Last week, I was on a call for with the Beta group of my course Email Marketing Like a Boss. We were talking about that week’s lesson on planning content.

As we were chatting about a very common and natural fear of putting content and creative work out into the digital world, I remembered the advice I give everyone when they go through a workshop with me.

Something is better than nothing.

Let me say that again.

Something is better than nothing.

For all of my perfectionist friends, this might resonate with you more than anything.

When you’re paralyzed with sheer overwhelm of all of the possibilities of offers and programs and content you’re putting out there.

When you’re trying to find the exact right word for the feeling you want to convey or the pain point your customer is experience.

When you’re making yet another tweak to that design or photo filter.

When you’re about to hit the send button on that email but your finger pauses over your mouse or just above your smartphone screen.

It’s doubt creeping in.

Fear that no one will respond to your offer or content.

Fear that someone will catch you playing the expert.

Fear that someone will read your words and wonder how you’ve managed to get this far in the world.

Fear that someone will see your design and wrinkle their nose at the imperfect alignment of your fonts.

I hear you.

I see you.

I am you.

That’s why I repeat it over and over again.

Something is better than nothing.

When you get trapped into that perfectionist loop, you get paralyzed.

And what inevitably happens? You close your eyes and click send (and the world doesn’t crumble) OR you frantically hit the backspace key to delete every word you just poured over.

When you give in to that fear. You don’t even try.

You don’t even try to fail.

And the failure is the good stuff. Those are the tough lessons that teach us what to try next or what to tweak.

And with everything you send or schedule, you get a little bit more confident. You get a little bit more sure of what you’re doing. You find one more thing to improve on the next time.

Your first try is not going to be as pretty as you’d like it to be.

You gotta let that go.

Just do something. Anything. Let yourself fail and try again.

That’s how you put creative work (like emails) out into the world and connect and get better.

If you need someone to cheer you on, I’m here.

Emily