You want to contact me? Don’t send it by email.
I can’t be the only one who gets too much email … and then doesn’t read any of it.
This isn’t just about friends sending party invitations (which I miss) or a basketball coach’s meeting (that I’m too late for) or even, heaven forbid, a past client about an issue (which I might not see for weeks), but it’s about email overload.
By the way, if you’re reading this and want to contact me, what is the best way? Off the top of my head:
- Facebook Messenger. If you know my name, you can at least make an attempt.
- Text messaging. Yeah, you have to know my phone number.
- WhatsApp. Again, with the phone number. See how this is working? We actually might know each other.
- FaceTime Audio. Now you need to know my phone number or my personal email address.
- Skype. If I turn it on.
- Comment. On a site of mine. I might get this. At some point.
- Email. Depending on which email you use, I’ll probably see it. Someday.
Where’s email? Oh yeah, number seven. We’re all
We’re all trying to build our email lists, but will this eventually go the way of the CD? Should we be building our “contact me how I want you to contact me” method? Yeah, what’s the tool for that? MailGorilla? Super chimp that can choose email, messaging (multiple platform) or however the fan wants to be contacted?
I often listen to the Sell More Books Show and Jim Kukral is often talking about how short messaging (e.g. text, WhatsApp, etc.) might be the communication of the future–or even the present. I’m skeptical, but then again, I don’t really ready my own email.
As writers who wants to communicate with our fans, we’re going to need to know which medium to use.
Beyond friends and those pesky clients, what about our reader fans? They actually want to hear from us! We actually want to communicate with them!
- We have a new book!
- We’re working on a new cover!
- What would you like to see in the next book?
I have email address that I read regularly. But very few have that one. It doesn’t make sense, right? It’s overload on my other email addresses.
So if we, at some point, can’t use the famed email mailing list to connect with our fans, what do we use?
