I read several postings this morning about the continued importance of email marketing. Compare this post from Larry Bodine with this one from Tom Kane. In my view both are right in their views, but both ignored the critical common ground of client focus. Tom is absolutely right that clients are innundated with email drivel from many sources and that the last thing most want is another email marketing piece from a lawyer. Larry is right about just how effective good email marketing can be. My contribution to the discussion? First, make sure anything you send out is substantively valuable. There is nothing worse (well, maybe a lobotomy) than getting email that says nothing other than "look at me!" Content counts for a huge percentage of positive reaction. Second, for current clients, ask whether they are interested in receiving your emails and let them look at one or two to make a judgment. Asking counts for a lot. It shows your sensitivity to the volume of email traffic they must navigate and puts the control in their hands, not yours. For prospects, the same can't happen, at least until you're getting close. But I promise, if your content is valuable, people will want to read what you have to say.
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