Some days, the Internet is full of wonder. Other days, some random person across the Atlantic advises you to get laid. This is one such story.
It all started innocently enough. A content service company - Writing Bold - had sent me three emails offering their services. You know the kind:
I contacted you recently with regard to Writing Bold's services, and wanted to follow-up to see if there might be an opportunity for us to talk further.
Since this was the third email they sent me, I thought I'd let them know they were bothering me. I replied:
Hi. I got your previous two emails, and made a mental note to check you out again when relevant. Sending three unsolicited emails in a row seems excessive.
I figured they'd reply with something like 'Hey - sorry about that, appreciate the feedback, didn't mean to bother you'. Not the case though. Instead, Writing Bold explained to me why they think it's ok to send someone three emails without permission:
Let's put it this way: I've earned more business with a third email than I have had people tell me that three is excessive (to date, you're the second out of roughly two thousand).
So, let me get this straight. Because it makes you money, it's ok. Did I get that right? Glad that's all cleared up.
I thought that I should let them know why I find that argument irrelevant:
I'm not denying that bothering people is an effective sales tool. If you ever talk to someone who sells cosmetics at mall stands, they'll tell you all about how they make hundreds of thousands of dollars by interrupting people as they walk, grabbing their hands without permission and starting to apply cosmetics to them…
Selling aggressively undoubtedly works, and it's also undoubtedly wrong. I'm sure you agree with me on the mall cosmetics example, and perhaps you don't consider three emails 'over the top'. I do, and that could just be a difference of opinion.
That's when the fun started. Here's what I got back:
…If you consider three emails sent over the span of 30 days to be "bothersome" or "aggressive selling", then you need to a) upgrade your dictionary,and b) get some therapy.
Hah. Ok, no problem. I realised that this will not be a productive conversation, and tried to end it. My words:
Gotcha. I do consider three emails bothersome (perhaps the word 'annoying' suits you better?), I'm reasonably confident that a great many people would agree, and I see we're not going to understand each other here. Thanks for replying.
No luck though. Writing Bold had more advice for me.
You're two out of two thousand. The numbers don't lie… Only you and one other person have chosen [to respond negatively]. That should tell you a lot… Take a deep breath, go for a walk, get laid.
I get laid daily, thank you very much.
You have to wonder what kind of content company writes such obviously bad email content, or for that matter, accepts that it can annoy dozens if not hundreds of potential customers (only a small portion of which will write back to complain).
On their own site, Writing Bold describes their services like this:
We work with you to ensure your [content sounds good], carefully weighing every word.
So while other companies carefully point out that they only ever email you once, Writing Bold emails three times, and if you don't like it you can get laid.