Black Friday is a great reminder about how many email newsletters you’ve been subscribed to over time.
Many of them, you have no interest in receiving.
Things like old services you signed up for or people who add you to their email list without your express permission.
On days like today, they all come out. They sell hard. They dangle their discounts. They send you last call warnings and remind you it’s all going away at midnight.
And while I have nothing against a good Black Friday discount (as a consumer)—nor will I bash the marketers who create them—it does remind me of a few things:
- If you want to earn permission to sell, you need to deliver value first.
- Don’t add people to your mailing list without their express permission.
Email is one of the most powerful marketing channels on the planet. It has been for a long time.
But in order for email to work, you need to earn people’s trust. Slowly. Over time. There are no shortcuts.
Earn your right to promote. It doesn’t work if you don’t.