Sharing Your Email Online

Everyone believes you need to guard your email closely.  If you share your email online, bots will scrape it and you’ll be overwhelmed with unwanted email.

But, as this article explains, your email is already out there.  It’s time to accept that… and try a different approach.

Your email is no longer private. 

Your email (and other data) is easily obtainable, even if you have never posted it online.  

In fact, there’s been a whole movement in tech focused on arming sales people with contact data. Giving sellers and marketers a wealth of automated tools to reach buyers like you.

Salespeople can get your email by:

• Scraping emails:  Tools like Lusha and Clearbit give sales reps access in exchange for being able to scrape your contact info.  
• Guessing emails:  Because email addresses follow a standard format, every corporate email is easily guessable.
• Buying contact information:  Tools like ZoomInfo allow sales reps to narrow down a list of target accounts and buy detailed contact information for specific people.
  

What if you start a new role, with a new email address?  It’s still only a matter of weeks before your contact information is in the sales databases and your inbox is overloaded.

We are overwhelmed by the noise. 

Because our emails are easy to get, there is no marginal cost to send email.  Companies with automated systems and even well-meaning sellers clutter our inboxes… because it’s free.  

How do we try to solve this?

• Hiding our email
• Using spam filters
• Spending money on tools to manage our our over-filled inboxes
  

But when we use these strategies, we shut ourselves down to new connections.  In all of the noise, there are a few gold nuggets.  A new tool, a new conference, a new connection, a new opportunity.

Don’t hide. There’s a better way.

I built Gated so that I would be open to new connections, but not swamped with email. 

Gated helps you take back control of your inbox.  You decide who can reach you, rather than allowing any and all unknown senders to fill up your inbox. 

When an unknown sender emails you (with Gated), the sender is “challenged” to donate (typical donations range from $1-5) to your favorite nonprofit. This payment ensures their email reaches your inbox. It also ensures they are sending something worth your attention.   

This small hurdle makes senders think twice about why they reached out to you.  It incents them to think carefully about what they are sending. And your inbox?  It’s still your own. You are no longer overwhelmed by irrelevant messages. 

What did I do with my newfound freedom from unwanted email? I took the bold step to share my email online (see the LinkedIn post here).  Instead hiding my email, I put it out there for everyone to see (and scrape)!

Are you bold enough to share your email online?  If you are, tag Gated and we will send you our first ever Gated swag. (The good stuff, of course.)

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Photo by Jason Hogan on Unsplash