SendLabs

I can't think of a thing worse than moving...especially in cities like Boston where the halls are narrow, stairwells are plentiful and parking is nearly non-existent. Even here in the decidedly-less suburban New Hampshire, transporting your items from one place to another isn't fun. Suddenly, items that were important become easy to throw away and what really means a lot to you comes along for the ride. The leftover junk? Well, that's what landfills and dumpster divers are for.

I recently made the decision to move my personal email from Hotmail to Gmail. Why? The changes in the Hotmail user experience over the past year have made my experience worse. From the rollover ads that get stuck if you accidentally mouse over them to the random outages to other little annoyances, it's too much for me. But I've 'lived' in Hotmail for a long, long time. Not only do I have a slew of old messages that I've kept, but I'm subscribed to many an email list over the years. 

So what do I bring over to my new email house?

As email marketers, think of this as a proving ground or a test for yourself. Are your email marketing campaigns and philosophy worthy enough to be considered in a move? Do you deliver value and make it worth your subscribers' while to open, read and react to what you send? I'm looking through my inbox and there's a few of these lists that I'm starting to unsubscribe from. Some deliver too many emails and others just aren't interesting to me anymore. They will end up in the scrap heap while others that I truly value are getting loaded in the truck. Along the way, they have made it worth my while to take the effort to bring them along. 

Dear email marketers, I ask you this: will your email marketing fans bring you along for the ride or drop you in the dumpster?