Don’t Hang Your Laundry On An Email
Laundry? Email? Say what??
Just a quick tip: if you’re sending someone a cold email, including an attachment can trigger a spam filter which routes the email to Trash.
What’s a cold email? An email you’re sending to someone who doesn’t know you.
As a freelancer, I send out cold emails all the time. I send them to prospects who might have a need for my work.
You can’t blame companies for using spam filters. 45% of emails sent every day qualify as spam.
Spam filters are designed to delete emails with attachments because a lot of malware is distributed that way: you open the attached file and out pops a virus that sets up shop on your hard drive.
Suppose your cold email makes it past a spam filter– what are the odds the recipient will click on the attachment?
Pretty much nil because of the malware danger. Put yourself in their place– you’d trash the email, too.
Another good reason to avoid attachments: they increase the size of an email, which means it will take longer to load– always annoying for a recipient.
Is there a work-around? Yes: simply include a link to the file rather than attaching it. You can even include a call-to-action button that serves as the link.
Note: all the above applies to cold emails.
If you’re writing to someone who does know you, someone who has you in their Contacts list, sending them an email attachment should not be a problem.
The spam filter will give you a pass, and the person will open the attachment because they know and trust you.
That’s today’s laundry tip, now I need to mop up these puddles on the floor.
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About Mark: I’m an illustrator specializing in humor, editorial, branding, social media, and content marketing. My images are different, like your brand needs to be.
You can view my portfolio, and connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Questions? Send me an email.
Mark Armstrong Illustration Specializing In Content Marketing Advertising Editorial Infographics Animation Videos and Social Media 
From your post title, I thought you were going to talk about not ‘airing your dirty laundry’ in an email – ’cause you never know who might also read it!
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Ha!! I can see how you might jump to that conclusion!– which reminds me: I really need to wash this tee-shirt!! Always good to see you, Margy, thanks for, er, dropping me a line! 😊
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Hi Mark…. good point. I agree, when I receive an “unknown”, right in the trash it goes. I don’t do much cold emailing, but your article is worth note in the event I do in the future, thanks.
John
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Always appreciate your kind comments, John, thank you! Yeah, there’s something about email attachments that conjures up bad feelings– not worth taking a chance. Fortunately, as illustrators, we’re naturally ruthless– ZAP!! 😊
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Thanks for ‘cold email’. Never heard of it before. I find it amusing. 🙂
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Ha! You’re right– funny to think of an email being “cold,” like it just came out of a freezer! You also hear people talk about making “cold calls”– calling a person who doesn’t know you on the phone, to try to interest them in your services. Thanks for your comment! 😊
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