Every time I send out an email, a few people unsubscribe. When you have nearly 9,000 members, I suppose it’s bound to happen. But I don’t have to like it.

But what I really don’t like is the rare nasty email from a panel member. Such as the one I received yesterday. The subject line read simply, “Stop sending me s***.” The body read the same, just with a “please” and a “thanks” added to the beginning and end, respectively.

Clearly I’m missing something, as I don’t see what I did to invite this profanely rude evaluation of my work with TrueDelta. Sure, viewed in itself that email wasn’t all that nasty, just PG-13. But to reduce all I’m doing to a four-letter word? From where I sit, I’m working extremely hard, 100+ hours a week to provide thousands of people with useful information, free of charge.

Yes, I send out quite a few emails to panel members who, like this one, never responded to a survey. Which, as I see it, he pledged to do when enrolling in the panel. To even enroll in the panel, someone must go through the page detailing what participation involves.

So, what am I missing? Yes, I receive at least ten encouraging emails for every negative one, but the way I’m built I end up focusing on the latter. Part of me really wants to believe it is possible to please everyone.

I do wish I could send out less email. So recently I’ve made two changes. First, people who consistently respond before the follow-up goes out in required months will no longer receive follow-ups in the other months. Second, it is now possible to “check in” by simply clicking on a link in months when no response is required. This will also stop the follow-up emails.

Why send the follow-ups at all? Because they greatly boost the response rate, which improves the quality of the results for everyone. Details in my editorial on email .

I do not claim that TrueDelta’s research is perfect. I’ve been continuously improving it, and expect to keep doing so. A few people have provided constructive feedback, and this has helped immensely. So, if you’re unhappy with something I’m doing, please no nasty emails. But also please don’t keep quiet. Often the only way I’ll learn that an improvement is needed is if someone else tells me.