A few days ago, I was walking down the streets of Manhattan to buy some Chipotle for lunch.
As I was minding my own business, a man stopped me and offered me some Airheads candy. I looked at it and then looked at the man.
“It’s free,” he said.
I declined anyway, but then he asked for a donation to “help the kids.”
I reached for my wallet, thinking about giving him a quarter or something. Then, his friend showed up and offered me a CD.
That’s when I realized and moved my hand away from my pocket. Oh, these are just CD scammers.
For the next two minutes, they said everything they could to get some money out of me.
“Come on, be a nice person.”
“Don’t you want to help the kids?”
“Why’d you stop if you’re not going to help?”
And all I did was repeat the same four words: No thanks, I’m good.
Eventually they gave up.
This isn’t the first time something like that happened to me. I remember wandering around Times Square waiting for a friend. A couple of people dressed as Disney characters approached me to take pictures with them.
I declined, but they said it was free. So I went with it.
The cameraman took about nine photos with my phone. Once we finished, one of them asked me for a donation.
I told her I didn’t have cash and she pointed me to an ATM. I said,
“Ok, I’ll get some cash and be right back.”
I didn’t come back.
I’m sure you feel the same way when I say that it’s sleazy when someone tells you something is free then demands a donation.
And you know what it reminds me of?
When marketers send you an email with a subject saying something along the lines of:
“Want to get such-and-such for free?”
And once you read into the email, you find out that such-and-such product is actually a bonus item you get when you purchase a product they’re promoting.
It’s technically not a lie, but I think it’s deceptive enough to the point where it’s not right to use.
It might even be deceptive enough to the point where you break the trust a bit with your subscribers.
And that’s the number one thing you never want to do.
To learn more about writing emails that build strong bonds and trust with your subscribers, click the link below.