There is a difference between "Shall", "May" and "Will"
A follow-up to yesterday’s “I shall return soon.”
That post may have been mistitled. While I’m still waiting for in-home service to repair my computer, I’ve been grappling with a larger issue.
The truth is, I’m considering shutting down, perhaps reserving posts only for my paid subscribers. Yet, even there, I’m not seeing a strong correlation between paid and free content in terms of opened emails. The bottom line is clear: there’s not much interest in the content I produce, making me wonder if my time would be better spent elsewhere.
After over four months, my reports and articles are read by about 120 people. That’s 40% of 300 subscribers, meaning 60% don’t open the mail. It’s understandable—how can someone subscribed to 500 other Substack writers possibly keep up? Some of my followers have even more. I suspect many subscriptions are made in hopes of a reciprocal follow, not to genuinely read.
Back to yesterday’s headline. I used “Shall” instead of “Will” because my commitment was never just about having a working system. I have two laptops, two iPads, and two iPhones, and yet I haven’t produced a single piece of content in days. It should be obvious that something else is on my mind.
The headline should have read “May.”
After it took me two days to get through the company's IVR system to the phone number listed for the store, to tell them the system they delivered didn't work, the first question was, "What country are you calling from?" Then when I did get a human operator, I was put on hold for close to 30 minutes before somebody took my name and number. A day later, after more discussions, they realized that if I had to bring the system back to the store, it was going to stay there. So, I was promised an in-home appointment. That was Sat. On Sun they called to confirm I would get an in-home techie visit, but did not know when. This afternoon they called to confirm a visit on Thurs. before 7 pm. So, bottom line: I "may" return on Sat or Sun if the in-home techie service actually fixes the system on Thurs pm. After they finally called to book the "earliest possible" appointment, I received an invoice for $96 with a note that I presume means it was included in what I already paid on Tues the 28th to have this done in the shop last Thurs. But now I'm confused because there is a note on the invoice that says they are doing this because I am "on our nice list." Seriously? I mean, honestly, how do companies stay in business operating this way? This was the simplest possible job to be done by a Fortune 500 company (recently top 100). When my system failed I took it to them and while they had it working they couldn't isolate the problem so I bought a new one -- same manufacturer, model, spec -- to make it easy to move my files and apps, and paid them to do that seamlessly. That was 11:30 am on Tuesday a week ago. This is a company that will likely earn at least $1 billion after-tax this year. All I can say is "Wow!"
I truly hope you will continue your important work. Perhaps you could talk to NY Grad for some marketing tips. Except for us old timers, people don't know who you are. Your experience is invaluable and your work is constantly evolving. You are a treasure to humanity. I think you are up to the challenge as that is who you are. God bless!