Hoarding potatoes and @s
2009 was a particularly busy year at Blue Mouse Monkey. It was all I could do to focus on my clients and make sure the work got done and on time. One of the casualties of remaining in reactive mode for so long was the Blue Mouse Monkey Occasional Newsletter.
But it wasn’t just busyness that caused the newsletter’s downfall. Last spring my database got big enough that it was time to move to an actual newsletter system. I tried one that was opt-in only. It sounded fine at the time, but it turned out to be really easy for people to miss the crucial step of clicking on the ‘opt-in’ link inside the invitation email. I got a lot of “Yes, sign me up!” replies instead. Seeing as it was an opt-in only system, I wasn’t able to oblige. Plus there were the messages that straggled into my inbox about finding the invitation in trash folders. Then there were the folks who clicked on the ‘opt-in’ link only to find it didn’t work.
All up, it was a fiasco. And I was too busy to figure out a solution.
Compounding the confusion was a disassociation between my mailing list and my address book. As in, they barely matched. Then there was the new list of people who HAD successfully subscribed to the opt-in system. So I had folks in my address book who hadn’t been invited to opt-in, the folks on my mailing list who had chosen to opt in, the folks who did not choose to opt in (a pox on them, but, whatever), and the folks on that same mailing list who would have chosen to opt-in if 1. they’d known about it, and/or 2. they followed the right steps, and/or 3. it worked when they did.
What’s a busy business owner to do?
Okay, it’s my fault for not starting with a clean database. I lack the ruthless tracking gene. It used to be if I obtained an address it would go into my mailing list. Or address book. Or both. Or neither. Database? More like datamess.
So I’ve learned my lesson and I now consistently hoard those little ‘@’ symbols like potatoes. No, I don’t really hoard potatoes, but they are round and storable and provide nourishment over the long term.
Anyhow, my point is it’s a whole year later and I’m starting a new mailing list! It will even have pictures!. But don’t worry, it will still come out about 3 times a year. I loathe being bombarded with e-newsletters, and I think I am not alone in that sentiment. But Blue Mouse Monkey makes extraordinary websites for extraordinary people, and it would be a shame not to showcase our clients and let others know the wonderful work they’re doing in the world.