Confessions of an Internet Whore Or, How Often Should You E-mail Your List?

By Joe Vitale
Posted Monday, August 16, 2004

Last month someone on my e-mail list wrote me a long e-mail calling me an "Internet whore." He went on to say he was un-subscribing from my newsletter. He added that I was "slocking *****" and that I had "lost my ethics."

I thought about the anonymous writer and reflected on what he said. It made me wonder how often any of us doing business online should send out our email. Weekly? Monthly? Hourly?

Are there any rules at all?

Let's explore this together...

Personally, I only endorse products I use and believe in. Because of my perceived status in the world these days as a best-selling author and marketing guru, I'm contacted by dozens of people *per day*, all asking me to sell their latest what-have-you. I do not endorse or sell 99% of them. That saves me from mailing my list too often.

Usually, as in the case of helping Kevin Hogan's book hit #2 at Amazon and Peggy McColl sell $30,000 worth of books in one day using the strategy I taught her, I don't make a dime for my efforts. I'm not complaining, either. I wanted to help them, and did. But I did not profit in any way. I felt telling my list about their offers was a gift to my list. So I mailed them.

Often I will discover something that sets my soul aflame. That's what happened when I discovered "The Millionaire's Mindset" book from Slovenia. I felt it was a great gift to the world and am honored to share it with people. I'm profiting from that, and gladly so. It's an astonishing book. I didn't mind sending out three emails about it to my list. My list didn't seem to mind, either, as hundreds of them ordered almost instantly. My friend, Rok, over in Slovenia said --

"Your list actually outperforms lists that are up to 8 times bigger ... and it outperforms them by about 85%. Your last mailing (which was the third mailing you did for the same book) generated 85% more responses than any other affiliate mailing in the pack."

I continue to create new products, too. Obviously, I want the people on my list to know about these. And just as obviously, I believe these products will help them---or I would not be offering them. They are not ***** or in any way fluff. They are all useful and inspiring. Even when I release three e-books in one week, I think my list should be the first to know about them.

So back to the question we are wrestling with:

When is it too much? When are you emailing your list too often?

Now what I'm about to tell you may shock you. But it's the key point of this article.

I think if you have something of importance for your list, you should tell them as fast as possible. If that means you mail twice in one day---again, assuming you just got news your list would want to hear---then you mail them twice in one day.

I did that once. I sent an email to my list in the morning. A few hours later I received an email with such thrilling news in it that I couldn't resist sending out a follow-up email. I did. I knew I might be flamed, but felt it was worth the risk. As a result, 12 people thanked me. No one un-subscribed.

Look. If you are doing business online and have news of value to your followers, why *aren't* you telling them?

I think the only reason you wouldn't tell them is --- fear of being flamed, which means fear of receiving hate email.

If you are afraid of being flamed, then you probably know you don't have anything of value for your list.

Think about it.

I'll repeat my statement: If you are afraid of being flamed, then you probably know you don't have anything of value for your list.

Let me explain:

If I'm on your list because I want to hear of your new products or services, and you have a new product or service and don't tell me, I have every right to be upset. I should have been given first shot at the offer.

For example, I'm a member of the Kenny Wayne Shepherd fan club. He's a hard rocking blues guitarist in the tradition of Stevie Ray Vaughan. Well, I signed up for Kenny's email list to be notified of his new releases and concert appearances. You might imagine my surprise--- and disappointment--- one day when I saw a new CD by him in a music store, one I never heard about by any email from him. While I was glad to discover the new music, I was upset that no one notified me. After all, that's why I signed on to get his emails in the first place. I un-subscribed.

Here's another example:

Another friend of mine is a professional entertainer. I sat in the audience at one of his shows and heard him tell people, "If you sign on to my email list, I'll send you occasional updates about my appearances." He added, "I won't abuse your email and send you too much email."

Well, he blew it. Anyone who signs up for his email *wants* to hear from him, not just whenever he has an appearance, but whenever he has news of interest to them. In my opinion, the entertainer was thinking of himself, not his audience. He was coming from pure fear.

I also know an executive coach who mails his list once a quarter or so. I keep wondering, "Doesn't he have a life? Doesn't he have any news? Doesn't he ever come across anything he's excited about and can't wait to tell his list?" Apparently not. To me, he looks lazy, inept, or just plain scared. I would never hire him as a coach.

According to Newsweek magazine, 90% of all spam is sent from a group of under 150 people. You're probably not one of them. Neither am I. But if you were considering doing bulk emails to strangers (known as spamming), you should also know that one spammer admitted she got only 25 responses---after sending out 1,000,000 emails. And naturally, even the 25 responses weren't what she was looking for. Never, ever, spam. Ever. It doesn't work.

BUT if you have a list of people who have *asked* to receive relevant information and offers from you, then not sending them email when you have news for them is a big mistake.

Are you with me here?

I'm *not* advocating emailing your list mindlessly, just because *you* think you have something to say.

I *am* advocating emailing your list whenever you have news *they* will deem important. If that means every day for a week, then so be it.

Finally, what about the person who wrote me the flaming email and called me an Internet Whore?

I have no idea who he is. He may not know who he is, either. I showed the email to a peer and he said, "That guy needs a therapist." I don't know if he does or not, but the great gift in his email is that he prompted me to again think about how often we E-mail Marketers should email, and it resulted in this article.

I hope it has been thought provoking.

Now, I have another important mailing to get out to my list...

About the Author
Joe Vitale is the #1 best-selling author of "Spiritual Marketing" and author of way too many other books and tapes to list here. He also published a new bestseller The Millionaire Mindset. Grab the exclusive FREE 40+ page preview at: (http://www.themillionairemind.net/free/?a3jli)