I remember the first time I’d ever heard of an “Ideal Client Avatar.” You’re supposed to create an ICA to figure out how to market to her. I got disenchanted with ICAs. “They’re not real people!” I got kind of grumpy about the whole idea of dreaming up a completely imaginary person. I wanted to meet real, live people who could benefit from what I sell.

Yesterday I was workshopping an email with a Sweet Spot client of mine.She was telling a harrowing story in her email. She’s a talented writer, so the story was vivid. Snow. A car crash. No cell phone. All alone. When the trucker pulled over to help, my jaw clenched. "He better be a good guy!" I thought. It was that good. Then, at the end of the email, she snailed?

Last week, I wrote about how someone commented on my weight, because I don’t look the way I did before I had my second kid. Anyway, I told you that story because I was pleasantly surprised by how I handled it.

“The only thing worse than sending no email is sending a terrible email and having people go, 'What the hell is this?' And hitting unsubscribe."

She said this. To me. Completely convinced. But guess what! I think she's wrong.

The answer is not “it depends.” Every week. Simple. Wait, you want to know why? Well, first, here are NOT the reasons you should email your list every week. (These are reasons I’ve heard other marketers give, because I’m not above throwing a little shade)

I had this struggle for months in my business. I WANTED to dedicate some portion of my work week to planning and reflection, and to taking stock of how I was progressing toward my big goals. But it just wasn’t happening. Because I was really flipping’ busy… you know, doing the stuff that PEOPLE PAID ME FOR!

A very ‘myself’ photo of me. Fresh off a 12-hour plane ride from Taipei to L.A. two weeks ago. Do you know that quote that I'm butchering for my own purposes? ... Winston Churchill said that someone else said it.

A little over a year ago, to the casual observer, she was a successful, ambitious, and driven professional. But her health was suffering, (she was so tired that she was afraid to drive for fear of falling asleep), and she felt like a bad mom and an exhausted human being. So she did something about it.

Have you ever been facing a decision, known in your gut what choice you were going to make, and then… asked someone else for their advice instead of choosing? I do this a lot.

Thanks so much to Christy Harrison for this chat! I’ve been listening to her podcast, Food Psych, since the beginning. Christy works with people to re-connect with their bodies, heal their relationships with food, and to dismantle #dietculture, which “privileges smaller bodies over larger ones and demonizes some foods while elevating others.”