5 People I'm Glad To Have in my Inbox During this Pandemic

I’m on a lot of mailing lists. I like to check people out before I decide to buy what they’re selling (literally or metaphorically). I’m just going to say it: there are a lot of people on the internet that I find to be full of shit.

Being on someones list helps me decide which ones are and which ones aren’t. Sometimes it takes awhile, sometimes it’s obvious right away.

This Pandemic is, understandably, causing a lot of people to freak out. In the first weeks I was completely overwhelmed by the amount of
e-mails I was getting: Keep selling!!! Free webinars!!! Mindset!!! There was something frantic beneath it all.

I'm not going to give anybody a hard time for continuing to show up no matter what’s going on. Or for feeling frantic. The truth is, though, a lot of these mails turned me off. I also have a kid and due to daycare closures, my hours for paid work have been cut back radically.

Emails encouraging me to do more, sell more or show up for this or that free webinar just added psychological stress and overwhelm to the situation. YMMV.

There were some mails, however, that stood out and rose above the noise. Some of them came from people I've followed for quite awhile and some from people I just recently started following.

I've identified a few qualities that caused these communications land well with me: humanity, honesty, realistic and actionable business advice and a willingness to acknowledge their own uncertainty about everything during these times; an authentic humility.

Here they are:

Pam Slim

Pam has been a guiding light ever since I decided to quit my corporate day job almost ten years ago. Her now famous Open Letter to a CXO led me to her first book Escape From Cubicle Nation. I'm always happy to find her in my inbox, and I found her newsletter that linked to this post full of heart-centered, practical wisdom.

Paul Jarvis

I just recently started Company of One but it instantly resonated, so I got on his list. So far his emails have been open, honest, human, non-salesy and experimental. I just subscribed to his podcast.

Sarah Moon

This is a bit niche, but Sarah heads a web design shop and has a whole slew of consulting services for web design businesses. She hosts a Facebook group LWS (Ladies Who Squarespace) which I had the good fortune to be accepted into this year. It’s an incredible, tight knit online community full of practical support. Sarah has not only offered a free SEO workshop, but keeps sending out helpful emails with (again) actionable practical tips for example: what do when business is slow.

Ariane Foulks

Ariane runs Aeolidia a Shopify agency based in Seattle. I’m out of the eCommerce game, but when I was in it, her site and newsletter were a go-to for me. So much amazing, generous and helpful content. She did it again by surveying her community and clients and putting together a really insightful (and inspiring) report on what small, artisan businesses are going through during the Covid-19 crisis. It goes into depth about how these small business owners are coping and supporting each other and their communities.

Meg Clarke

I actually hired Meg from Clapping Dog Media a few years back to help me with my SEO and have been on her list ever since. A recent newsletter was so great. She shared struggles she and her family were dealing with and I found her advice to “....be human show up and if you’re trying to be perfect you’re doing it wrong” refreshing and calming when all of this started.

There are other people I allow into my inbox that I’m still happy to have there, but the above five really stood out.