Sparkplugging is continuing our new tradition called ‘Spark an Idea Thursday’. Each week we’ll be sharing some great ideas for a topic of interest to our readers. We invite you to grab our image and carry the tradition through to your own blog! If you do, please link back to this post so we know where you were inspired!
This week we’re Sparking an Idea About Email
While I fully embrace the concept of working smarter, not harder – I do not support being lazy in business. Specifically I am referring to sending emails. It sure is easy to hit the Forward key and pass on some exciting, valuable, funny and insightful information, isn’t it?
It bugs the crap out of me when I see emails that contain other people’s email address. It’s a breach of their privacy and opens them up to unwanted SPAM. It bothers me when I receive emails of this nature but I hate to even think about the emails that are sent to others that also contain my email address.
Consider this if you send out a team email to your down line. Just because everyone may be a consultant for the same team and the same company does not mean that you should be sending out their contact information for all to see. Instead use the BCC: (Blind Carbon Copy) feature to select names of the recipients, this will ensure their addresses are hidden and protected.
If to you, it’s no big deal if you see email addresses of others or if your own email address is sent to others, at least be considerate and realize that it does bother others. Respect their privacy.
There, I feel so much better now that I have that email pet peeve off my chest!
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Leslie Truex is the pajama-clad work-at-home mom dedicated to helping other moms live and work comfortably. She's the author of The Work-At-Home Success Bible and owner of 
Laurie Ayers is a WAHM from Michigan and a Star Director with 
You make an interesting point, but I don’t think you’ll find many others who will agree with you. Email addresses have a more public feel to them than does a phone number, for example, and people treat them that way. And why not? If I get an unsolicited email from someone (I’m not talking about spam here, just regular email) it costs me nothing to read it. I can respond or not, in a time frame that’s convenient to me. They don’t interrupt my dinner, wake up the kids, or make me miss the last five minutes of American Idol. Really, I couldn’t care less who has my email address.
As far as spam goes, I use Gmail, so it’s rarely an issue, and their spam filters are getting better all the time. At the worst it takes me two seconds every day to scan the subject lines in the spam folder and hit the delete key. I find spam to be such a non-issue that I’m no longer reluctant to post my email address in public places. I’ve even posted it in an open thread on Twitter when asking a question of someone.
I just don’t see email address privacy as a big deal any more, but I’m interested to see if others feel the same way you do.
It’s not so much that email addresses aren’t freely available but it’s the privacy of the person that is the real issue. It’s about being in everyone’s business. What if someone sent out a bulk email that said “Since you failed the driving test, come in on Wed…” I wouldn’t want the rest of the recipients on that email knowing that I was included in the failed driving test. It’s none of their business.
Further, if a team email is sent to a group of consultants who are pending termination due to inactivity, everyone’s name and email does not need to be visible for all to see. “Oh did you see that Cindy is getting ready to get canned? She didn’t even sell $150 in 3 months so she’ll be terminated” – Again, no one’s business.
Sure telephone numbers, addresses and emails can be easily obtained but that doesn’t mean that the person isn’t entitled to privacy and freedom from everyone else knowing what information is being passed along.
My biggest email pet peeve is when you send an email to someone and you cc someone else on it and the person doesn’t hit Reply to All when they answer and only hit Reply so you are the only one that sees the reply. The cc’d person doesn’t see it.
I so agree with you. I personally cannot stand when people cc their entire addy book so everyone has everyone’s email addy to spam. Not to mention when someone will “reply all” and then send some lame response to everyone who got the first email.
I send consultants notice if they don’t meet quota…can you imagine if I didn’t use BCC, then everyone would know who wasn’t making it and well…that’s just not professional.
Anytime someone sends the same email to multiple recipients, they should do it via BCC…that’s just common sense.