Why Short-Term Gains Can Cost You Long-Term Success!

Being Trustworthy!

“Trust is built with consistency.”

— Lincoln Chafee

In one of my earlier posts, I had spoken about the big mistake that I did, when I started off..

I started in 2003-2004.

Getting traffic to your blog posts and article wasn’t difficult.

I knew a trick or, two to do that and I was easily ranking my blog posts on the first page of Google.

I was generating a lot of traffic.

And I was earning a lot of money using Google AdSense and affiliate promotions.

But I realized the big mistake only when Google algorithm decided to take me off their search rankings and my traffic dropped to almost zero.

My earnings suddenly dropped to near zero.

And that’s when I realized the importance of building an email list.

So I restarted again around the end of 2006 and with a different strategy.

My list grew slowly and in about 3 years I was able to build my email list to about 85000 subscribers.

And that too, in different niches – health, wealth, relationships etc.

And then one day, I decided to make another decision.

A costly decision that burnt down my email list.

It wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t a momentary lapse in judgment.

It was a faulty decision. And a very costly one.

And it was one of the many mistakes I have done online.

The Story of the Golden Goose

It was 2011.

So, this list was a very engaged one. I was getting some amazing open rates and click through rates.

You know that dream of having an audience hanging onto every word you say?

I had it.

This wasn’t just a list of random names. These were real people who engaged with my content and generated consistent revenue for my business. It felt like I had found my golden goose.

If I had to earn a thousand dollars, all I had to do was send out an email to the audience.

I was promoting a lot of affiliate products, that were earning me decent commissions.

But I wasn’t send out a lot of emails.

There were sequences that automatically got sent out and earned me affiliate commissions.

And then sometimes, I would send out a few promotional broadcasts which would earn me a decent commission.

But then, I made the mistake of thinking that if I squeezed the goose just a little harder, I could get even more golden eggs.

It was around this time that I heard and learnt about something called “SOLO Ads”.

It was a very nice income opportunity and a sustainable business, if done the right way.

But, for me, there was this one thing that I could see in this business opportunity – “Quick income” and a lot of that.

I was blinded by this opportunity, so I never looked at that “doing it the right way” part.

I jumped in.

After all I had a huge list.

I thought I was being smart by selling solo ads.

For context, solo ads are cold, hard-pitch advertisements sent to email subscribers. There is no value in those emails. Just a small promo ad along with a link to click.

And the best part was that even the emails were provided by the customer.

So all I had to do was blast out the email to my subscribers.

At the time, it felt like a goldmine—getting paid to blast promotional content to my audience. I convinced myself I was “maximizing revenue.”

But what I didn’t realize?

I was slowly killing the trust and goodwill I had painstakingly built over time.

Each promotional email was like another nail in the coffin of my relationship with my audience.

The results followed swiftly:

• My email open rates tanked.
• Unsubscribe rates skyrocketed.
• Engagement dropped to near zero.

In less than four months, I had taken an active, engaged list of 85,000 subscribers and turned it into a ghost town. All for some quick cash.

And when I finally realized the mistake and filtered the email, all I was left with was about 5,000 subscribers.

Here are a few very important lessons I learned from this experience.

Lesson 1: Value > Short-Term Gains

As tempting as quick wins can be, they often come at the cost of long-term success.

Looking back, I realized that I wasn’t just selling ads; I was selling out.

The more I pushed random offers, the more I destroyed the trust I had built. Each email was like telling my audience, “I don’t care about you. I care about the money.”

And guess what?

They felt it.

Here’s the thing: You can never sacrifice value for short-term gains.

When your focus shifts from serving your audience to exploiting them for quick profits, you’re playing a dangerous game. It feels good in the moment—seeing the immediate cash roll in—but you’re burning bridges in the process.

Lesson 2: Nurture Your List With Real Content

An email list isn’t just a series of transactions. It’s a conversation, a relationship.

You give before you ask. You serve before you sell.

Every email is an opportunity to strengthen that relationship. Whether it’s through valuable content, a personal story, or exclusive offers that actually serve your audience’s needs, the focus should always be on giving.

When I bombarded my subscribers with ad after ad, I wasn’t nurturing them—I was draining them.

They became disengaged because I had nothing of real value to offer. Had I spent those months providing content that educated or inspired them, the story would have been different.

Instead of seeing dollar signs when you look at your list, remember that they are people—individuals who have trusted you with their attention.

Respect that trust, and you’ll build an audience that sticks with you for the long haul.

Lesson 3: Always Think About the Future

In the hustle of daily operations, it’s easy to fall into the trap of focusing only on the next sale. You send out a promotion and hope for conversions, but are you thinking about the long-term effects of those actions?

Ask yourself, are your actions today building stronger relationships for tomorrow?

If the answer is no, it’s time to rethink your approach.

Short-term tactics like blasting offers to your email list may generate some fast income, but over time, you’re eroding the trust that took you months—maybe years—to build.

Trust, once lost, is nearly impossible to regain.

This was the hardest lesson for me to learn.

I had spent years cultivating an engaged audience, only to throw it all away for temporary gains.

Had I thought about how my actions would impact the future, I could have made different choices—choices that would have led to sustainable success, not just fleeting profits.

Building for the Long Game

So, where does that leave you?

Whether you’re building an email list, a social following, or a customer base, the same rules apply: Trust is everything.

Here are three practical ways to ensure you’re playing the long game:

1. Focus on delivering value first. Ask yourself before every email or piece of content, “Is this going to help my audience in some way?” If the answer is no, rethink it.
2. Be consistent. Trust isn’t built overnight; it’s earned over time. Be there for your audience regularly—showing up with value, insight, and authenticity.
3. See your audience as people, not numbers. Behind every subscriber is a person who has opted to give you their attention. When you treat them with respect and care, they’ll stick around.

Sustainable success isn’t built on quick wins. It’s built on relationships, trust, and providing real value over time.

In the end, my biggest mistake wasn’t burning my list; it was forgetting that my list was made up of real people, not just numbers.

I hope my story helps you avoid that same mistake.

Protect your audience. Serve them with value, and the long-term rewards will follow.

“Your list is only as valuable as the trust you build.”

Recommended Newsletters

Here are few newsletters that I would recommend that you sign up to if you are interested in learning the art of running a side-hustle:

• Write, Build, Scale – https://sparklp.co/p/40cf6480e8
• Why we buy – https://sparklp.co/p/6d27bbcf8b
• The Book Bub – https://sparklp.co/p/3bcef5f1d4
• The Stacked Marketer – https://sparklp.co/p/5c2039bc2c

Sign up to these and follow them. You will get a lot of information and content for your blog posts, podcasts and even social media posts.

I will share more such ideas in my future newsletters.

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What am I reading?

Haven’t been reading new books a lot because of the schedules of recording the tutorial videos..

I have been listening to some of the books, I had already read.

But as soon as I start reading my latest book, I will write my review here.

Until then you check out all of my favorite books at my Amazon store. Go ahead and check it out!

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