I'm not going to try to convince you that your preferences are irrational, because I probably won't change your mind and have better things to do.
I will try to convince you that the preferences you are attributing to "people" are unlikely to be universally accurate in describing "people". You should probably recalibrate your understanding of people's behavior, because when you understand what people actually want you're more capable of delivering things which both you and they will benefit from.
I once thought that people hated getting email. I hated getting email. Except from, well, all the people I didn't hate getting email from. I have substantial evidence from clients and other people I find credible that people not only like getting email but will actually respond in predictable and positive fashions to the right email. I also have a stock of anecdotes which bewildered me when they happened, like people emailing me asking why I didn't send them a November BCC newsletter (Me, mentally: "Don't you know its going to be the October one with gsub applied to it?" Her, literally: "I really really really want to hear about Thanksgiving bingo." Me: "Wait, people pay me money for that all the time, how did I not see that sentence coming.")
There are almost certainly people in the world whose preferences are more similar to you, in that they would not like to get emailed by me. That's cool. They should not give me their email address and instead do something they would prefer. Cat videos or something, whatever.
You've misunderstood me. I love getting mail. If you're going to make a list full of useful information sign me up!
In fact I'm subscribed to a few lists that I really enjoy reading every month. So I'm not against email.
But don't bait, "force", or use subterfuge to get me to sign up. "first five minutes free!" doesn't do your brand any good.
There is, as you pointed out, a (shady) implied back-door to getting the video without giving him your real email address. You can think of that as a kind of escape valve for the sentiment you're trying to express here.
One caveat I think might apply to using that escape valve: if you're so upset by the idea of trading customer contacts for promised software value that you'd lie about your contact information, you probably won't get much value out of the 45 minutes of your life this video will consume.
Patrick has thus done you a favor by demanding your email address; he's pre-screening you from the video to save you time.
It's funny. I see the clear value in what patrick is doing here. I respect Patrick (and yourself). I just don't like the approach he took. For that it seems I'm being told I'm not welcome.
Saying that once was fine. It was even somewhat helpful, as it gave Patrick an opportunity to clarify his strategy.
Saying it repeatedly simply because Patrick does not agree with you is less fine. I hope it is a little unwelcome.
You made your point. He made his. He's not going to do it your way. I think you should let it go now.
I was also being sincere in my previous comment. This being how you really feel about Patrick trading email addresses for access to a video, I sincerely think you won't get much value from that particular video.
Comments
I'm not going to try to convince you that your preferences are irrational, because I probably won't change your mind and have better things to do.
I will try to convince you that the preferences you are attributing to "people" are unlikely to be universally accurate in describing "people". You should probably recalibrate your understanding of people's behavior, because when you understand what people actually want you're more capable of delivering things which both you and they will benefit from.
I once thought that people hated getting email. I hated getting email. Except from, well, all the people I didn't hate getting email from. I have substantial evidence from clients and other people I find credible that people not only like getting email but will actually respond in predictable and positive fashions to the right email. I also have a stock of anecdotes which bewildered me when they happened, like people emailing me asking why I didn't send them a November BCC newsletter (Me, mentally: "Don't you know its going to be the October one with gsub applied to it?" Her, literally: "I really really really want to hear about Thanksgiving bingo." Me: "Wait, people pay me money for that all the time, how did I not see that sentence coming.")
There are almost certainly people in the world whose preferences are more similar to you, in that they would not like to get emailed by me. That's cool. They should not give me their email address and instead do something they would prefer. Cat videos or something, whatever.
You've misunderstood me. I love getting mail. If you're going to make a list full of useful information sign me up! In fact I'm subscribed to a few lists that I really enjoy reading every month. So I'm not against email.
But don't bait, "force", or use subterfuge to get me to sign up. "first five minutes free!" doesn't do your brand any good.
There is, as you pointed out, a (shady) implied back-door to getting the video without giving him your real email address. You can think of that as a kind of escape valve for the sentiment you're trying to express here.
One caveat I think might apply to using that escape valve: if you're so upset by the idea of trading customer contacts for promised software value that you'd lie about your contact information, you probably won't get much value out of the 45 minutes of your life this video will consume.
Patrick has thus done you a favor by demanding your email address; he's pre-screening you from the video to save you time.
It's funny. I see the clear value in what patrick is doing here. I respect Patrick (and yourself). I just don't like the approach he took. For that it seems I'm being told I'm not welcome.
Perhaps this could be A/B tested.
Saying that once was fine. It was even somewhat helpful, as it gave Patrick an opportunity to clarify his strategy.
Saying it repeatedly simply because Patrick does not agree with you is less fine. I hope it is a little unwelcome.
You made your point. He made his. He's not going to do it your way. I think you should let it go now.
I was also being sincere in my previous comment. This being how you really feel about Patrick trading email addresses for access to a video, I sincerely think you won't get much value from that particular video.
"force"?! "subterfuge"?! What?! He offers you something ("sign up and get a video") and that's subterfuge?!