Quick. Got a business card - add them to your mailing list
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Should you?
Probably not. During my speaking engagements and while attending conferences, I meet a lot of people to whom I give my business cards. To my surprise, I see that, very soon, I am on one or more of their mailing lists. Most often, their mailings are of no relevance to me. When I try to unsubscribe, those requests won’t go through. All I do next is to add that email address to the rule where I move this mailing to trash.
When you send something that is not relevant to someone, you introduce cost in their life. Sometimes, technology will help the other person deal with this annoyance easily but sometimes it won’t. It it costs a lot for the other person to deal with your unwanted mailing, it will hurt you more than it will help you.
My $.02
PS:
If you have not read Seth’s classic on this topic - Permission Marketing, please do. If you do any kind of mailing, this is a must read.
What not to do with business cards
Great point, as always. That’s why what I like to do is have a jar at the back of the room with a note on it saying “if you put your card in the bowl, I’ll take that as a request to join my mailing list. If you’d prefer not to, just write “no list” on the back of your card”. I then end my talk by giving something away to someone randomly pulled from the bowl. I figure that it’s straightforward, people can get into the running without having to join my list, but since I do have the flier, I also therefore have permission to add them to my informational list. How’s that strike you?
Great idea Dave. Thanks for sharing this.
Cheers,
Raj
There’s an “infoglut” out there of ads in myriad media whose only power is to “interrupt” people’s lives. People should know that you ought to be asked before they want to invade your mailbox.
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