So sayseth one of my favorite podcasters (Dante Nero).
Real life story:
One of my past chicks and I recently got to chatting and she admitted to something I had long suspected due to some of the bizarre choices she has made:
She’s a bit emotionally damaged.
That doesn’t make her a “bad” person.
But, emotionally damaged she is.
Now, that is no crime.
Bad things happen.
(Hey, “everyone gets got”…)
No, her crime (IMH-but accurate-O) is staying damaged.
And, giving up.
She has no desire to make herself whole again (which she could do, she’s not that damaged — she said, for example, she quotes me to her friends a lot, so she’s got that going for her at least… heh)
Of course, I told her it was dumb to give up.
And cowardly.
And, yes, disappointing.
Thus, when she asked if we could be “friends” I said not a chance. Damaged people who don’t even try to better themselves can’t be trusted, and I am not friends with people I don’t trust. To me, a true friend will have your back no matter what — not just when it’s convenient or opportunistic (to paraphrase my boy Optimus Prime: “a friend will rarely call on you at a time of your choosing…”) And if my back is to the wall, and I really need someone to have my back, am I gonna call someone who admits they’re damaged goods, and has no desire to change?
Hellz naw…
Anyway, here’s the point:
A lot of people cling to their pain.
Many a damsel looooooves their distress.
(As I once wrote in “Email Players” — the song “I’m only happy when it rains” from the 90’s band “Garbage” is one of the best songs you can study to understand human nature.)
And yes, this carries over to your business, too.
There are people in your market that are “damaged.”
By that I mean, they’re in pain.
They behave as if they’re seeking a solution.
But, they never implement anything.
And, in some cases, won’t even open your product.
They LIKE their pain too much.
It’s weird.
And I don’t fully understand it.
(When I have a problem, I wanna solve it STAT.)
But, it is what it is.
And it can be annoying and irritating and extremely frustrating if you care about your market. (And if you don’t then you’re selling to the wrong market.)
Just don’t take it personally.
Or get mad.
Or, let it affect you at all.
Why?
Because it ain’t you.
It really is them…
Alright.
Enough of this negative banter.
Let’s talk about something positive:
The email you just read is a powerful format (and no, you won’t be able to reverse engineer it, don’t even bother) I teach in the April “Email Players” issue next month.
It’s a format that’s made me lots of sales.
And, can make you lots of sales, too.
Get the low down here:
Ben Settle
