Reflecting on Year One
September 25, 2025, marks the Promoting Independence newsletter's first anniversary!
When the newsletter began colleagues asked, "Who is your audience?" This question remains as relevant today as it was on Day 1.
What began as an efficient way to address frequently asked questions from clients has evolved.
Marketing gurus frequently recommend segmenting your audience and finding your niche.
Promoting Independence did just the opposite. We made intentional decisions along the way designed to attract a readership of:
people living with low vision or blindness
relatives of people living with low vision or blindness
mental health professionals who do not know blindness
professional vision rehabilitation teachers who do not know mental health
vocational rehabilitation staff
advocates and
eye care specialists.
Three related lessons learned over the past year really stand out.
First, too much specialization and segmentation can cause harm. Rule 1 in rehabilitation counseling is "Do no harm," so we explain key concepts in language that makes sense to a person to promote vision rehabilitation literacy.
Second, where the lack of a shared language exists our ability to hear one another and communicate effectively is diminished. So we talk about adjustment to vision loss concerns in terms that honor reality: no blinding eye condition is diagnosed in a vacuum. People come with families. Helping professionals of different flavors do not know each other's areas of expertise unless time and space is set aside to educate one another. People with vision loss will only benefit fully from programs to assist when they understand they exist and get briefed on the specific rules of engagement for each one.
Finally, broader solution-focused dialogue positively impacts the mental health of everyone around the table. Creating this type of conversation is an act of mindfulness. It's easy to slip into specialty jargon-speak. We avoid this because it reduces our sense of safety and may cause some to feel unwelcome (which has huge emotional impacts).
With these lessons in mind the newsletter makes every attempt to:
rotate topics that may be frequently misunderstood by one or more audiences
make no assumptions about baseline understanding
share knowledge in an approachable voice
ask for input from readers and
avoid making anyone wrong for what they do not know.
The mission was to promote independence by discussing common emotional concerns expressed by people learning to live well with less vision.
To that end in Year One we produced and sent out 3,222 free email newsletters with a 68% open rate. Of the 2,130 opened emails 95% of readers enjoyed the newsletter on a computer and 5% on a mobile device. We ranked the most popular topics based on open rates:
Stages of Adjusting to Vision Loss
What do all the acronyms mean?
Q&A on Blindness and vision rehab
Daily self care: Miracle Morning.
All reader feedback is welcome. Thanks for sharing your time and expertise!