I did a lot of my Christmas shopping in the Internet this year.  Most of it was laziness, but a lot of it was just that I hate crowded stores.  The advent of free shipping means I can usually get what I want, with less effort, at at least a comparable price without having to leave the house and put up with people.

This morning I woke up to almost 100 spam emails from various vendors.  So here’s my take on it:

• I know what I need and most of what I want.  If I’ve done business with you in the past, I will check your website for good prices before buying something.  Getting 5 emails from the same company in one day moves that company down the list.
• If I’m already sending your charity a check every month, rest assured that it’s the most I can afford to send at the moment.  As things improve, my donations will also improve.  There really isn’t a need to ask for more.  And yes, I already tell my friends about your cause.
• If you’re a charity and you sell my information to other charities so that they can spam me, kiss my donations goodbye.  Look at it this way:  My charitable donations budget is a finite amount of money.  Every additional charity that catches my attention and gets a bit of it reduces the amount of money for those causes that I already support.  Is the couple of bucks you get for my email address enough to compensate for having my donations reduced or eliminated?
• If you’re a political party, candidate, office holder, or advocate organization, the quickest way to lose my support is to start sending me requests for funding more than once a month or so.  I had 15 emails in the past three days from a large gun-rights organization.  Guess who’s going on the naughty list?
• Being sneaky is a bad idea.  One clever lady sent me an email that read like a family Christmas newsletter, but all of the information was about how her agency could save me money on insurance, and the family-sounding link at the bottom of the email led me to her business site.   Nice try.
• NFL teams – I either hope that you will dominate or I hope you lose in an epic way.  Sending me emails directing me to your team paraphalia store isn’t going to get me to like you any more. Honestly, I already have a Raiders tee shirt and a Vikings hat.

So, that’s what I don’t like about solicitation emails.  Here’s how to do it right:

• Send me emails when you come up with or start carrying new products, preferably once every month or so.  That way I know what’s going on with companies I’ve done business with in the past, but don’t feel pressured.
• Send me emails when products go on sale that are consumables, such as ammunition, cleaning supplies, or camping food.  If I know it’s something that I will use and then have to replace, I’m more likely to stock up if I see a good deal.
• Be honest.  If you’re emailing me to try to get me to buy something from you, be up front about it.
• If you’re a charity, an occasional email telling me about what y’all have been up to recently is nice.  No need for daily or weekly updates.
• I use my smart phone to read my email.  Send emails that can be read easily on that platform. Bonus points for plain text.  Big minus is to just send a picture that links to your website.