Last month someone on my e-mail list wrote me a long e-mail 
calling me an "Internet whore." He went on to say he was 
un-subscribing from my newsletter. He added that I was 
"slocking *****" and that I had "lost my ethics."

I thought about the anonymous writer and reflected on what 
he said. It made me wonder how often any of us doing business 
online should send out our email. Weekly? Monthly? Hourly?

Are there any rules at all?

Let's explore this together...

Personally, I only endorse products I use and believe in. 
Because of my perceived status in the world these days as a 
best-selling author and marketing guru, I'm contacted by 
dozens of people *per day*, all asking me to sell their 
latest what-have-you. I do not endorse or sell 99% of them.
That saves me from mailing my list too often.

Usually, as in the case of helping Kevin Hogan's book hit #2 
at Amazon and Peggy McColl sell $30,000 worth of books in one 
day using the strategy I taught her, I don't make a dime for 
my efforts. I'm not complaining, either. I wanted to help 
them, and did. But I did not profit in any way. I felt telling 
my list about their offers was a gift to my list. So I mailed 
them.

Often I will discover something that sets my soul aflame. 
That's what happened when I discovered "The Millionaire's 
Mindset" book from Slovenia. I felt it was a great gift to 
the world and am honored to share it with people. I'm profiting 
from that, and gladly so. It's an astonishing book. I didn't 
mind sending out three emails about it to my list. My list 
didn't seem to mind, either, as hundreds of them ordered 
almost instantly. My friend, Rok, over in Slovenia said --

"Your list actually outperforms lists that are up to 8 times 
bigger ... and it outperforms them by about 85%. Your last 
mailing (which was the third mailing you did for the same book) 
generated 85% more responses than any other affiliate mailing 
in the pack."

I continue to create new products, too. Obviously, I want the 
people on my list to know about these. And just as obviously, 
I believe these products will help them---or I would not be 
offering them. They are not ***** or in any way fluff. They 
are all useful and inspiring. Even when I release three e-books 
in one week, I think my list should be the first to know about 
them.

So back to the question we are wrestling with:

When is it too much? When are you emailing your list too often?

Now what I'm about to tell you may shock you. But it's the key 
point of this article.

I think if you have something of importance for your list, you 
should tell them as fast as possible. If that means you mail 
twice in one day---again, assuming you just got news your list 
would want to hear---then you mail them twice in one day.

I did that once. I sent an email to my list in the morning. A 
few hours later I received an email with such thrilling news 
in it that I couldn't resist sending out a follow-up email. 
I did. I knew I might be flamed, but felt it was worth the 
risk. As a result, 12 people thanked me. No one un-subscribed.

Look. If you are doing business online and have news of value 
to your followers, why *aren't* you telling them?

I think the only reason you wouldn't tell them is --- fear of 
being flamed, which means fear of receiving hate email.

If you are afraid of being flamed, then you probably know you 
don't have anything of value for your list.

Think about it.

I'll repeat my statement: If you are afraid of being flamed, 
then you probably know you don't have anything of value for 
your list.

Let me explain:

If I'm on your list because I want to hear of your new products 
or services, and you have a new product or service and don't 
tell me, I have every right to be upset. I should have been 
given first shot at the offer.

For example, I'm a member of the Kenny Wayne Shepherd fan club. 
He's a hard rocking blues guitarist in the tradition of Stevie 
Ray Vaughan. Well, I signed up for Kenny's email list to be 
notified of his new releases and concert appearances. You might 
imagine my surprise--- and disappointment--- one day when I saw 
a new CD by him in a music store, one I never heard about
by any email from him. While I was glad to discover the new 
music, I was upset that no one notified me. After all, that's 
why I signed on to get his emails in the first place. I 
un-subscribed.

Here's another example:

Another friend of mine is a professional entertainer. I sat in 
the audience at one of his shows and heard him tell people, 
"If you sign on to my email list, I'll send you occasional 
updates about my appearances." He added, "I won't abuse your 
email and send you too much email."

Well, he blew it. Anyone who signs up for his email *wants* to 
hear from him, not just whenever he has an appearance, but 
whenever he has news of interest to them. In my opinion, the 
entertainer was thinking of himself, not his audience. He was 
coming from pure fear.

I also know an executive coach who mails his list once a 
quarter or so. I keep wondering, "Doesn't he have a life? 
Doesn't he have any news? Doesn't he ever come across anything 
he's excited about and can't wait to tell his list?" Apparently 
not. To me, he looks lazy, inept, or just plain scared. I would 
never hire him as a coach.

According to Newsweek magazine, 90% of all spam is sent from 
a group of under 150 people. You're probably not one of them. 
Neither am I. But if you were considering doing bulk emails 
to strangers (known as spamming), you should also know that 
one spammer admitted she got only 25 responses---after sending
out 1,000,000 emails. And naturally, even the 25 responses 
weren't what she was looking for. Never, ever, spam. Ever. 
It doesn't work.

BUT if you have a list of people who have *asked* to receive 
relevant information and offers from you, then not sending 
them email when you have news for them is a big mistake.

Are you with me here?

I'm *not* advocating emailing your list mindlessly, just 
because *you* think you have something to say.

I *am* advocating emailing your list whenever you have news 
*they* will deem important. If that means every day for a 
week, then so be it.

Finally, what about the person who wrote me the flaming email 
and called me an Internet Whore?

I have no idea who he is. He may not know who he is, either. 
I showed the email to a peer and he said, "That guy needs a 
therapist." I don't know if he does or not, but the great 
gift in his email is that he prompted me to again think about 
how often we E-mail Marketers should email, and it resulted 
in this article.

I hope it has been thought provoking.

Now, I have another important mailing to get out to my list...