We made it!

I have built this moment up in my mind a bit!
My 100th blog post.

Quick history:  I like to write, and thought that it would be fun to share my thoughts.
BUT would anyone read it?
How often should I write?
Will I run out of ideas?

I copied my mate Damian Piggin – he numbered all of his newsletters to buildings. I was getting newsletters like ‘Metropolis 27’ in my inbox (i.e the 27th Metropolis update) and I thought that it was cool so I did the same kind of thing.

Independent Agent 001 was published.

I am not even going to share these first attempts – they were blatant sales pitches and I was not overly happy with the tone.

BUT it was a start. Sometimes that is the key.

I can’t remember how I populated the database initially. I think that I manually forwarded my emails to my assistant in the Philippines and we built out a database in our REX CRM.

I decided that the cadence was monthly. Sometimes I would bank up ideas as they flowed and coming up with content was easy. Sometimes it was a grind. Sometimes we were days late publishing. I was the only one who noticed.

BUT from a marketing perspective IT WAS WORKING.

People would reply to my emails and we could have a little exchange. Sure, people would unsubscribe. But others would ask to be added. We just added anyone that I spoke to under ‘assumed consent’.

I was having lots of ideas and like any muscle getting worked on, my writing muscle was building and more ideas were coming to mind. The more I leaned into writing, the more inspiration was coming.

I wondered if I would lose half of my readers if I went to a fortnightly message. So I wouldn’t forget which fortnight I linked the newsletter to the fortnightly recycling collection. Recycling week was blog week.

Unsubscribe rate remained unchanged…

A year or so ago I started writing weekly. Again, I thought that this would lead to unsubscribes and complaints, but that did not happen.

I get to share my thoughts. I get to practise something I enjoy.
I get to hear back from you sometimes which I also enjoy.

I love sharing the wins with you. I also don’t mind sharing the hard times and the disappointments. I’m not on cloud 9 every day!

For those wondering, I don’t use AI to help with my newsletters. I just write, Leese proofs then she and I approve the imagery. Michelle puts the email together in the Philippines and sends it at about 4pm on a Thursday.

And then some of you read it.

So at blog post 100 I say this to you:  Thank you for being part of my real estate journey. Thank you for being part of my writing journey.

Apology and Correction:
A HUGE welcome to Harry Howe. We got his last name wrong last week . He pointed it out to me . When I called him to apologise he was laughing which is a great sign and told me that he had been called worse. One of the lines I pull out sometimes and right there, was another great sign. Looking at the funny side of things certainly reduces a lot of stress. Thanks for being so understanding Harry!