I was on vacation for a couple of weeks, and during that time, I didn't hear from one of my friends at all. She didn't want to know if I'd arrived safely, what I was doing, or anything else. Just radio silence from her. On the other hand, another acquaintance texted me several times, wanting to know how my flight was, what I was doing, was I having any fun, and so forth. And yet another friend sent me just two messages, both because she saw something that related to me and wanted to let me know.

In other words, I got too little from one friend, too much from another, and just the right amount from the third.  I felt like I finally understood how Goldilocks felt when she broke in to the bears' house. She just wanted something that felt right.

<strong>Too cold!</strong>

When the porridge goes cold, you ignore it. It's not really edible anymore.

And when you don't send enough email to your contact list, you risk being forgotten or making your contacts think you are not in business any more.

<strong>Too hot!</strong>

On the other hand, if the porridge is too hot, you can't eat it because you risk being burned.

When you send too much email, you are overwhelming your contacts and risk alienating them. If you send too much email, your contacts don't know what is valuable. Also, too much email is annoying.

<strong>Just right!</strong>

When the porridge is at the ideal temperature, you can eat and even enjoy it.

When you send email that is valuable to your contacts, in a timely and moderate fashion, you are doing them a service. They will appreciate hearing from you.