Last time we talked about how much "free" outreach costs you. Today we explore the realms of new business etiquette.

Call me maybe

Remember when there were no phones, and people used leg power to walk to you and banged at your door with a question, an invitation, or for a quick chat?

You probably do not remember that because, at your time, telephones were already widely used, and coming to someone's home without an invitation or a proper notice was considered intrusive. Why didn't you call first?

Today, calling someone is already annoying and rude; using messengers is a better idea, even for relatively urgent matters. Messengers allow your vis-a-vis to answer you if and when they have will and time. This asymmetry makes communication more smooth. You do not demand attention right away and show that you care about personal space and convenience on the other side.

Emails always come twice

New communication technologies drive the immediate change in what is appropriate in business etiquette and what is an annoying misstep.

More and more people value their time and privacy and prefer to be contacted on their terms and convenience. Phone numbers were once at everyone's disposal in phone books, but now a phone number is private information, and email addresses are quickly becoming one.

This is a result of abusive email campaigns when strangers write thousands of emails with endless follow-ups. The open and reply rates for such campaigns are dropping year by year.

What's wrong with emailing strangers with your ideas?

It isn't polite to email whoever you want with anything that comes to your mind. The relevancy of your message is a sign of respect to the recipient. But how can you know if your email is relevant? Here comes the point of this article: you can not. You can not and shouldn't decide for a different person that your message for them is valuable and wanted. Only they can do it, either with a specific request or by general preferences.

How can we do better?

Understanding these new dynamics in communication technologies, we are building a platform with ultimate respect to both sides of communication between people who do not know each other yet. House of Pitch allows you to connect pleasantly and enjoyably. We give recipients a lot of control over what comes their way. They can cut off unwanted subjects or categories with restrictive tags and keep what they like in their feed with allowing tags. To pitchers, we give certainty of a clear Yes or No answer to every pitch.

Principles of business etiquette change fast, and we catch the drift and help you build strong relationships, establish trust, and create a positive and productive work environment.