E-mail Protocol -- Yes, You Need Permission

What's Acceptable Behavior? ... Spam (unsolicited e-mail) drives all of us a bit crazy. So how do you communicate effectively with your clients? Do you need permission to send regular e-mail to them? What about people that you meet at a trade show? How about colleagues in your trade association? YES. You should have their permission to add their names to your permanent mailing list.

Here's a fable. Let's say that the Wall Street Journal wants to start an online e-mail news service. (I'm making this up.) So the WSJ goes to major service providers (like Trammell Crow) and major trade associations (like the Urban Land Institute) requesting e-mail addresses of their employees and members. The WSJ offers to send them regular news about the real estate market for free. If a recipient doesn't want to receive it, that person can request cancellation of the "service." Would this be ethical? Would it be effective?

Oh yeah. It would be effective. Building an e-mail list by forcing people to "opt out" is much easier than requesting subscribers to "opt in." That's the bloody reality. On the other hand, how can you ask permission to "opt in" without sending unsolicited e-mail at least once? So how many times is too many? Three times? Six times? Twelve times?

Each individual makes a personal decision based upon what feels comfortable to him or her. And each company eventually finds the right ethical balance. Full Disclosure ... What's right for PikeNet is three times. So, for example, I've recently sent three sample issues of the Dispatch to over two thousand potential subscribers and converted ten percent to "subscribers." These folks are now part of the magnificent 10,900, each of whom has "opted in." Would you like me to "convert" some of your professionals to the PikeNet Dispatch? I'd love to give it a try.

Pike's Picks Demos... Can you demonstrate the essence of your service or product in six minutes? You should be a Pike's Pick. Play-by-play announcer: Tom Gille. Color commentators: Eileen Circo and Chris Hartung.

--Peter Pike