Shortly after writing my post on how to really clean your mailing list, I realized that the article could negativity affect my income.
Aweber is one of my bigger online income sources and by showing you how to reduce your email list billings, I am effectively reducing that income source. Aweber pays me a percentage of the billings on customers I refer to them. The bigger the bill, the more money I make. By showing customers how to reduce their monthly Aweber bill, I reduce my own income. Another thing that occurred to me was Aweber might not be happy with my post. I could very well be biting the hand that feeds me.
In the end, I decided to publish the post anyway for two main reasons. The first is delivering value. I believe that your online income is directly proportional to the amount of value you deliver. Yes, the post might reduce my Aweber income but it delivered a lot of value for the readers and it will be rewarded. Maybe not right away but somewhere down the line the value I created will come back to me in a greater amount.
The second reason I published the post is because I spent two hours writing it and it would piss me off to not make it go live. So hand be damned, I’m biting it!
If you’ve found value in these advanced email marketing posts (there will be more to come), then I hope you take action on them. If you don’t have an Aweber account yet, go sign up for one. It will help me make up for the money I’m going to lose. 
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{ 42 comments }
Perhaps honestly may bring ultimate rewards but quite frankly I wouldn’t count on that. Although I have to say that one of the main reason I am an active reader of your content is the honesty and value I receive. I feel like many bloggers out there hide a lot of the nuts and bolts of their operation which loses my trust. Regardless…keep up the good work.
David,
I agree with you. I think ultimately John did the right thing. His actions show that his interests are aligned with his readers. It’s always ideal to have that kind of business model. When you have the same goals as your very customers, it’s a win-win for everyone. Now, John may see some short term impact on his revenue, but long term he’ll probably make even more. Why? His readers will trust him that much more and will buy more stuff from John’s recommendations! John, way to go! I applaud your honesty!
Best,
Ian
John also knows how to give a touch of emotion … Lolzzzz
IOW, he surely knows how to monetize emotions
I when I first started because of unsubs. Good thing youre sharing this so that new members don’t get caught in the trap.
Hey John,
Good for you and your readers. You are thinking long term and giving the best advice will pay off for you in the long run. AWeber makes enough and so do you. On top of that when you consider the percentage of people that take action there was never anything to worry about.
I agree that you could potentially reduce your income from your recommendation, but in the larger scope of things your income will likely go up because of your honesty. I think in the end you were right because of the statement that your income is based on the value you provide. Well said,
Brandon
I doubt your income would be reduced by much.
yeah with this post I am sure he will get new sign ups.
Hats off to you John for this.
I doubt it as well. I bet many people figure out eventually that unsubs count for the total number of subs.
the other reason for posting this is just to sign up more people…:)
I guess you will be writing again regarding hostgator soon.
As long as he leaves affiliate links on helpful posts, who cares? He obviously makes a living from this blog and he’s allowed to do what he wants.
What he’s doing is working, why change it?
100% agree with you.We learn lot from John.
I’m sure it will actually cause more people to sign up too.
I haven’t read the article that you’re speaking of, but I think you have made a very valid point. Delivering Value will pay off.
I agree, Kirk! In the long run, money always follows value. I’m confident this move will only help John more in the long run!
I myself fully agree with that income is directly proportional to the amount of value you deliver.
So will Aweber work ?
You’re asking if Awber works after reading all my blog posts about it? LOL! Of course it works.
Laxmi really it works.Just try it.
John, you are SUPER SMART
If he wasn’t, he couldn’t have made the 50 grands per month line.
That’s why John is making lots of money every month.
Very good article…
Thanks..
Honesty is always the best policy and the fact that you have been so transparent and honest here in this post will mean a lot to your readers. I know it does for me. I have the whole karmic thing going on as well – everything you put out there will come back threefold, so you will be fine
My 2 cents
Peter
because of your tutorial, I think a lot of people will sign up aweber.
Helping with reference its gives more idea of others to join
simply love the title …
You really knows how to write killing titles.
I agree, ZK. The title is really cool.
It totally piqued my interest.
It is indeed a attractive title.. It caught my attention as soon as the homepage loaded.
with due respect Abhik…no matter what the title would have been..you would have commented on this post anyways…Because there are handful of users here who regularly comment regardless of the title of the post (trying to be the top commentators). There is nothing wrong with that…:)
You haven’t bitten your own hand, John. You just delivered more value to all of JC readers.
Hope you got some new sign ups after publishing the post.
Awesome..
I admire your honesty, John.
The way present which will attract others
I’m sure Aweber didn’t mind, any publicity is good publicity. Or does that only apply in Hollywood?
I always come to your blog because you always talk something real. So john when you will visit us your fans from Indonesia???
Well Aweber is fooling people by billing unsubscribed people.
Well, in the long run, people will have to increase the size of their list anyways, so you’ll still earn from that.
Yes I agree in the long run you’ll gonna earn..
bring the traffic or new sign up for it
its take time for us to get settle
i m going try out this one, by my blog.