Each one requires care, communication, and a certain level of attention. Your only indication of whether they are receiving what they need from you comes from three signals: their opens, their clicks, and their replies.

If you don't pay attention to any of those, then you will only notice when your Tamagotchi dies (i.e., when your subscriber unsubscribes).

As you can imagine, the more Tamagotchis you collect, the harder it is to give each of them the personalized care they so eagerly ask for.

Here's what we can do to prevent the death of your Tamagotchis (the unsubscription of your subscribers).

First, realize that you have to show up for them. If you ignore them for more than two weeks, you are likely to return to an untimely demise. If you feed them the wrong thing (i.e., if you change the content you promised at the start), they will likely meet an untimely demise. If you overfeed them (send too many emails), they will start to ignore you, and become even more likely to pass into the great Tama-beyond.

Second, create a way for your Tamagotchis to play. This is the foundational system of how Tamagotchis tend to evolve and level up in their ecosystem. They are fed regularly and spend time playing to develop further. This is VERY important, do not underestimate it. Without play and regular engagement with your email subscribers, they will never be prepared to take the next step with you (purchase). If you refuse to play because you don't really see the value in it, your subscribers will eventually die (unsubscribe) from sheer boredom. You will basically become the parents from Charlie Brown, or what I call the Original Brown Noise.

Third, you have to listen. When you see your subscribers engage, it's VITAL. This is the step almost everyone misses with their newsletter. They spend time writing and writing and writing, and most times they naturally start to include play opportunities (polls, links, replies), but very rarely do I see regular newsletter writers listen.

When you start to listen, it can fundamentally transform the way your subscribers engage with your content. Instead of becoming content that they read, you become a writer that reacts to their habits.

Yes, it takes more work than most people are prepared for, but ultimately it creates a stronger relationship with the reader. They know that the person on the other side of the inbox actually listens.

This is the real differentiator when it comes to newsletter creators. If more people started paying attention to the play (the clicks, the engagement) and reorienting their content to prioritize what people are drawn to engage with, we would see a complete transformation in the way that newsletters performed compared to social media feeds.

So yeah, treat your subscribers with the same diligence you would treat your Tamagotchi. Newsletters should be fun, and keeping your subscribers engaged and reading is your primary responsibility when you decide you want to start writing. Remember, as a newsletter writer your strongest superpower is to listen.