Man I felt this in my soul. Dropped my backup in like 6 feet of murky water on a night dive and spent way too long crawling around feeling like an idiot while my buddy just watched. Coiled lanyard on both lights ever since and yeah I even put a short one on my gauge console now, cheap insurance.

Are you sure that bakery story is telling you what you think it's telling you? That woman spent years building a list of 4,000 locals who walked into her shop and liked her bread enough to hand over an email, so her Friday note lands on people who already know her, and a furniture company with an ad budget usually has no list like that to start with. Email only works off a warm crowd, and buying one costs money too, so moving your whole budget over just means you paid more for names that may not even open. Those replies and preorders don't happen because email is magic, they happen because the bakery sells something people want every week and it's easy to say yes to a loaf. Furniture is a once in a decade purchase, so how many Friday emails do you think it takes before someone finally buys a couch? Test it with a slice, not the whole budget, and don't kill the ads until that list proves it can carry the weight.