From: Calvin from Simplero <calvin@simplero.com>
Subject: News from Simplero

Hi Lovely Simplerista

I'm so close to having my new COO start. We're right now finalizing the last details before he can start. It's very exciting. I think you're going to love him.

Meanwhile, I wanted to share something with you that I thought might be useful to you too.

When I started out as a coach, I had this belief that I should be able to help everyone who showed up at my doorstep. I think it was really at the time about a desire for someone to see and help me, and my own frustration often when I was trying to get help, it didn't actually help much. So I wanted to do better.

But the fact is, you can't help everyone. Some people are just so committed to their suffering that there's nothing you can do. Some people are in need of something that you can't provide. It's like being a dentist and someone comes in the door with a broken guitar they need fixed. Sorry, you gotta go down the street for that.

It's the same in the information, coaching, and healing businesses. You've gotta be exactly who you are, and offer what you have to offer, and focus all your effort on attracting the people for whom that's incredible valuable. No need to try and change yourself from a dentist into a guitar shop. Just be a really great guitar shop and focus on getting the people who really need guitars.

It's such a simple and obvious fact, but I think especially when you're just starting out, it can be easy to lose sight of that, because you just want to get your business off the ground. And similarly, when you're a natural born helper, you just want to help everyone, because that's who you are.

But know that if you take in someone who's not a perfect fit for you, then you're not only creating misery for yourself, you're also now holding back that person from finding the help that would really be optimal for them. Really, if it's not good for you, it's not good for them.

New Features in Simplero

This week has been mostly fixes:

  • We won't show the social sharing of purchases if the product is not listed in your catalog (presumably it's private)
  • Fixed a problem with the old system email templates and the browser view
  • Showing more details for text messages in the activity log
  • Fixed an issue where if you had one free price and another non-free, the checkout form would not include payment information, and no purchases would go through

So I know that new features aren't showing up at your doorstep at the rate they used to. Trust me, this is the lull before the storm.

I realized—as did many of you probably too—that me doing this alone is not sustainable or the best way to grow. And that long-term, I can add more value doing other things than coding.

So I've focused my energy on making that shift happen as effectively as possible, and now we're on the cusp of a major step forward with the start of our new COO.

When you want to take a major leap forward, something has to give somewhere. So right now, for Simplero, that's the pace of new features being released.

But there are many many things I still want to do with this platform, and I want to make sure that I build a really solid foundation that will last us long into the future.

I'm pretty excited about it all.

Random Links from around the Interwebs

Loved these strange considerations about self-driving cars, such as the Nanny Mode and the Car Surprise. Check them out. Also click through to the full list.

List of songs about New York City. It's loooooong. I'm working on one now, and every so often, I sing one at the jam session at the Bitter End. Monday nights. Come join me.

I'm not much of a soccer guy, but this goal is pretty incredible.

Just started using Letterspace for note-taking and writing. I'm loving it. Makes it much easier to structure things than OS X's built-in Notes app, and much more lightweight than clunky Evernote. I used to love Evernote, but it's gotten so bloated and slow and buggy, I just don't bother anymore.

This daughter is super cute flying aerobics with her dad.

Lots of love and growth to you,
-Calvin