Less is More
Less is really more in e-communications
Interesting blog post at MediaPost, a firm that provides an array of resources for media, marketing and advertising professionals. In it, I discovered it’s not just my inbox getting bruised and swollen by a flood of marketing messages.
LESS is MORE. Did your newsletter subscribers sign up with the belief they’d be getting a monthly coupon and now you’re pummeling them with daily exhortations to BUY NOW? You’re probably shooting yourself in the foot.
If enough of them hit “spam” to rid themselves of your aggressive communications, you can’t email them again. Plus that, you run the risk of a $11,000 federal fine under the CAN-SPAM ACT.
Focused and fresh content, delivered at comfortable intervals, will help you avoid “spam” reports from recipients who are overwhelmed by everyone, including you. One way to avoid the compulsion to blast an email: devise an editorial calendar. I spoke on this topic Monday night at Connect the Dots, a networking event run by the PR Store. If you want a download of my presentation it’s available here.
Connecting the Dots
Delivered to your inbox the last Monday of the month
Whether you’re a business owner or employee, no doubt you appreciate the need to network. If you’re in the Charlotte, NC area Monday 3/9 at 6pm, drop by Connect the Dots, a monthly networking group sponsored by The PR Store .
I’ll be the featured speaker this month, talking about one of the things that gets under my skin: unsolicited newsletters. What makes so many people think that just because they have my email address I actually want their newsletters?
I posed this question to a group of fellow solo-preneurs, who pounced:
“Everyone else does it so if I don’t do it my competitors get ahead of me.”
“Why wouldn’t they want to hear from me?”
“It’s not illegal, you know!”
“They can always hit ‘spam’ or ‘unsubscribe’.”
“If I’m not sending out a monthly newsletter I’m not being professional.”
“I can’t afford to send brochures and postcards and besides that, no one opens snail mail anymore!”
“If I send them an email asking them to opt in, half my list will go away!”
When I went on to tell them they could incur a federal fine of $11,000 for doing so, they became frantic.
“No one’s going to turn me in.”
“Can’t get blood from a stone.”
“That can’t be right.”
Since I offer custom newsletter content, templates and management services I have a vested interest in getting the word out about CAN-SPAM compliance. But so does every business that sends out what’s defined as “commercial email.”
That probably includes YOU.
Hope to see you on March 9 at 6pm. I’ll be giving away a free newsletter consultation to one attendee. Hope it’s YOU!
