Most people know what spam is…Viagra advertisement, unsolicited stock tip, lottery winning notification from somewhere in Europe, etc.
But what is Bacn? (It’s pronounced bacon, but in Web 2.0 lingo.)
Bacn is email that you asked for and perhaps want to read at some point, but it isn’t remotely urgent. Bacn tastes like this:
- An email from your favorite online store announcing a sale.
- An email from Plaxo reminding you of someone’s birthday or address change.
- An email from your credit card company reminding you that you have a payment due next week.
- An email from a social networking site (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.) letting you know that you have a new friend, contact or message.
- An email from a sales trainer with this week’s amazing sales tip.
- An email from a magazine with a rundown of the latest stories.
The amazing thing about Bacn is that if you ignore it, more will show up later. When you have time to read it, you appreciate the message, perhaps even enjoy reading the messages. When you don’t have time, Bacn clutters your overstuffed email inbox.
My rule about Bacn:
If you don’t have time to read it right now, delete it right now.
You will never have enough time to catch up on all of those useful stories, tips and such. And if you find that you consistently delete a particular flavor of Bacn, unsubscribe from it. Most Bacn messages have an unsubscribe link at the bottom which takes less then 10 seconds to click and confirm.