I’m Taking Back My E-mail Inbox
I’ve been spammed to death. Almost every time I log on to check my e-mail I have over 100 messages waiting for me. Ninety percent of them are spam messages telling me how to increase body parts I don’t possess, buy prescription medication at a discount, or help some rich family in a third world country transfer their savings into US dollars. Although annoying, I no longer actually download these types of e-mail messages. Instead I delete them on the server. They are quickly gone and forgotten.
Of the ten percent new e-mail that is not spam, however, perhaps one or two messages are a personal note or one that is of prime importance to me (i.e. regarding a Toastmasters or Project Graduation meeting, etc).
The rest are e-zines that I’ve signed up for. You know what I mean, you visit a website, they offer a free goodie if you sign up for their e-zine. You want the goodie so you sign up. I even do this myself!
I don’t have a problem with signing up for e-zines. I typically will read an issue or two to decide if the information is valuable to me. If it isn’t, I unsubscribe. If it is, I keep reading week or month after month.
Over the past few years there have been four or five e-zines that I’d always enjoyed reading. They were business-based marketing related e-zines. I learned a lot about how to market by business. I clicked the links that were in these e-zines and bought several products from each writer.
But in recent months, most of these e-zines have transformed from useful e-zines into selling machines. Instead of telling me what and how to do something as they did in the past, they now tell me what to do, but in order to learn how, I have to pay money.
Lest you think I have a problem with this, I don’t. I know that these people are in business to make money. That is what it is all about. But I do have a problem with promoting a “tip filled, helpful e-zine” that is only a sales generator with no tips or help included.
So I’ve decided to take back my e-mail inbox. I’m in mass unsubscribe mode. As new e-zines arrive, I’m considering if they still provide value and enjoyment. If they do, I’ll keep receiving them. If they don’t… well, unsubscribe me, baby!
When I first saw the focus of these e-zines changing I thought, “Hey, that’s kinda slick. Maybe I should try it.” I’m glad I never did. Instead I use a clearly marked “This is an advertisement for my newest/favorite product” section.
It’s going to be strange having even fewer messages in my e-mail inbox. I find that I feel less loved when there’s nothing there. 
Rather like walking to the curbside mailbox and not even getting a grocery store flyer.
But since I wasn’t receiving anything of substance, the love I was feeling was fake anyway. Now I can see what is real and what wasn’t. And with all the time I’ve free up from reading useless, manipulative e-zines, I’ll have more time to send a note to my friends. And then wait by my inbox for their reply.
