Less than a year ago, Loop7 ran an email astrology service. This wasn’t someone else’s service that we helped manage - it was fully operated by us. A virtual astrologer named Zoya sent personalized email horoscopes to the inboxes of Leos, Scorpios, and Geminis around the country.
The original vision for Loop7 Media was to be more of a content creation and curation service. Depending on people’s interests, they could subscribe to having certain types of content emailed to them, including horoscopes. Michael Goff has lots of email marketing experience, so while he was getting these new pillars off the ground, he started consulting for other companies’ email marketing programs. Gradually, the external consulting eclipsed the internal programs, and he realized he was in fact running a marketing agency... But not before Zoya was up and running.
Even as the marketing agency supplanted the original plans, Zoya kept sending horoscopes to her loyal readers. Every month, we contracted astrologers to consult the stars and report back what they found. There was a free version that offered high level overviews, and a paid VIP service offering in-depth analysis and a beautiful calendar that an artist created monthly.
Maintaining this service was interesting and quirky, but it was also time consuming. The revenue generated from the subscriptions covered costs - but not much more. We made a valiant effort to grow Zoya’s base, but with little success. The business model had changed, and the only thing keeping Zoya alive was our attachment to her.
It was time for Zoya to announce her retirement:
“I have a bitter-sweet announcement to make to all of you. I will no longer be your Celestial Guide.
This was an incredibly hard decision to make. I consulted the Stars and searched my soul, and the answer was clear.
The readings will no longer be sent, and you will no longer be charged for my services.
You may not know this, but I am an Aquarius. I usually don't share that because I don't want anyone to think I play favorites!
So it feels in accordance with my spirit for me to pursue other endeavors this season. I've been a wanderer all my life, and I can feel the pull of my next chapter.
I charted the next several months at a high-level, and I truly believe I am leaving you at a stable and positive juncture.
I hope you continue your astrological journeys with a new Astrologer (or do more of your own readings!). I hope I have taught you as much as I have learned. And I hope for an aligned, harmonious, and fruitful future for you.
It has been an honor to chart and interpret the Heavens to all of you.
Your Spiritual Guide,
Zoya”
We tried to keep the goodbye as genuine as possible because people really liked Zoya! And we received many sincere “goodbye” and “thank you” messages from subscribers. A heartfelt goodbye to this chapter was owed to the readers, to Loop7, and of course to Zoya.
Just like the night-sky, businesses are constantly changing. Periodically, it’s important to step back and evaluate if there are aspects of the business that no longer make sense. And if a big shift is needed, it should be handled with respect. Even though business decisions should be cold and calculated, real emotions get wrapped up into every project.
We knew that Zoya no longer fit into the business, but it was still hard to let go. It was not only the end of a service that we had grown attached to, but also the end of the original business model. Of course it’s a bit funny to mourn the retirement of a virtual astrologer, but even the death of a concept deserves respect. Emoji tears were shed, but we knew we had done everything we could and that it was time to move on.
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