I receive too many emails! On any given day I may receive 1,000 emails. Yes, you read that right. Of course, many of them are totally unwanted and unsolicited. Most of those are caught by my Spamarrest account.
Even with weeding out those first 800 or 900 emails, I still have 100-200 arriving in my inbox. This is a result of having been in business online for the past 17 years – and from the Fear of Disconnect. Perhaps you suffer from it, too?
As I tried to clean out some of my email subscriptions lately I found these thoughts going through my head.
Thought: I really like this person. I hate to unsubscribe from their list. It might hurt their feelings.
Response: It’s okay. They will not take it personally. If they are an actual friend, you’ll hear from them on social media or personal email. If they’re an online business person you like, you can always find them again online.
Thought: I’m on this list because I bought something from them. If I unsubscribe, I won’t get product updates.
Response: Is this product critical to your success online? If so, you may want to continue to receive hundreds of marketing messages “in case” there is an update message.
If this product is not something you use daily or it has a built-in updater, then unsubscribe.
Thought: I have no idea who this person is or what I may have bought from them.
Response: Unsubscribe immediately!
Thought: I enjoy the emails from this person and always find them valuable. They help me build my business, even if they are marketing something in every email.
Response: You may want to keep it for now. Just pay attention as to whether or not you actually READ the emails.
Thought: This is part of a series of emails. They are even numbered! And I would hate to miss any of the series.
Response: If you are reading them, great. But if you are saving them so you can read them back to back, go ahead and unsubscribe. You can always start the sequence over if you really miss it.
Thought: This email is from Jeanette.
Response: Well of course you can’t unsubscribe! I WOULD miss you.
Actually, I’m grinning because I know that sometimes you DO need to unsubscribe. Sometimes we’re not going the same direction. I know that I have certainly changed MY direction several times. If you are one of the many subscribers who joined me in 2001, you have seen that.
Just know that if you need to unsubscribe for a while, I understand. You can always find me here at JeanetteCates.com and get reconnected.
Your Action: Go clean out your inbox. Unsubscribe from at least 5 emails today.
I hope to see you in my next update!
Look Who's Talking