Last week, I did something that felt a little brutal.
I deleted over 7,000 people from my email list.
Gone.
Just like that.
Now, if you’ve spent any time building an email list or an audience, you’ll know - that number sounds painful.
10,000+ contacts down to just 3,000?
It looks like a step backwards.
But it was actually one of the most liberating things I’ve done in a long time.
Here’s why.
I’d spent years building a list. Names, emails, signups from freebies, landing pages, events… it all added up. But I noticed something:
Only around 3,000 people were actually opening the content I worked so hard to create.
Week in, week out, I’d be sharing practical insights, deep strategy, and hard-earned business lessons…and 70% of the list were ghosting it.
Not opening.
Not reading.
Not engaging.
And that made me ask a simple question:
Why am I putting energy into people who aren’t even listening?
So I cleared them out.
Not out of spite.
Not out of frustration.
But out of focus.
Because attention is a currency.
And I’d rather spend mine where it actually lands.
And here’s the part that you need to hear, especially if you’re growing a business of your own:
You don’t need to serve everyone.
You need to serve the right people.
The ones who:
✅ Pay attention
✅ Engage
✅ Take action
✅ Are willing to be helped
Too many business owners are chasing the crowd.
Trying to convince the indifferent.
Lowering their prices, softening their stance, bending themselves backwards just to be liked by people who were never going to buy anyway.
And that is exhausting.
Instead, ask yourself:
- Who’s opening your emails, watching your content, asking questions, showing interest?
- Who do you actually enjoy working with and who values what you do?
- Where are you pouring effort that’s not being received?
Because when you focus on the people who are ready and receptive - your message gets clearer, your business gets simpler, and your results get bigger.
It’s not about building a bigger audience.
It’s about building a better one.
So yeah…deleting 7,000 people might sound counterintuitive.
But what I’m left with is a group of business owners who actually want to grow.
Who open the email.
Who read to the end.
Who are nodding right now.
And I’ll take 3,000 of those over 10,000 passive scrollers any day of the week.
To clarity, focus, and doubling down on the people who care,
James
P.S. If you’ve been quietly reading these emails and thinking “this is exactly what I needed” - you’re exactly who I write them for. And I’ve got more coming. Just know that you’re in the right place.