unsubscribers is part of the game. Whenever you send a e-mail depending on your list size you will get unsubscribers. When someone unsubscribes from my e-mail list they go to a page were I tell them “I’m sorry to see you go but if you would like to keep in touch you can follow me at (Social Media Networks)”
Eden from EdenFried.com says “upward and onward” and feels that unsubscibers is a “gift” for your business!
I used to detest unsubscribers. For some reason, I took each unsubscribe personally as if it was some form of cruel, virtual slap across the face. Since then, I’ve come to learn and appreciate the art of email marketing and have learned to reframe my perspective on unsubscribes. When people unsubscribe, think of it as a gift to you. They’re doing you an awesome favor by leaving your list when they clearly were never meant to be there in the first place. I actually know many people who deliberately send e-mails that are intended to weed out people who shouldn’t be on their list and provoke unsubscribes from those people. Crazy, right? Well I actually think it’s pretty genius. So the next time you notice an unsubscribe, try and feel grateful! Onward and upward.
Courtney from CourtneyHelena.com brings up a great point regarding money and the opportunity to reflect!
Unsubscribers give you the opportunity to reflect, hone, refocus, and get closer to finding your true tribe. They also help keep e-mail costs down for larger lists – why pay for someone who doesn’t want to be there?
Mandi of Big Tiny Steps uses e-mails she receives from other bloggers to see what readers love!
I recently got 3 unsubscribes in 2 days. I have a small number of subscribers so this really got me down. I felt sorry for myself for about a day and then I said alright it’s either 1. grabbing the freebie and running 2. cleaning out inbox or 3. not digging what I am throwing out there anymore/expected something different from me. So I took the opportunity to reach out and ask for feedback and now have been working hard on improving and switching up my email strategy. I did this by checking what e-mails I love to open and trying to determine what they are doing that hooks me and sets them apart. All failures are opportunities if you let them be!
Julie from All About Self Employment says “Business Isn’t Personal!”
When subscribers decide to part ways with my e-mails, I view it as a challenge to continue to grow my list, but with a more targeted market. I only want to bother people that want to be bothered!
You see, while we could ponder and worry about why someone chose to unsubscribe, it just isn’t worth our time and doesn’t contribute the the success of our business or blogs. Have you ever felt let down, disappointed or hard on yourself for sending an e-mail that resulted in unsubscribers?
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Here’s to keeping engaged subscribers,
-Serena
Thank you for including me! A great post with a really important message!
Thanks again, Eden, for stopping by and contributing!
-Serena
Can be frustrating when people unsubscribe and it used to affect me when they did. Now, I just think “I’m not the right one for you” and move on.
Good post!
Perfect mentality to have about it!
Thanks for stopping by!
-Serena
Personaly, i think seeing unsubscribers shoud be a motivation to do better and i think Brian from BrianManon.com method to still reach out to them is brilliant! This has been very motivational! Thanks for sharing.
His response was great! Thanks so much for stopping by Kobby!
-Serena
Great content. I must admit that as a new blogger that has not yet used any of the links or added links on my posts this seems overwhelming already! You make great points in saying that we should see things as a good thing or a chance to learn.
Hi Elena!
Congrats on blogging; it’s tough work and can def be overwhelming. Lean on your blogging buddies!
-Serena
This is such a great reminder to look at the bigger picture. I do think it is easy to get caught up in the numbers game and forget that everything we are doing is teaching us something. Learning is such a wonderful thing if we can get beyond the feelings of rejection.
Yes! Kia, I completely agree. When we work so hard at this (blogging is HARD work) we tend to take things uber personal.
Thanks for stopping in!
-Serena
I used to obsess about numbers all the time. I had charts where I kept track of them and I set goals to raise them. And while that’s a great way to build a business, it ultimately wasn’t what I wanted out of blogging, so I stopped. And I haven’t missed my charts at all!
YES! I see so many stress about Instagram, etc and I just think “nooooo”.
Thanks for stopping in!
Serena
This post is awesome serena you really got me! Honestly after reading this I feel better now.
It’s true it’s better to have people in your list who genuinely want to hear what you want to say.
Thanks serena!
Hi Frida! So happy it helped! It’s hard not to take things personal sometimes!
Serena
It’s so important to stay positive, even in the face of un-subscribers! I’ve had a few, and any that I knew personally, I sent an email to asking them why they left. True to form, it was a “I see your posts on social media so I don’t need the update of new posts.” or some other innocuous thing. I try not to get bummed when people unsubscribe, but sometimes I do feel that punch in the gut!
~Jess
Absolutely, it’s hard work so it feels personal.
Thanks for stopping by Jessica!
Serena
It can be a bummer but ultimately you don’t want to pay for people who aren’t interested to be on your list.
Exactly, Marlena! Great point!
Serena
Coming to terms with the fact that people unsubscribe for a lot of reasons, some of which may have nothing to do with me, was a HUGE part of my personal growth!
Yes! Me too Brittany; it’s challenging at first!
-Serena
I’m a brand new blogger, so I haven’t had to deal with this yet. But losing readers is something I’ve thought about. This is such a positive way to look at something I would normally probably cry over lol.
Hi Brianna! There’s no crying in blogging 😉 Of course I’m kidding; blogging is tough stuff!
Thanks for stopping by!
-Serena
Thanks for including my answer in this! I think you’ve made a great post for us new bloggers to see and think about 🙂
Thanks for being a part of it Mandi!
Serena