Is it time for you to unsubscribe?

During a recent conversation with a coach friend she shared aloud "I have a dysfunctional relationship with my email list."

What she meant was that she had personified her list in such a way that it limited her - limited her willingness or desire to communicate with them too much. She didn't want to offend her list. What if they didn't want to hear from her that much?When I considered it for myself, I realized I too needed to address my relationship with my email list.  I've been making some big changes to my brand and my offerings. I'm posting more and developing products. What if my list doesn't want to hear from me that much? Or doesn't align with my new direction?And that's a true and legitimate concern. And well worth addressing head on.

When someone signs up for an email list they are making an exchange.  They are giving you a piece of their attention. In turn you give them the best you have to offer.  And as a list owner it is our responsibility to respect that relationship.

I think it has become too routine (and an industry practice) to offer free gifts to entice visitors to sign up for an email list. The end result, when not done well, is information overload and energy dissipation - yours and theirs.Think on it. Think of the time you take to delete all the email from your email box that you can not or will not get to today or this week.  That is time and attention. Think of the creative energy you put into creating email content, monitoring your email list reports and managing your email account. That is time and attention and money. (This also extends into the creation of infrastructures to deal with the massive number of emails being sent by services like MailChimp, Constant Contact and more. Just because it's digital doesn't mean that it is isn't a resource. We saw the same waste with paper based direct mail.)I favor discernment with my time both on the receiving end and the creation and sending end. Here's what I've been doing with my email list:

• I've invited people to unsubscribe. Yup. Just today. I explained that I would be changing my email frequency to more like once a week and invited them to choose a new frequency - weekly or monthly. Or just flat out unsubscribe. I'd rather they go their merry way and open that energy up to new efforts. And so far I've had over 70 people unsubscribe. I'm sure there will be more.

• I've added the option for people to opt into weekly or monthly notices when they sign up. Being clear on the front end honors their time and exchange.

• Email list 'spring/summer cleaning' is a good idea. All of our businesses change over time and our relationships with our contacts change too. It makes sense to give people an easy and obvious opportunity to recommit to giving you space in their inbox or gracefully exiting.

So I'll end up with a much smaller list. I'm thinking that's not too bad. I might also end up with a through-the-roof open rate and click through rate. Increasing those numbers will give me more momentum and pleasure. I'm aiming for a more meaningful email relationship with you.

It may be time to add email list cleaning to the list of best practices for email marketing. What do you think?

 Update on August 1, 2012To complete this cycle I really wanted to share the results. I did indeed have about 10% of my list unsubscribe. But 60% didn't open the email. So I might still have more. What I should have anticipated and didn't was the email list service's response. My high unsubscribe rate triggered a red flag on their end and I got a Compliance Warning. I explained the situation, asked them to read my email, and was told everything was fine. Something to remember, if you choose to do the same.