Digital is fast and cheap. Now we can save a dollar or two on stamps that are no longer needed, plus the time and energy spent licking them and stuffing envelopes. We don’t even need to walk to the post box to mail our messages. Because it’s easy to reach anyone with an email address we sometimes take less care to craft those messages than we should.

Mr X has spent three years working on his project. More than a thousand days of planning, innovation and development have gone into shipping it and yet he’s probably spent ten minutes crafting the first and only email the reader who forwarded this has ever received from him.

[Actual email with names and details changed. Please DO NOT USE this template.]

Hi —————,

We’ve just launched our product! It’s an xyz.
This is what it does.

Check it out [link].
Our website is live and we need your help.
You can pre-order for $X, and if you like it, please share this as far and wide as you can.

Feel free to give us some love on social media too.
Twitter [link]
Facebook [link].

Thanks!
Mr X
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

The irony is that Mr X hasn’t reached any of the 500 connections on his email list at all.
There’s a difference between making contact and making a meaningful impact. The impact you hope to make begins one person at a time long before the day your product ships.

If we’re not prepared to spend just as much time understanding how the people we hope to serve feel, as we do developing our products and services, then we haven’t earned the right to reach out to them. The first question to ask as part of any marketing strategy is, “Is this generous or selfish?”
Generosity wins every time.

Image by Kat NLM.