Omg.
I wanted to tell you this story last week but it felt too precious to put in a promo email.
Years ago this guy Jeremy from South Africa started replying to my emails with some regularity. He seemed nice but also I had a big head back then so I was like, “I’m Tarzan and of course my subscribers love me because I am the best.”
Despite me being a hothead know-it-all and probably ignoring half his replies, he stuck around on my list.
Eventually, we ran into each other at Selena Soo’s 10th Biz-iversary party in New York last year. “I’m Jeremy!” he said confidently, and I lit up with delight because by then my hothead was mostly deflated from getting divorced and losing all of my everythings, and I had learned the hard way that people like Jeremy do not come around every day.
We basically ignored all of the other internet-famous people at Selena’s party and talked non-stop all night.
Fast-forward a year and I get this email from Jeremy. “I’m moving to Ontario,” he says. “Any recommendations on places to live?”
We jumped on a Zoom call, one thing led to another and eventually, we were sipping Bubly on my patio on a warm September afternoon, laughing and getting mad about all the best and worst things happening on the internet right now.*
I told him my internet password and he got the joke.**
After that, it was a 48-hour parade of non-stop laughs and good times. Jeremy threatened to go for a swim in the raging Niagara River, then we got lost hiking in the Niagara Glen. I introduced him to my favourite “food” on earth, vanilla fudge from a shop in Niagara-on-the-Lake where I grew up. We warmed up our voices belting out The Beatles in this crazy bright red Jeep Wrangler he rented, then sang a duet of Once in a Lifetime at a karaoke party where I introduced him to my family.
The only bad part was he said he would mow my lawn and didn’t.***
The opportunist in me wanted to turn this story into a promotional email: Start an email list and write meaningful emails so that you can make friends and lifelong memories with cool people you meet on the internet!
…but I don’t think that’s quite it.
I think the promo goes more like this: BE NOT AFRAID to let people in on the journey as you build your business. Business (and life) is so full of peaks and troughs, and when you share them honestly with your readers, you cannot imagine all of the unexpected possibilities that open up for you.
Anniversary parties.
New friends.
Partnership opportunities.
Someone to mow your lawn (make sure you hold them to it).
Customers!
People to witness your journey.
Belonging more fully to yourself, in the fullest expression of you.
These emails are the most meaningful thing about my job, as are your replies. The truth is that I’m writing this one because I was having a loser day (yes, another!) and I needed to perk myself up before tackling my task list in Asana.
Looks like it’s done the trick because I feel more-than-ready to get back to writing the promo emails you got last week (email, it’s a time warp!).
I kind of hated my business twenty minutes ago, but now I love it again.
Peaks and troughs, like I said. I know you get it.
When you’re in a trough it’s easy to forget why you’re even doing it, and go into full-fledged Ruth-mode like me last week. You need very thick skin to be an entrepreneur because it is so damn hard and it feels like you fail more often than you succeed.
Some truths I’ve learned are:
>> Everything will take longer than you think (tho some things occasionally surprise you by working right away, and it will feel like Christmas and your birthday all at once).
>> Some things that are hard for other people will be easy for you—when you find that thing, GO HARD ON IT. That’s email for me.
>> It’ll take time to find your “thing.” (I’m still looking for mine. In this meantime, this works.) Don’t put too much pressure on it.
At the end of the day, it’s just your job. It matters a lot, but it’s not everything.
When I’m tooling around in my canoe on the Welland Canal with my new friend Jeremy (everyone on the team is mad because he didn’t fall out once), I know that business or no business, I’m still Tarzan. And I really like being Tarzan.
‘Till next week,
T-Boss
Notes on this email:
*In case you’re not Canadian, I feel compelled to tell you, “It’s pronounced boo-BLAY.”
**If you’re ever at my house and you need the wifi, it’s IAMTHEBEST.
***My lawn is still waiting, Jeremy! COME BAAAACK.
And P.S., Email Stars Home Study is available until Thursday at 11:59PM ET, for $1000. Check it out here —>
