Those of us who spend a bit of time on the Internet get inundated with emails. Our inboxes can become a Sargasso swamp of things to read, things to reply to, and things we never asked to receive.
It's crucial to protect your eyeball time and not let your precious attention get frittered away with something just because it shows up in your email.
Here are some definitions to help you start sorting things out:
Email - Anything that you send or receive in your inbox or spam box are considered emails. Some you want, some you don't want.
Spam - Emails you do not want are called spam, which are named after the famous canned pork product. These are sent unsolicited and often try to scam you or sell you something. Most people have excellent spam filters these days that catch the most egregious spammers. A look in your spam folder can show you their worth! Even with the best filters, some clever or new form of spam will get through.
Bacn - Pronounced bacon, these emails are actually things you want, or sort of want. Bacn emails are things you signed up to receive. So, like the pork product they sound like, bacn is more desirable than spam. Bacn can include newsletters, blog feeds, Twitter and Facebook updates, and emails from companies you use. Permission-based marketing thrives on bacn.
The problem with bacn is that people receive so much of it. There is a lot of talking on the Internet and a great deal of the information out there is interesting. It becomes so easy to sign up for newsletters or join a member group, request inbox coupons from saving-money sites, get eBay or Craigslist search updates, Google Alerts...it can be overwhelming.
People's usual response to bacn is to scan something and see if there is something they need to do, like click a link or take advantage of a sale. Short, sweet bacn mails that can be handled quickly are the most effective.
If there is a lot to read in the bacn-type email, usually it gets saved for later. It disappears into another folder or sits on older email pages, most likely never to be seen again. Other long-winded slices of bacn become just too much for someone to want to receive regularly - and are unsubscribed.
Best bacn practices for bloggers:
My efforts to keep my inbox clean preclude getting a lot of bacn. I have to prune my subscriptions frequently - I just do not have the time to read everything that comes across my desk. My time is worth more than that.
A blogger who wants to update their subscribers should keep in mind that anything they send out is bacn and will be treated as such. Keep your updates frequent enough so people remember they signed up with you (lest they think of you as spam), but make sure the notes are short and to the point. Have an action for people right away - to click a link, usually.
Let your followers get the gist of your update or newsletter, then allow them to move on, delete your message, and keep their inbox clean. You can be wordy on your blog if you want, once you have people there.
As we move more into Web 3.0 being short and easy will become more appreciated and set you apart from the bacn emails that are just too much work to read. You don't want want your bacn to become more annoying clutter in people's busy worlds.
Geek bloggers have made bacon hip! There's some crazy bacon stuff on Amazon and ThinkGeek. Some examples:
