November 11th, 2008
by Lorrie Thomas
“I sent you an email about it”
“Well, it was in my email to you”
Let me stage an intervention and a big fat “get over yourself” dose of marketing advice - Email is a passive communication tool. You type, hit send, then someone is now burdened with your message. Assuming that the world reads all your email messages can indicate issues of overactive ego, lack of responsibility and some passive agressive behavior tendencies.
I personally, have hit my critical mass. I get 100’s of emails a day, none that I can keep up with anymore. I figure if it’s THAT important, the phone can be used (you know, we all used to be verbal communicators before the web!!)
Sometimes you have to just close a chapter in your inbox history and call email bankruptcy.
Email bankruptcy (owning that you cannot pay back all your email messages) gives hope for a fresh emailing start. Email users eligible for email bankruptcy may be forgiven (discharged from) most message reply debts. Email inbox debt is one which the email senders feel entitled to collect replies by seizing assets of the emailee if replies are missed.
Inbox reply collection efforts must stop as soon as you file for email bankruptcy. As soon as your petition is filed, and you tell all your colleagues that if they sent anything important, they will have to call you, there is no more guilt or obligation on collection activity. If a email sender continues to try to collect the reply debt, they may be cited for lack of understanding or high ego. You cannot be fired from your job if you file for email bankruptcy. Email bankruptcy is not always the best choice, but can be a hopeful option if you are overwhelmed with email reply debt.
Web Marketing Therapy Related Links:
- Email – Passive Aggressive Perpetrator?
- Get over your email passive ego crud
- Web Marketing Intervention – Stop the Binge and Purge Madness
- How to Avoid Critical Email Marketing Mistakes
Dan Engel
(November 12th, 2008 at 1:18 am)
Love it!
Lorrie Thomas
(November 12th, 2008 at 10:36 pm)
I would like to thank one of my new favorite people (and UCSB Marketing student) Revel Miller http://www.revelmiller.com for sharing a GREAT email bankruptcy link from the Washington post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/24/AR2007052402258_pf.html
This seems to be a major societal issue – is it as simple as better management or is email just out of control?
Web Marketing Therapy » Blog Archive » Email - Passive Aggressive Perprator?
(November 21st, 2008 at 10:12 pm)
[...] had super support after I did my blog post about filing for email bankruptcy from students, clients and my rocking wild web women. Now that I have filed, I am leaving the [...]