Another Dumb Thing Email Marketers Do

It's not actually what they do, it's what they don't do. I just unsubscribed from a newsletter. I would have preferred to just change my email address, but they didn't give me that option. So, I unsubscribed. I clicked the unsubscribe link in the email and immediately received a confirmation that I was unsubscribed. There was no request to confirm my unsubscribe, no option to resubscribe just in case I had unsubscribed in error, and worst of all there was no opportunity for me to explain why I chose to unsubscribe. Every unsubscribe page should give your soon-to-be-former subscriber an oppportunity to tell you why they unsubscribed. Geez! In today's world, we need all of the customer intelligence we can get. Often, all you have to do is ask and they'll tell you what they think. Your customers' opinions are really the only ones that matter.

Here's what I think is going on: I think those of us who use email to communicate with our customers and prospects are so scared of being called spammers that we sometimes go to ridiculous extremes to avoid that label. Look, there's a big gulf between permission-based email marketing and spamming. If you're following CAN-SPAM, you're not spamming. Sure, you'll occasionally get a complaint from someone on a high-horse who doesn't remember subscribing to your list, but the reality is that permission-based email communication is much more socially responsible than flooding postal mailboxes with paper, it's more financially responsible to your shareholders, and when done ethically and properly, it's much more customer-friendly than postal mail. The key here is "permission-based" email communications. As long as that's what you're doing, make it easy for your customers not only to unsubscribe, but also to communicate with you as to their preferences, their email addresses, and their reasons for unsubscribing.

Are You Losing Subscribers Unnecessarily?

This morning, I've been trying to clean up my email subscriptions. Sure, I've been doing some unsubscribes, but mainly I've been trying to separate my business subscriptions from my personal subscriptions. I've been moving personal subscriptions from my business email address and vice versa. I'm amazed at how many places don't make it easy to just change my email address. All legitimate emailers make it easy to unsubscribe...usually a single-click unsubscribe link is at the bottom of the email. The smart email marketers also include a single-click link to update your personal information. The dumb ones just give you an unsubscribe option, so guess what? I unsubscribed when really all I wanted to do was change my email address. Be smart: Make it really easy for your customers and potential customers to manage their relationship with you. Allow them to easily modify their preferences. Express your appreciation for everything they do. Customers are smart and they deserve credit for being smart. If you don't make it simple for them to get what they want, they'll find someone else who will.

Computer Troubleshooting for the Non-Geek

Wow, I can't believe I've been absent from this blog for so long. I'll try not to let that happen again.

My friend Pam is going through what I call "compu-trauma". She is a successful small business operator who contracted with a local firm to provide I.T. services. To make a long story short, they dropped the ball and left her with a system that was non-functional. Over the last few weeks, I've been helping her put the pieces back together again. Her dilmena casts a sharp focus on the challenges faced by small business people and independent workers in dealing with technology in the workplace. My role in her life (and perhaps yours, too) is not the be the "go-to I.T. guy", but to empower her to use technology to the max without having to be a geek. In order for anyone to do that, s/he must be willing to embrace the technology, do quite a bit of homework, and make backups.

The rest of this post is copied from an email I sent to her.

This link will take you to an excellent article for people who use computers. It's about troubleshooting. Through an understanding of troubleshooting, we gain a better understanding of our computers.

View article...

As you read it, accept the fact that some of the information might be more technical than you’d prefer. Just skip over that stuff and use the information in it that makes sense. Just like your car, there are aspects of a computer’s care and maintenance that you want to leave to a technician, but there are also aspects of its care and maintenance that you can do yourself. The specifics vary by individual. For example, some people are limited to checking the air in their tires while some people can overhaul engines. Most people fall somewhere in between those two extremes. Same with computers. Regardless, the more knowledge you have of how the car operates, the better performance you’ll get out of it and the same applies to computers.