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.

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