FREE isnt what it used to be

Some people believe that it's free to send emails. They blast-out hundreds and even thousands at a time, hoping a tiny percentage of recipients will either buy now or buy-in to being contacted downstream.

This approach may appear to be relatively free and easy, but there are implicit and dangerous costs associated with abusing it.

Email, is indeed free but free isn't what it used to be! No Sir, in the past, getting something for free was exciting, like winning, even though you didn't have to compete for it. "You can have this for free", usually meant, I like you and want you to feel special.

Today,  free largely means, give me your contact details so I can sell you something later. And if you don't spend with me later, the advertisers that we leverage from your patronage - will. The free model works in the modern economy because we all deep down desire something of (value) for nothing. Why wouldn't we, when acquiring things of value is just so expensive and challenging for most of us most of the time?

Whenever I receive an email (as a business owner) my gut-reaction is hoping and usually expecting to find something of significant (value to me) in my inbox, like a response from a customer or a request for my services. When I get spam - I never read it. In fact, my response is now so instinctive - I hit the delete button without hesitation and even thinking about it. So, if you are serious about my winning my business and engaging me in a meaningful way, spam, much like cold- calling, is only going to train me to ignore you.

So yes, email is free, but like anything in life, abusing something just because you can, is ill advised. By abusing free via spam you will push away future prospects who in principal respect their privacy. By pushing free in pre-sales you will alienate potential customers that simply needed more time and space to consider their options. Last but certainly not least, bombarding existing customers with free - sending meaningless emails containing content that's neither relevant nor valuable is only going to annoy them.

By all means harness free but makes sure you're not abusing it or your customers simply because it is free.