Recognising when it is not worth continuing.
THE HONEST QUESTION
After a year of consistent sending, has it produced anything measurable?
Enquiries, sales, or customers who mention it.
IF THE ANSWER IS NO
Something is wrong. Either the content, the audience, or the assumption that your customers want email from you.
WHAT TO EXAMINE FIRST
Deliverability. If messages are not arriving, nothing else matters and it is fixable.
Then relevance. Are you sending what these people subscribed for?
Then the list. Are these people who genuinely chose to hear from you?
BEFORE STOPPING
Try one thing changed substantially, for three months.
Different content, different frequency, or a different segment.
IF IT STILL PRODUCES NOTHING
Stop. Time spent on a channel producing nothing is time not spent on one that works.
That is a legitimate decision, not a failure.
WHAT TO DO WITH THE LIST
Keep it. Export it and store it.
You may want it later, and it cost you a year to build.
THE ALTERNATIVE
Reduce to quarterly rather than stopping entirely. Lower effort, maintains presence.
