I nearly jumped for joy when I read that some phone companies were phasing out their automatic delivery of White Pages.

(Granted, there are some households that do not have Internet access, but that number is dwindling year by year. Last May it was about 1 in 5 and dropping.)

A Waste

The White Pages and their Yellow buddies are, for the majority of consumers, a nuisance. They are bulky, out of date immediately, and increasingly don’t have the information one wants (as more people use cell phones as their primary connection). They’re also a waste of money and resources — there someone has to deliver the things, they need to be printed, shipped, stored, etc.

And yet they are delivered to me whether I want them or not.

Then I learned that most telcos still give out the books becuase they have to. Local jurisdictions require them as part of their operating agreements.

I get that we can’t penalize non-Internet users and shut them out — but can’t it be something they opt-in to, rather than something I need to opt out of?

Switching To Opt-In Marketing

That got me thinking about other organizations’ marketing efforts.

For example, I have an email list that I have built up over many years. (I’m supposed to send one out today, in fact.) Looking at my stats, I am certain there are people who have long been on that list who simply tolerate receiving it — they haven’t opened and email in years. What if I were to run a “census” and ask people to affirmatively say they want to remain on the list? It might be painful to watch the number on my list drop, but those that remain really, really want to hear from me.

Think about how much you send out (whether by mail or by email) that people did not ask for. What if you switched over to entirely opt-in strategies?