As you'd probably expect from someone who's written a pretty decent-selling book on Email Marketing, I subscribe to a lot of emails. Particularly emails from people who have a reputation for being good at it.

There's a pattern I've seen over the last few years from some of these “email experts” that I find pretty distasteful and I want to call it out to help you avoid falling into the trap yourself.

One of the things I like is “edgy” emails. People who aren't afraid to express a strong opinion. To point out things they think are wrong or disagree with. To highlight hypocrisy and call out fakers. 

The thing with expressing a strong opinion is that some people will disagree. That's only natural: if no one disagreed then it would be a pretty bland opinion.

But some people with edgy opinions appear to be pretty thin-skinned.

Worse, they seem to be so insecure that they find it necessary to belittle people who disagree with them.

I see it time and time again. Guru X will send out an email with a deliberately provocative opinion in it. Then they'll get some complaints from people and their next email will be spent telling you why you shouldn't care about people disagreeing with you while simultaneously demonstrating they absolutely do care about people disagreeing with them because they spend most of the email belittling the people who disagreed.

Here's the thing: it's great to have strong opinions and to call out people in power for things you disagree with.

But to belittle email subscribers who write in to you who have no means of redress and no power themselves. That's just bullying.

You upset them. Live with it. Don't go all sulky and try to justify yourself and get some validation from your crowd by having a go at them.

Email bullies think their nastiness and rabble-rousing builds a strong following which leads to more sales.

And, of course, all bullies have their gangs of cronies who hang on their every word and cheer their nastiness.

But I don't want those sort of people as clients. I bet you don't either. 

So please. If you're subscribed to someone's emails and you see them repeatedly belittle the dissenting voices in their crowd and then tell you that you should do the same – don't listen to them.

Be the kind of person who stands up for the little guy, not the kind of person who bullies them.