2,250 views. One real comment.

Okay, here's the deal.

Last Wednesday I put five posts on my Facebook profile. By the next morning, Facebook said they'd been viewed 2,250 times. It was my best day so far.

It also showed 14 comments. I got excited for about a minute.

Then I counted. I wrote 13 of them.

When I post a list, I put each point in its own comment, so people read down the post. Facebook counts those. It also counted the reply I wrote to the one real person who commented.

So 2,250 views came down to one real comment.

Last Tuesday's Retire & RISE went to 276 people. My email service showed 171 opens and 90 people clicking. That looks wonderful. But email filters open messages and click links automatically. With those machines filtered out, the count of real clicks was 3.

I've been fooled by this before. I once thought I had 3,500 readers. The real number was 290.

👉 A big number tells you something was shown. It doesn't tell you anyone cared.

Views aren't useless. They tell me which posts Facebook is showing. But I don't judge my week by them anymore. I count what only a person can do: a real comment, a reply, a question.

My numbers are small. They're also true, and I can work with true.

Pick one number that only a person can produce. Write it down every Sunday for a month. Give it the full month before you decide anything.

What number have you been watching? Hit reply and tell me. One word is plenty. I read every reply.

— Bob

P.S. My first YouTube video comes out tomorrow at 9 a.m.: 5 signs an online money offer is a scam. I'll put the link in next Sunday's letter.

P.P.S. OLSP, the affiliate training program I use, holds free live trainings every week. They're a place to watch, ask questions and decide for yourself. See the next free live session. I'm an OLSP affiliate, so I may earn something if you join later.