Recently, my wife and I have been considering buying another property.
We found a place we liked, so I emailed the real estate agent to ask a few questions.
They responded, but nothing came of the inquiry. The house wasn’t for us.
Today, I noticed I’ve been added to that realtor’s mailing list. They started sending me their newsletter.
At first, I had no idea who this person was. I thought I was added to some random person’s list.
Then I noticed it was focused on the area of the realtor I reached out to. I put two and two together and determined I was added to their mailing list without my permission.
Here’s the lesson: don’t do that. Never add someone to a mailing list without their expressed permission.
In Canada, we have spam laws around that. But even if we didn’t, it’s not the right way to handle email.
Members of Mindshare, for example, aren’t automatically opted in to this blog’s list.
Though I should suggest they do…. but anyway.
Always ask people if they would like to be added to your mailing list.
Had this person ask me if I’d like to be added to their mailing list and told me about the content they would send, I might have said yes.
Their newsletter wasn’t terrible, after all.
And from that, I might have kept the doors open to do business with or refer someone to them later on.
But having been added to their mailing list automatically, I now feel slightly burdened by the process of unsubscribing.
I know, it may not seem like a big deal to add people to your list. But without their permission, it won’t help your business. It can only hurt your reputation.
Instead, make an email list worth subscribing to and invite people to it on its own merits.
Now that’s a plan that works.