I get a lot of unsolicited email. A lot. As a freelancer, I’m always networking to try to drum up business. That means handing out business cards at live networking events, participating in online webinars, and commenting in online forums, just to name a few.
Most of these activities involve freely handing out my email address. Don’t get me wrong, I want my email address out there so potential clients can contact me, but does that mean I want to end up on the email list of every person with a weekly newsletter? Well the answer is of course, no.
I don’t enjoy wading through the deluge of daily email I get from random folks I met once at a networking happy hour six months ago. So that got me thinking, is it okay to build an email list from people who haven’t opted in, or should you specifically have to ask them if they’re okay getting updates from you, your company, organization, etc.
Personally, I think someone should have to opt in to get email from me. I never go through the growing stack of business cards I’ve collected, just so I can send out an email blast.
First let me preface my position by making it clear that I am not an email marketer. I could be completely off base here, but I don’t think I am.
So without further ado, here are 4 simple reasons why you shouldn’t automatically opt people in.
They Don’t Need Your Services
Are your updates relevant to the people you’re sending them too? If not, move on and target the folks who can use the content you’re sharing.
Most of those folks I meet in person won’t ever need my services. Including them in my email list is a pointless waste of time. I’d rather selectively target real prospects that might bring me business.
You Don’t Offer Special Discounts
A mass email is great for advertising special deals, discounts or coupons with your customers. This works well for retailers and companies that focus on B2C transactions. It doesn’t have the same effect if you’re a B2B service provider or you don’t sell traditional products.
My services are specialized to fit the needs of individual clients and their different business strategies. I customize content packages after sitting down with a client for an initial consultation. Each package varies to meet their needs. Unlike a traditional retailer, I don’t have a set list of products or prices, so I rarely send out an email newsletter advertising special offers, coupons, or specific products on sale.
Getting Random Email is Annoying
This one’s a no-brainer. I don’t enjoy getting random email, so I can only assume other people don’t either. We all have a hard enough time keeping our in-boxes cleaned out without having to wade through all types of junk-mail we never asked for.
Being Annoying Will Damage Your Brand
Opting people into your list without their permission will only tick them off, and then you’ve damaged your brand.The benefits just don’t outweigh the damages (at least in my humble opinion).
Here’s an example. Recently, I got an email newsletter from a former client I worked with on one small project. This client was a major pain in the butt when I worked with him, primarily because he rarely listened to my advice. It turns out, he was only hiring me because he wanted to eventually turn me into a client of his. Sounds pretty sleazy huh? Well, so is emailing people without their permission.
The kicker was that this client owns multiple businesses. He added me to the email list for every one of them. So now I’m in the position where I have to unsubscribe to four separate email lists I never opted into. Not only that, but once I unsubscribed, his contact service sent me an email, confirming I’d been taken off the list. Let me make this clear: I DON’T WANT AN EMAIL CONFIRMING I’VE BEEN TAKEN OFF YOUR EMAIL LIST.
Needless to say, I would never work with this guy again and I certainly wouldn’t recommend him to anyone else either.
The bottom line is this: These days there are more people and more companies competing for the same business. It’s a buyer’s market. Basic customer service is more important than ever. Being aggressive is good: being annoying is bad. Have a little common sense and ask people before opting them into your email list.
What do you think? Does giving someone a business card give them permission to add you to their email list? Share your opinion in the comment section below. I promise I won’t send you an unsolicited email.
Two or three years ago, I’d simply suggest setting up a “junk” mail account and any actual person you get e-mailing there, you simply re-direct them to your “real” account.But now that smartphones are so cheap and e-mails, texts, and voicemails are often all on the same device, there’s little to distinguish between my 3 e-mail accounts since they’re all read and responded to from my phone.
Personally, I’d recommend using the Gmail system which at least groups e-mails under the same subject into a “thread”. That way, you can distinguish between actual e-mail exchanges with real people with the newsletters.
Of course that doesn’t help your Blackberry or Iphone getting spammed, but life will go on.
@Matt, I agree there are different ways to manage the junk mail, but all of these so-called solutions still require ME to do the heavy lifting. There’s no responsibility on the sender to change their spammy behavior. I’d rather they just not send unsolicited email in the first place.
Thanks for the comment.
This is such a huge pet peeve of mine! I go to my fair share of networking and industry events to connect with other entrepreneurs, and there always seems to be that one person that decides you handing them your business card is equivalent to saying “YES! I WOULD LOVE TO BE ON YOUR TOTALLY IRRELEVANT AND POORLY WRITTEN MAILING LIST!”
Oy. To answer your question directly, no. Giving somebody a business card does not give them the right to add you to their mailing list. This is the definition of spam, if you ask me!
Great comment Tim. So many networkers try and push their business without thinking about whether it’s relevant to the person they’re talking to. At some point you have to narrow down your list of prospects to determine whether your email or newsletter would bring them value. Once you have a list of real prospects it’s okay to email, but be very clear about why you’re doing it, mainly to ask for their permission to opt them into your list. Thanks for reading.