There used to be a time whereby I would reply to every e-mail which I received. It was considered the polite thing to do and you never knew when that same contact may be just who you need. As a blogger this is particularly relevant to keep in mind with PRs moving around between companies (as well as being good for your Brand/you as a person).
However, there came a point where the sheer volume of e-mail became far too much and I could not keep up with it (not unless I wanted to consider purely replying to e-mail as a full-time job and/or not getting any sleep!). Even with trying to prioritize relevant e-mails is very time-consuming – and am sure the sender does not want to waste time either so here is a list of why I immediately hit delete on certain e-mails:
The Subject
The subject line is a great place to grab my attention, especially if it is something I am going to be interested in, but equally it can make me decide straight away that this e-mail is not for me. Things that can really do this for me (once I have whittled down the complete spam) are ones that suggest that this is a generic e-mail and my blog hasn’t been read – for example ones that start “Why not treat your Mother this Mothering Sunday” when my Mom died 18 years ago. Unfortunately, the e-mail could have something relevant for myself (as a mother) and my readers but I am upset by this point and so it is already in the deleted folder.
How you address me
My name is Joy – you can even call me Pinkoddy – it is not Hey! And certainly not Babe, Hun or Love! Occasionally these aren’t deleted but the best way to get around this is to say sorry for the mass e-mail or something. But honestly if you really want a relationship then it won’t take long to find my name. Not addressing me at all tends to feel like a copied and pasted press release too – so unless the content is super interesting then again it’s been deleted.
Pretending to have read my blog
It is all very nice and flattering that you or your wife love my blog but I actually am not fond of lies, even little white ones. The fact that you are citing my last published post as a favourite and that you/she never comments is a bit of sign (less so the commenting mind). Equally offering me baby products when my youngest is 7 years old and I am clearly not having any more children is a waste of my time and yours.
Feedback I have received from another blogger is also misunderstanding the blog audience. Make sure you know which topics are actually of interest to the readers.
Free Content
If you think the only thing lacking from my blog is you then I suggest you go and write your own! I am not saying that I never host things for free but suggesting that I lack ideas or that my audience (who you clearly know nothing about) would just love what/how you write – is going to get me reaching for that delete button (and you are lucky it has gone there because remember some bloggers are still having the time to reply to ALL their e-mails and it may not give quite the response you were after!)
Likewise I am not interested in “a chance to win” something by adding a link to some random site. If you have something you want done without payment that clearly is not even what I write about then may I suggest you tell me what is in it for me (or any other blogger) – unless we already have a long-term relationship and then it won’t need to be explicit (and nor would I have deleted it in the first place). I am sorry but I am self-employed and the Tax man wants to know what I am doing with my working hours. Besides I could be spending time with my family, sleeping, doing housework, reading a book, watching TV – I think you get the idea.
I haven’t worked with you despite all your previous e-mails
Sometimes I have sent an e-mail and we have established that we aren’t the right fit for each other – but despite this you continue to constantly e-mail me. Some people this even gets to a point where I make rules to move them straight to delete or in severe cases I have to block them. If it is obvious that this relationship isn’t happening then PLEASE just remove me from your mailing list (especially annoying when they even go to the trouble to follow rule two!) See also the point about reading my blog – actually reading blogs may save you a lot of wasted time – and reach your appropriate audiences.
Appearance
The first time I see most e-mails is on my mobile phone and some just don’t look right, or well, get to the point. If there’s too much uninteresting stuff I tend to just delete that too.
To be honest I am sure I need some help with my own e-mails. I am usually to the point to save wasting time – with room for expansion later on. I guess it could be seen as blunt. How about you – what makes you delete or respond to an e-mail?
Great post. I do my best to reply to them all as well but sometimes I just give up. People can be so rude as well, especially when they’re asking me to do something for nothing and won’t take no for an answer.
Nat.x
That’s all the reasons I delete too. If someone tells me something would be a ‘great fit’ for my blog it never is. Financial advice? Nope. Baby feeding? Nope. Unless it’s about GCSEs, kids’ rugby or ballet, it isn’t a great fit for my blog! I also have an irrational dislike of people who start an email by saying ‘My name is… ‘ I don’t need to know that until I get to the end! If I get to the end…
I used to reply to all emails too. Now there are so many generic ones that I just hit delete.
Nodding to every single point!
Spot on Joy.
I used to reply to all too but when some days they hit high double digits it’s just impossible and addressing me as ‘Hi lovely’ isn’t going to get me to interact when we’ve never spoken before and I know it’s been sent to 30 others at least (as they’ve left the bcc list visible)
I write a post similar to this ANNUALLY and I have been doing so since 2008. I hate misogyny and being referred to as honey, babe or love is such crap! Spot on!
Oh I could have written this, all so true. If someone calls me ‘lovely’ or ‘hun’ my back is immediately up. Also calling me by a different name or different blog is also very annoying. I get so many emails telling me how people’s free content will do wonders for my blog and I don’t reply any more, you’re right, there aren’t enough hours in the day.
Useful read, emails are only just starting to creep up in volume now…I’m already struggling and feel the need to be polite an d reply but some are just bare faced cheeky. I have my little family me, him and two special needs kiddies, I’ve not time to be rsvp’ing to all and sundry…you have just given me the permission to not fret about it – thank you x