Your weird is OK

--> at least for some people

I subscribe to a lot of different and varied newsletters.

One of them has a sideline in icebreakers you can use at events and parties.

It’s an excellent newsletter overall, but it never ceases to amaze me how unlikely it would be I would ever use or hear any of them.

Whole different planet unlikely.

They’re of the “If a sixteenth-century painter was at your service today, what would be your still-life painting defining your life at the moment?” or “If the story of your life is 300 pages long — what’s on page 283?” variety.

I assume they work for the regular readers of the newsletter and that I’m the outlier.

In my case I don’t even do events or dinner parties - just friends in the pub or curry house. And what we talk about tends to be our recent holidays, football and what weird thing Conor’s relatives have done now.

Asking someone about what a sixteenth centry painter would draw about them would result in a swift clip round the ears and an f-off.

We’re more Brassic than Frasier really.

But it does go to show what a huge variety of interests and styles and ways of doing things there are.

Each can work in their place with the right audience.

It’s the same with your emails.

Don’t feel shy about your sense of humour or what interests you or your points of view and opinions on what matters to you. Some people will click with it, others will hate it.

But you’re far more likely to end up with people buying from that smaller group who really click with you than if you stay grey and generic to everyone.

- Ian