Let me tell you about the marketing equivalent of putting pineapple on pizza, except worse, because at least that’s consensual…
It’s opting people into your email list without their explicit consent.
I don’t care if they bought something from you five years ago. I don’t care if they downloaded your free PDF about productivity hacks. I don’t care if you think they’d “totally love” your new newsletter about cryptocurrency investing or whatever half baked idea you’re peddling this week.
If they didn’t explicitly opt into THIS list for THIS content, then adding them is a cardinal marketing sin.
Here’s why this pisses me off…
Years ago, I used Substack under a completely different pen name, tied to a burner Twitter account, with a separate email address. It was for writing creative content that had absolutely nothing to do with my current work. People had to actively seek out that content and deliberately subscribe.
That list was sacred. Those subscribers chose to be there for a specific reason.
Now imagine if I decided to migrate that entire audience to my current business newsletter without asking. Just because I had their email addresses doesn’t mean I have permission to bombard them with completely different content they never signed up for.
You’re not being a smart marketer by doing this. Mainly because the rules of changed and ESP and email providers will kick your ass if they ever find out.
Yet I see this shit constantly.
Some entrepreneur decides to pivot from selling yoga mats to teaching Facebook ads, and suddenly everyone who ever bought a yoga mat is getting emails about conversion funnels and pixel tracking.
Or worse…
They buy email lists. They scrape LinkedIn for contact information. They add every business card they collected at a networking event to their “valuable insights” newsletter.
It’s stupid and it’s not marketing.
You’re training people to associate your brand with spam. You’re burning bridges before you even build them. You’re basically announcing to the world that you don’t understand consent, boundaries, or basic human decency.
The worst part? It doesn’t even work.
Unengaged subscribers drag down your deliverability rates. They mark you as spam. They actively hurt your ability to reach people who actually want to hear from you.
So here’s a very simple rule… Don’t do it. Ever. Not to your best customers. Not to your worst enemies. Not even if you think you’re doing them a favour.
Build your lists organically. Ask for permission explicitly. Respect people’s choices.
Cause we all know it gives off “amateur hour” vibes.
I couldn’t imagine spamming people who never asked to hear from me.
Stephen Walker.
P.S. DO NOT CLICK THIS LINK. HONESTLY, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. DO NOT GET MAD AT ME IF YOU CLICK IT…