At this very moment, I have over 200 emails from over 23 retailers in my email inbox.
And I just cleaned it out not too long ago!
Why so many?
Because, every time I check out at a retailer, part of the process now is that they ask for my email address. It’s become the new up-sell.
They sell me on the fact that they will send me special promotions and coupons – just for me! Or next week’s flyer one day early or pre-notification of upcoming sales or events.
Oh! And if I log into (give my email address) this website and rate them, I could get 20% off my next purchase!
And, of course, every time you make a purchase or fill out a form online, they don’t let you complete and submit until you give your email address.
Now, I know that the internet is a big part of marketing these days but it’s just crazy. They call it “spam” but it’s junk mail and it’s out of control!
They just need to get in the door (get your email) and then the flood gates open.
Does anyone remember “Land Shark” from Saturday Night Live? . . . when it was good!
I keep deleting them but they keep sending them. I can’t keep up. I don’t even look at 90% of them. Hell, I don’t even know how some of them even got my email address!
Here is a sampling (and it’s not even all of them!):
Online Flyers
- Shoppers Drug Mart
- Staples
- M&M Food Market
I keep thinking that I’ll look at them but I don’t look at the flyers that come with my local paper – what makes me think I will look at them online!
I bought something at the store once – twice maybe
- Reitmans
- Melanie Lynn
- Bouclair
- Evolution Cycles
- La-Z-Boy
- The Brick
They emailed my receipt to me (which is really cool BTW)
- Best Buy
- Sport Check
I bought something online once – maybe twice from Amazon
- Amazon
- Ticketmaster
- SoftMoc
Not sure but my daughter may have purchased something using my email address
- Under Armour
- Workout Empire
I have no idea how they got my email address
- VacationsToGo – maybe a contest form at the home show?
- Cruise Ship Centers – wow, I must really need a vacation
- Sierra Trading Post – I don’t remember ever being in this store – real or online
- The Chopra Center – I frequent this website but I can’t remember any reason why I would have given my email address.
Random
- Ebates – I thought it was a good idea but then I couldn’t figure out how to use it
- Yconic – looking up scholarship opportunities for my son – 3 years ago!
- Wynn Fitness – We broke up but I guess they haven’t accepted it
- 407 ETR – seriously?
So I count 23. Twenty-three retailers that I receive emails from that I do not want and do not read. Time to sit down and do some “unsubscribing”.
Unsubscribe – Remove yourself from a mailing list (or emailing list) where an individual or organization sends material regularly to multiple recipients
How to “Unsubscribe” (just in case you’re not sure)
Open the email and scroll to the very bottom. Look for a very tiny link that says “unsubscribe”. Legally, they have to have an “unsubscribe” button but they don’t want to make it easy for you to find so it may be hidden within a bunch of other copy. Keep looking.
Then just click the “unsubscribe” link. Some sites may ask you why you’re unsubscribing so just click something because “it’s annoying” is never on the list of answer options.
Voila! Done. Aaaah! I feel lighter already!
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Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
