The Unsubscribe Upside Down ... [🐝U]

Tis the season where every business owner quietly opens their analytics tab…
& immediately wonders if they should’ve just stayed in bed.

Everywhere you look: countdowns, dashboards, “last push of the year!” pep talks.
But honestly?
Most people I’m talking to aren’t fired up … they’re totally fried.

Some are powering through the home stretch
While others are throwing their hands up in defeat thinking,
“welp … maybe next year”

But we’re forgetting the numbers aren’t telling the whole story.

Here’s the love/hate relationship reality with stats …

& as I see it heading into the last month of 2025
→ Some things are great
→ Others totally suck
→ & most of it is “meh”

In other words … welcome to entrepreneurship … the “meh” middle ground

1 bad number isn’t a sinking ship

If my newsletter dashboard had a theme this month, it was Stranger Things… because those unsubscribes definitely tried to drag me straight into the Upside Down

… everything looked dark, messy, & way worse than it actually was.

So I’m obviously nowhere near ANY of my subscriber Goldilocks Goals for this year.

I wish I could say the unsubscribes don’t bother me.
But every time I see a “-” next to a number, my stomach does an annoying little drop.

It’s not because I equate subscribers with my worth
but because it leaves me wondering, “What did I do to make them leave?”

… logically, I get they’re maybe not a good fit …
but it’s the emotions that hit us in the feels first.

Now usually, I’m a big advocate in starting with the good news first …
But I’m making an exception to that rule because
Despite the subscriber freefall …

The newsletter’s quietly turned into an overachiever.

It’s true … here’s why

Success is never just 1 thing

My income from 1 part of the newsletter increased 61.9% over October
… honestly shocking given the subscriber situation

& just that 1 income stream alone is doing 400% above my total target for the newsletter.

It also had 3 other income streams since the launch
2 I didn’t plan on but ever so glad they crashed the party!

How about those open & click rates?
Among the highest in the beehiiv network …
That’s something I didn’t even plan on tracking!

so yeah … the subscriber count looks like it fell down a flight of stairs

But the rest?
Those numbers showed up like a surprise super-sized McDonald’s meal

Same month
Same business
Same thing

It’s proof that the numbers are never telling the full story…
They’re telling a story ...
But it’s all depending on what you’re looking at

Making business stats make sense

Then there’s income as a whole …
Like the newsletter subscribers, my client count went down for 2025
Again, many would look at that alone & think … FAIL

But here’s what you find when you dig a little deeper …
→ I’m 21.7% ahead of 2024’s total income
→ & expenses dropped 20.6%

Both good things, unless you’re allergic to paying taxes!

The point is …
It’s easy to find good & bad in the exact same thing

While the numbers & goals we have can be a problem
It’s the stories we attach to them that either keeps us moving or shuts us down

“it depends”

I had a call yesterday with someone trying to sell me something…
They talked about goals
→ what’s your income target?
→ how many new clients do you want every month?

I took a bit of pleasure in constantly saying … “it depends”

not to be difficult for difficult’s sake …
But when you think about it …
The bigger the project, the greater the time commitment … & the higher the paycheck
… which means fewer clients

A year-long Fractional CMO contract looks nothing like a quick campaign review.
& if you do want both more clients & more income?
Add a new goal: support staff … so you don’t become a crispy little burnout pancake.

pro tip:
Aiming for fewer clients, not more.
That doesn’t mean putting all your eggs in a 1-client bucket …
Just better-fit clients with deeper work, better pay …
So you spend fewer hours chasing leads

“SMART” goals are dumb

The most common goal-setting acronym …
S.M.A.R.T

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-based

SMART goals sound great in theory …
until you realize they push you to obsess over the one thing you cannot force.

outcomes

You can’t force a click.
You can’t force a sale.
You can’t force a human to care.

But you can control what you produce, who you talk to, how often you show up,
& how clearly you communicate value.

If your SMART goals don’t make room for that, they’re not smart …
They’re a trap.

There’s only 2 things you can control…
→ your actions
→ your reactions

You can’t force someone to hire you.
not with content
not with pricing
definitely not with manifesting.

What you CAN control is your effort, your actions, your offers & how you show up

You can’t control how much money you make
You CAN control what you charge & the time commitment to deliver results.

Want to earn $100,000?
→ A $10 / month membership sounds “easier” to sell because it’s more “affordable.”
But that also means you need 834 people in your community

→ A $1,000 / month consulting retainer sounds “expensive for my audience”
But you need 9 people to say yes to a year of your help

When you’re just getting started, is it “easier” to find 9 people to help 1-on-1
or 834 in a group setting (that needs more maintenance than 1-on-1)

SMART goals don’t tend to talk about focusing on goals YOU CONTROL …
We tend to target outcomes instead of actions.

Your actions should be based on things you have control over …
& give you momentum instead of a lot of motion

We can use the framework
but we need more numbers
Think of it as a Triple Threat Goal

1 number is a fixed point in time
2 give you a range
3 create a trend

Now … is that trend something you have control over?
❌ # of subscribers
❌ monthly income

✅how often you talk about the newsletter
✅to who
✅where
✅what content is included in the newsletter

at this point you’re ready to stop reading…
you’re thinking, that’s waaaaay too many numbers!

too many numbers give you hives

I appreciate the thought of having to track all those numbers feels like a horror-filled job
& you’re starting a business to do the thing that lights you up
not to dedicate your time to number-crunching stats

The good news is you don’t actually have to track them all
But when you look at your goals & you’re not on target

It can’t be about “just do more” of the same

You don’t need to track every number, all the time.
You’re not trying to recreate the High Potential murder board on your wall.

But you do need to know the right numbers to look at when things aren’t working.
Otherwise you’re running around in the dark, blaming the wrong monster,
& wondering why your goals keep slipping through your fingers.

Because when you’re off-track, you don’t actually need motivation.
You need diagnostics.

It’s NOT:
→ “Do more.”
→ “Try harder.”
→ “Work faster.”

But:
→ Where exactly is the breakdown happening?
→ What part of the system isn’t doing its job?
→ Which action is actually moving the needle… & what’s just sucking up my time?

If you don’t have the numbers, you can’t answer those questions.
& if you can’t answer those questions, you default to the most exhausting (& least effective) business strategy:

guessing

You don’t need a spreadsheet empire.
You just need a few key signals so you can stop throwing spaghetti at the wall & start fixing the right thing on purpose.

Once you see where the real leak is, the pressure falls off your shoulders.
Not because the goal is smaller —
But because you finally know where to aim.

For me, the slippery subscriber slide came because:
→ I didn’t talk about it enough
→ & the people I shared it with DID share with their audience
→ but they weren’t the “right fit” so they left

Everyone like you … that stuck around & stayed engaged
→ helped me clarify who my ideal audience is
→ where to find them
→ & what to share with them

As I change my actions, the outcomes should improve

& when you finally see the real reason you’re off track, the answer is to
‘fix the thing that’s already right in front of you’.

keep it in your pants …

Your wallet that is!

Before clicking “buy now” on yet another course or book (your Black Friday cart was already concerning!) … pause.

Take a few minutes to look at what you already have
Because I promise you … you’re sitting on more answers than you have questions for.
→ what do you have access to that you need - right now - you can learn from
→ then implement for your business
→ & share it in a way that’s relevant for your own audience?

3 reminders heading into the end of the year:
1 - Your worst metric isn’t your identity.
2 - Your best metric doesn’t tell the whole story.
3 - Your momentum is built from actions, not analytics.

Because you don’t need to “know-it-all” … not before, during, or after
You just need to do the next thing you can control.

How can you improve the numbers you do control…
So you naturally move closer to the ones you don’t?

Make it a great “right-numbered “ week!
EG

PS:

PPS:
Every email is based on what you ask for … the more something’s asked for, the faster it finds its way to the top of the to-write-about pile
📣 Tell me what you want to read about … here

🔗 Connect with me on LinkedIn … here

📈 Want to talk about better marketing results for your business by being yourself?
Find a time that fits your schedule.