Charging for Email…
I just got this email from Perry Marshall. As a member of his Renaissance Club, I get some very valuable information. And, another thing I get is thought-provoking content. Sometimes, if you’re smart and can capitalize on these thoughts, there’s gold lying around the bend. This might be one such instance.
Here’s what Perry’s email said:
Have you heard the rage, the shrieking and the cries of terror?
Have you signed the petition yet?
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Yup, Yahoo and AOL plan to start charging ? cent to 1 cent per email, to guarantee your messages get through the SPAM filters. The political activists are having a panic attack.
Gotta tell you, I had fun reading about this. Hundreds of columnists emoting about the Very End Of Free Speech Itself. Apparently, today “free speech” not only means speaking your mind without going to jail, it also means having big corporations distribute your thoughts to millions of people for you, for free.
Friends and neighbors, if your “free speech” is riding on some big company’s generosity, you don’t have free speech.
You have sponsored content.
If you’re not willing to make any sacrifices to get your message out, why should anyone else do it for you? This is a case study in mushy thinking from people who have no idea how expensive Free Speech really is.
I’m actually surprised Pay Per Email didn’t already kick in a year or two ago. Basic economic fact: Email, being something that’s inordinately valuable – instantaneous access to someone’s inner sanctum – is something that shouldn’t be free. The very fact that it is violates nature.
It is fundamentally impossible for email to remain totally free forever. Something has to give.
Now if MoveOn.org wants to send 3 million emails a week, can they afford to pay $7,500 to $30,000 for the privilege?
That depends. Certainly non-profits with huge email lists will be hit the hardest by this. But before the Internet they would have had to pay half a buck to send a letter. In my humble opinion, a quarter of a cent is quite a bit more attractive than half a buck.
Plus there’s a big upside to this that few people seem to have thought of.
If sending an email suddenly cost a fraction of a cent, most of the garbage in your customers’ email boxes would disappear overnight. Your ability to cut through the clutter would multiply dramatically.
Not only would your emails get through in the first place, they would have less competition. Your customers would have more time to read them. It would double, triple or quadruple the response to your emails.
Would you be willing to pay for that?
You should.
Coming up: What’s really going to happen with pay per email and how it will effect your business…until then…
Perry Marshall
What does this mean to you? Well, for the time being, probably not much. But, when something like this gets out, it’s not far from being implemented. You might have a year, 6 months, maybe longer. You can rest-assured once the big boys and girls start charging, the small local cos. and phone providers will, too. Email won’t be free any longer. Just like text messaging. You’ll pay in some fashion.
I already pay to send out emails. If I send out 1200 emails, 2-times each month, I spend just about 8/10 of a cent per email.
The other part of this: AOL and Yahoo! need the revenue. They’re getting their virtual asses kicked by Google. What do you think you’ll see from Google down the road? Yes, probably charging for email.
Bottom line: All of these cos. are in the enviable toll-booth position. They own media and a distribution network…That’s how they stay alive, by charging for use and access…
Let me know your thoughts…Post ‘em below.
I suppose it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. I would be willing to bet though, that this will only feed social media outlets (facebook, twitter, etc).
I guess the larger questions is: How is Google doing so well and not charging for email? What is their business model doing more effectively than that of Yahoo or AOL?
This could also lead to the next great leap in technological communications via the internet. What will come up next?
-Matt
from Milwaukee