Why I Don't Respond to Many of My Emails

[Troy]

“I stumbled across your website and I'm wondering if you can help me. I read a book a couple of months ago and I'm wondering if you can give me any suggestions about how to go about finding this book I do know that is written by a black author but I don't know the name of the book and I don't know the name of the author is there a way that you may be able to help me? I look forward to hearing from you.”

My initial reaction was to suggest some Ginkgo biloba,

Now 30 years ago, I might have been able to help; maybe even run the titles off the top of my head.  I replied respectfully.  Don't ask me why..

[CDBurns]

Man don't play! LOL. You should see some of the statements I get in the sneaker biz. It has gotten so crazy I even considered writing a book. Here is the cover and one of the statements. If you want to compare crazy e-mails you may be starting something that will never end.

 (customer) 07/26/2013 - 21:38
Product: air jordan 6 olympic 2012 release

aye man what does the left shoe and the inside of both of them like the out side inside.. look like?? side look like??

 

[Mel Hopkins]

When Black Enterprise did a feature article on my digital marketing efforts to sell my book;  I thought it would lead to a lot of book sales... I didn't but what I got was an influx of email asking me "HOW do you do this..." It frustrated me at first; but today I have a database of people who were willing shared their email addresses with me for no other reason than to ask a question.  Followers on social media are cool - but there's no middlewo/man between me and my email addresses. 

[Troy]

Social media acting as the mediary IS the problem with social for businesses @Mel Hopkins  I think the only reason people believe this is better is because I that never known anything else.  

My 20K+ followers are useless to me.  I'm not saying my individual followers are useless themselves, it is that they are useless to be in terms of my ability to reach them.  Facebook will not show them my posts, Facebook will not allow me to message them or any any way contact them directly. My mailing list is far more effective.  If only 15% of my mailing list opened my email, that is far better than the reach I can get with Facebook.

Needless to say my website itself is even more effective than my mailing list.  

This is not anecdotal this is a simple fact.  Mailing lists and websites are more effective than social media. 

Despite that authors in particular are abandoning websites and making the Facebook pages their primary web presence. Even the ones who have websites invest all their time trying to grow an audience on social media rather than growing an audience for their own websites.  In fact authors truth be told could actually use this platform to much better results than social media...

@CDBurns I actually understand what my man is asking regarding the sneakers :-) But we could go back and forth with the emails and messages man.  I would'nt even have to got to my racist hate messages.  But seriously it is not all that bad on my end, I guess cause I'm used to it.  But that email stuck me as a bit much LOL.

 

[CDBurns]

Mel is on point again. The e-mail list is vital. I still haven't developed one, but what I kind of rely on is updating my site often with content and then pushing it out there in a variety of ways. In regard to Black Enterprise, I have long thought that the audience Black Enterprise caters too is a bit elitist in some ways and it really fails to do a better job of reaching and delivering info to the people who really need it. I guess the same could be said about all forms of media, but I even discuss BE in my first biz book. I talk about how the scenarios simply didn't jive with the Black folks I knew and had lived around. It almost seemed that the way the info was presented it was the same info I got from Money and INC, two white publications that spend more time addressing people who make six figures and have debt of about 20000 dollars. I'm not saying that giving those people info is not as important, but it overlooks the population looking for real help to make it out of the lower class. BE has to cater to its supporters though and I don't knock it for that.

Troy, I don't know how you understood that e-mail. Your deciphering skills are bananas! LOL

Mel, the idea that BE's article didn't really help is directly related to conversion. Because you have a book any marketing is important, but the most effective conversion comes when you are marketing through channels that are made for the audience you are looking to reach. If your book was not fantasy and was business related, BE might have helped more. As it stands AALBC is a site that is about books and will help you convert more CTRs. While having coverage leads to more coverage, I have to wonder if it really leads to conversion for a lot of people? I do know there is a bump from really big media platforms, but I don't there is ever really a big bump from media that is not in the field you're aiming for.