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My family members, former teachers, family friends, etc frequently complain when I didn’t send them a link to an article or post that I wrote, a review my books or plays got, or to podcasts I was on. My answer to this is always a bit terse. It seems unreasonable to me for them to expect me to personally email them every single time something newsworthy happens to me… especially since it’s already posted for anyone and everyone to see on the internet in multiple places: My Twitter feed, my Facebook page and my blogs.

This reminded me of one of my biggest buyer pet peeves. A buyer buys something from you, sends you their glowing thanks and, when you tell them you hope they’ll shop with you again, they say, “Well, email me if you get more items in.” I try to subtly point them to our mailing list, blog and social networking, all of which will have this info but, no, they want a personal email. And while I would never say this to them, my thought process when I encounter this is pretty much, “F- you, buddy.” Like I have nothing better to do than individually email every yahoo who ever bought from me each and every time I get new items in my shop when I already have a freaking mailing list, blog, Twitter account and Facebook page for that exact purpose. I get it… maybe the word mailing list sends people into a frenzy of spam paranoia but it’s just plain selfish and sort of a jerk move to expect a seller to personally email you and just you whenever they get new items in just because you don’t feel like joining the mailing list or following any of the marketing or social networking things they have set up.

The same thing frequently happens on my other blog.

“Hey, I love your play!”

“Thanks!”

“Email me when your next one comes out.”

“The link to join my mailing list is here. Or you can follow me on Twitter or Facebook. I’ll post there as soon as I have any info to share on the release date.”

“Nah, I don’t like any of that stuff. Just email me when it comes out, OK?”

I know the customer is always right but, seriously? That’s just unreasonable. You’re one of hundreds of customers I talk to a day, dude. There are multiple ways to subscribe to this info without expecting me to personally email you.

And, like an idiot, I do it. I keep lists of people who want to be privately emailed when I have a new book out or new items or whatever and 99.9% of the time, when I take the time to email them, what is their reply? “Remove me from this mailing list.”

So, when I was over my parent’s house the other day, I signed them up to get my main blog via email so they’d never miss anything I do anywhere on the internet and won’t feel left out. The downside is that now my parents are reading every single thing I post on the internet which is a whole other can of worms but what can you do?

Have you run into this problem? What is your solution? Are customers like this not worth the trouble?