21 emails in seven days

There is such a thing as way too much self-promotion.

I just unsubscribed from a promising concept. Why?

21 emails in seven days. TWENTY FREAKING ONE.

To an Inbox that's already bursting, that level of devotion to ONE concept is unsustainable.

We're currently awash with information. Everywhere we turn, someone wants attention. When you are in marketing or marketing mode, it is easy to slip into the habit of throwing out stuff until something sticks.

Take LinkedIn for example. Who is here realistically every day unless we're in the throes of marketing passion? This is not a love shared outside the tent as much as we assume. And the more we normalise filling air, the more the air becomes polluted.

Be careful not to confuse motion for action.

Or prolific for effective.

Or visibility for engagement.

Run yourself through a little mental checklist:

1) Am I doing this to feed an algorithm or marketing pattern, or to add value to the user's experience?

2) Is what I am about to share change-making, actionable, informative, or mood altering for the reader? Why not?

3) And in the case of an inbox: if the reader doesn't know what I am about to tell them, will it matter?

4) Inbox again: if someone read my last five emails in one sitting, am I offering enough opportunity, valuable, actionable, curiosity-making, connection-based content to keep engagement, or is it easy to ignore? Is it interactive or passive?

Remember, being in someone's inbox or feed is a privilege, not a right. Act accordingly.

Image: black square with white writing - There is such a thing as way too much self-promotion.