Unhide your unsubscribe option.

It never fails and happens each time I get a little bit excited. 

I read a lot, I am all over the web and occasionally I come across great content. Since I'm a marketing guy I accept the quid-pro-quo - in exchange for my email I get the content - and there lies the "black ice of marketing" which causes so many marketers to crash and burn. 

Here's the thing: I want your stuff and I gave you my email and permission to email me in the future, I'm cool with that. But what I'm not cool with is a daily barrage of offers and cleverly disguised more 'stuff'. There are no rules about how many emails per week or month are going to push me over the edge - use common sense, no selling sense. A couple, that two, emails a month are perfectly fine with me as long as they are relevant and represent quality content - I want to learn, impress me, surprise me, educate me. 

Daily every-other-day emails are obnoxious, pushy and definitely a turnoff. Sadly, 8/10 businesses commit the you're-pushing-my-buttons now sin. But guess what? I'm still cool with that as long as I can easily opt-out (oh, and did I mention that is it legally required?)

I don't want to scroll through endless tiny 4 pt font size print in order to find the elusive "unsubscribe" hyperlink. Now you're making it personal and I'm saying goodbye forever. What a missed opportunity!

It is abundantly clear that there are way too many amateurs out there who still practice 18th Century sales tactics; "if they can't find the unsubscribe we can keep on selling and hey, you never know right? One of these days it is going to work." No, it won't. 

The missed opportunity is missing the point that as consumers we have an arsenal of weapons to combat these types of intrusions - simple options like mark as SPAM, BLOCK, or creating a quick filter to send your email right to trash. 

You may have had me at "hello" but the goodbye is permanent. 

Make the unsubscribe noticeable - billboard size. You'll have the opportunity to ask for forgiveness or "why are you leaving me?" which is cool. Maybe I'll change my mind if you convince me to stay, but give me the option to get there because once I'm gone, in the words of Kevin from Shar Tank, "you're dead to me."

P.S. Unsubscribe doesn't take six weeks either. We just sent a Tesla to space, that's way more challenging than taking me off your list. Thanks.