Protect Yourself From Bad Email Marketing

If you’re a typical decision maker, then the following scenario probably sounds familiar:

At work, you’ve got a boss to report to, a team to build and lead, goals to hit, strategies to determine, projects to complete, processes to implement, tools to manage, etc. 

At home, you have a partner or spouse, kids, friends, parents, nagging in-laws, pets, PTA meetings, hobbies etc. ‍

Bottom line: you’re busy as heck and don’t have time – or attention – to waste. ‍

Productivity is the name of the game, and you guard it like a hawk. You seek out tips on productivity and use them constantly. How to work smart. How to prioritize. How to focus and minimize distraction. How to declutter. How to delegate. 

The primary tool for your productivity is email. Whether on desktop or mobile, it’s where you communicate to get stuff done–especially in the era of remote work. Heaven forbid email is down or an important email is missed. 

Just like the rest of your life, your inbox is jam-packed. You receive A TON of important emails each day. From your team, boss, other departments, existing vendors, customers, prospects, partners, potential talent candidates, newsletters, and subscriptions.  Everyone and their grandmother is vying for your limited attention and productivity. 

On top of that, you receive A TON of irrelevant, unsolicited marketing emails (i.e., spam) each day from potential vendors. You know the typical “pitch-slap”: “Hey [NAME], I came across your company. As a [TITLE] you probably have [PAIN POINT]. We do [SOLUTION]. Want to speak to Sales?” 

Now even though everyone else is sending the emails, it is your task to sort through the mess.  Inbox management has become a heavy task of its own. You are the one who has to see, read, triage, categorize, filter, delete, or reply to them.  

‍Getting frustrated yet?‍

These junk emails clutter your inbox, making it hard to identify and handle the important, relevant emails. They’re also an unwanted distraction. 

An email notification pings and you might think it’s that long awaited email from Susie in Legal that you’ve been waiting for. So you stop what you’re doing and check your email. Nope, it’s Billy from ABC potential vendor, following up for the 8th time to see if you want to speak to Sales. You delete it but - darn - now you’re off track and you have to refocus. 

A study from the Univeristy of California Irivine reports it can take 23 minutes to fully refocus after a distraction.  Especially because now you’re annoyed, perhaps even indignant. These emails are not consensual. You haven’t “opted-in”. It feels like you have no control over your attention and productivity. 

And you know what that means for pursuing your goals and what you know you should be focusing on. It feels like you’re being intruded upon, or even robbed. 

Think about how often that scenario happens to you. On average, people check their inbox at least 20 times a day.  

‍You have no way to protect your attention, to fight back against the onslaught of email, to have a clean inbox without putting in a ton of work – until now. 

Gated is a free email tool that challenges unknown senders to make a charitable donation in order to reach you, so everything in your inbox is worth your attention. Meanwhile, such emails are diverted from your main inbox to a Gated subfolder. That way, you prevent clutter by separating the relevant from the irrelevant.  

(Of course, you can see Gated messages whenever you want to, on your term. And you’ve got the power to allow the senders that you do want to hear from to reach you.)

A win-win-win solution‍

A win for you and for achieving your goals and values. A win for your chosen nonprofit. A win for the worthy sender who seeks to earn your attention on your terms – not theirs. 

Gated protects your attention and productivity so you can focus on what matters most - to you and your business. 

Here’s what the CEO of Sendoso, Kris Rudeegraap, had to say about his experience with Gated: 

Not long ago, a revolution was fought by a third-rate British colony that among other things, opposed taxation without representation. As a busy executive and decision-maker, you should oppose email without representation. It’s time you had a say in what gets into your inbox. ‍

No email without representation!‍

It’s time to protect yourself and fight back against bad email marketing. Thanks to Gated, now you can. Viva la revolución – and atención. 

Author Nelson Gilliat is author of the book ‘The Death of the SDR: and the Birth of Buyer Centric Revenue’ and the creator of the Buyer-Centric Revenue Model - an alternative to the Predictable Revenue model. He is an Advisor for Gated.  

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Published February 2022

Updated December 2022