The guy was walking right past where I live and heading straight towards me...

I was coming home from the gym, feeling pumped and full of energy... but one look at the guy's jacket told me what he wanted and sent me into a panic.

"Please Lord, don't let him see me. Please." I whispered to myself.

This silent prayer was wishful thinking, really: the guy was literally walking on the same path I was, coming towards me, and there was no way in the world he could NOT see me.

So I put my head down, walked FAST, avoided all eye contact, ran up the stairs, got into our apartment, locked the door and breathed a sigh of relief.

Phew! That was close!

"Mum are you ok?" my daughter Anna asked, staring at me with that half-amused, half-exasperated look that leaves me wondering if she finds me cute, or annoying, or a mix of both. Boy would I love to know what goes on in that 20-year-old head of hers when she interacts with me!

But anyway, I'm digressing.

Back to the stranger in the alley I was so desperate to avoid.

Truth is, I was fine, of course. I live in Switzerland, one of the safest countries in the world, and the guy walking towards me was quite harmless.

The reason I was so very keen to avoid him was that he was SELLING something.

I recognised the badge on his jacket: he represents a well-known "spices and stock cubes" Swiss company.

I had no idea they sold their stuff door to door... but apparently, they do!

And there's nothing I dread more than having someone ring at my door and try to sell me something (well, actually there are a few other things I dread more, come to think of it, but I won't go into that for now lol!).

Anyway, once I was safely locked in at home, it struck me there was a lesson in this for us all...

Going door to door to sell things can't be very comfortable, can it?

I imagine you're faced with all kinds of challenges!

Some people must avoid you like the plague and lock their doors, just like I did.

Others probably open their door and promptly shut it back right in your face.

There are dogs that must bark at you - or worse (even our toy poodle, Nellie, scares our postman when he delivers a package, and I shudder to think how he feels when he has to deliver something to our neighbours, owners of Luna the pitbull...)!

Anyway... it can't be a piece of cake... and yet it's still a thing.

Which means it must work. They wouldn't be doing this if it didn't make sales, obviously.

Which brings me to the lesson of this email: it doesn't matter if it's uncomfortable... you've got to "knock on your customers' doors" if you want to make sales.

And I'd say it's a lot less scary to do online than it is in "real" life!

You can simply send an email :-). Every time you do that, you're turning up on people's virtual doorstep - without risking being attacked or yelled at.

Sure you might get some unsubscribes or the occasional nasty reply, but that's not too bad in the great scheme of things.

So... next time you find yourself scared to hit that "send" button, think of my "spices and stock cubes" guy - and do it anyway :-)

Have a great start to the week!

Sophie - from The Traffic Lab​

PS: Of course, sending an email isn't the only way to knock on people's doors. Every time you publish content somewhere online, you're turning up for your followers and making them aware of what you offer.

And that's great!

But know that only a small percentage of your followers will see your content, compared to your emails that will reach every single one of your subscribers... which makes building an email list an essential part of your success online.

And if you don't know how to grow an email list, no worries... that's what I teach inside The Traffic Lab ;-)​

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