Is late night emailing now rude due to nightstand smartphones bleating?

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Is late night emailing now rude due to nightstand smartphones bleating?

Johann Jells
Rental Property Investor · Jersey City, NJ · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 876 votes

I was just about to hit send on a group email announcing an open house when I remembered my wife commenting that people now sleep with their smartphones on the bedstand and an late email alert is like a late night call, rude. Is this true, or am I an ignorant old luddite and most people are clever enough mute their email alert at night? Given that most people couldn't set their VCR clock back in the day, I'm hesitant to make assumptions. The no landline, hyperconnected trend is changing many patterns, and it's hard to keep up.  

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John D.
Rental Property Investor · La Quinta, CA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 779 votes
12y
I have a great plugin called boomerang, that's let's me schedule an email I'm writing now to be sent later. I don't like sending emails at 2am for certain purposes because they get buried behind 8 hours of spam until seine checks their email. Also some people ask me why I'm up at 4am lol. Better just to queue until 9 am or so the next morning.
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  • Jeff Blanchard
    App Designer · Chicago, IL · Member since 2013 · 124 posts · 31 votes
    12y

    No. This is why phones have options including: silent, airplane or off.

    1Reply
  • Josh C.Pro Member
    Property Manager · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2010 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    I agree with you that lots of people are less than tech savvy, won't know how to do that. However, they are the same people that get tons of spam email so their phone is going off all night long anyway. I send them late all the time. 

    0Reply
  • James Wise
    Real Estate Broker · Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH · Member since 2013 · 30k+ posts · 20k+ votes
    12y

    Nothing rude about late night emails.

    0Reply
  • Tim L.
    Realtor · Palm Beach Gardens, FL · Member since 2014 · 99 posts · 36 votes
    12y
    One of the best things I've done in the last few months was turning off the notifications for emails. Now I check email on my own time. So much simpler. I know that doesn't answer your question, but this thread reminded me of that.
    3Reply
  • John D.
    Rental Property Investor · La Quinta, CA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 779 votes
    12y
    I have a great plugin called boomerang, that's let's me schedule an email I'm writing now to be sent later. I don't like sending emails at 2am for certain purposes because they get buried behind 8 hours of spam until seine checks their email. Also some people ask me why I'm up at 4am lol. Better just to queue until 9 am or so the next morning.
    7Reply
  • Kenndy Mendoza
    Residential Real Estate Agent · Pompano Beach, FL · Member since 2013 · 31 posts · 11 votes
    12y
    Originally posted by @Johann Jells:

    I was just about to hit send on a group email announcing an open house when I remembered my wife commenting that people now sleep with their smartphones on the bedstand and an late email alert is like a late night call, rude. Is this true, or am I an ignorant old luddite and most people are clever enough mute their email alert at night? Given that most people couldn't set their VCR clock back in the day, I'm hesitant to make assumptions. The no landline, hyperconnected trend is changing many patterns, and it's hard to keep up.  

     @Johann Jells

    I think everybody is different. Just used email campaigns, such as mailchimp, constant contact, etc., and set up a time for early morning. I personally schedule announcements to be send at 7:30am or 5:30pm depending of the campaign. Also, people wakes up in the middle of the night to check phones (I'm guilty of that!). Plan in advance, and prioritize your campaigns. This will keep you organized. 

    1Reply
  • Richard C.
    Bedford, NH · Member since 2012 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    Schedule your emails.  You can write them whenever you like, and have them delivered at a particular time.  Aside from the issue you mentioned, many of us receive many, many emails over night.  There is a far, far better chance that I will read your email if it arrives during the day.  When I check my email for the first time in the morning, I highlight and delete anything that is not obviously non-spam.

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  • Account Closed
    Investor · Central Valley, CA · Member since 2012 · 6k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    12y

    I'm probably more Luddite than you. I don't know about where you are, but in my world there are A LOT of Boomers sleeping with the phone on near the bed in case their teenage/young adult children have a need. Or something comes up with their elderly parents.  

    That being said, email is not the same calling or texting.  Email is not typically emergency communication. I never worry about sending emails at late hours.  I don't get email alerts on my phone either.  I check my email when I want to.  Anyone who keeps their email notifications on at night is risking endless disruptions.  Even with the best spam controls, some will get through.  That's really not your problem.  :)

    .  

    2Reply
  • Lisa Wright
    New York City, NY · Member since 2013 · 105 posts · 16 votes
    12y

    That's a really interesting point. I guess to some people it really could be an inconvenience, but as many PP said it isn't exactly difficult to put your phone on silent during the night. This definitely has me rethinking my own late night business emails.

    0Reply
  • Johann Jells
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Jersey City, NJ · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 876 votes
    12y

    Thanks all. Sometimes you overthink this stuff.  But you never know what will bite you. Boy, I just got my butt kicked just trying to send a group Bcc open house announcement to my craigslist ad responders using Window Live Mail or online Outlook. Copying and pasting the addresses did not work! There seems to be no way to do it without making all of them contacts, which is ridiculous.

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  • George P.
    Property Manager · Livonia, MI · Member since 2011 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    i would be annoyed by a late night email and yes, i do NOT know how to turn off the notification. i used to build my own computers and can repair houses, but the last thing i think about (until it goes off) is that darn notification buzz next to my head at night.

    0Reply
  • Brie SchmidtBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Chicago, IL · Member since 2013 · 6k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    12y

    I think it is rude personally.  I keep my phone on all night because I manage my own properties and need to be accessible in case of emergency.  If we were engaged in an active conversation and you replied late at night fine.  But if you are marketing or selling something I do find it rude to email after 8pm

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  • Johann Jells
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Jersey City, NJ · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 876 votes
    12y

    So Brie & George come down on the other side from most of you. 8pm seems bit early, but your point is taken supporting what I was worried about. The migration of email from the desktop to the phone has made a mess of things.

    0Reply
  • Jeremy T.
    Investor · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2014 · 266 posts · 240 votes
    12y

    I'm certainly not going to have the motivation to pen a somewhat manic and ill-conceived (aka. potentially brilliant) idea in the middle of the afternoon.

    My best writing happens after dark, but maybe that has something to do with having two craz...errrr...wonderful children under the age of 4.

    0Reply
  • Johann Jells
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Jersey City, NJ · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 876 votes
    12y
    Originally posted by @Kenndy Mendoza:

    I think everybody is different. Just used email campaigns, such as mailchimp, constant contact, etc., and set up a time for early morning. I personally schedule announcements to be send at 7:30am or 5:30pm depending of the campaign. Also, people wakes up in the middle of the night to check phones (I'm guilty of that!). Plan in advance, and prioritize your campaigns. This will keep you organized. 

     I cannot find any way to do as you suggest in Windows Live Mail or the online Outlook, the best I can do is go offline till morning, but I don't want to do that!  Do I need a more sophisticated mail client? 

    0Reply
  • Andrew Cordle
    Real Estate Consultant · Alpharetta, GA · Member since 2014 · 661 posts · 400 votes
    12y

    Hey it is good to see a fellow investor in Chicago... It used to be said that the best email marketing is launched before 6am in the morning.... However now that everyone uses that method sometimes it is best to email right after midnight so that it shows up as an email that is unread from today... 

    If you email right after midnight you may find yourself at the top of the list for the next day to the intended reader!

    So my answer is "no" it is not rude it is savvy!

    0Reply
  • Shaun Reilly
    Landlord and Rehabber · Newton, MA · Member since 2010 · 2k+ posts · 877 votes
    12y

    You know when is always an inconvenient time for me to get phone calls?  1:30PM is always a tough time yet people call me around then all the time.  While conversely I am almost always up at 1:30AM and could generally take a break from whatever I'm working on then, yet nobody has the courtesy to call then...

    Seriously though If you can't/won't turn off the alert or pick one that isn't so loud and obnoxious that you can't sleep through it then turn off your phone.  If you won't turn off your phone because you WANT people to be able to contact you at all hours of the night then that is the choice you are making.

    0Reply
  • Chris Adams
    Contractor · Valparaiso , IN · Member since 2013 · 604 posts · 327 votes
    12y

    If its not really important I wouldn't send out a group email late at night. Personally I shut my ringer off at night, or anytime I want to get work done.

    0Reply
  • Brie SchmidtBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Chicago, IL · Member since 2013 · 6k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    12y

    If you are an actual client of mine or I am an actual client of yours and we are currently doing business together then I understand late night emails.  If you are marketing or selling me something and do it I will just unsubscribe.  I see it as not being respectful of my time.  Just like people put my email on a distro list because it is public on BP without speaking to me first I immediately unsubscribe and add them to my contacts as a company I will not want to do business with.  Maybe I am a brat... 

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    WebsiteView Page
    1Reply
  • Walt Payne
    Real Estate Investor · Sebastian, FL · Member since 2014 · 812 posts · 432 votes
    12y

    I mute email notifications and in fact tell people that email is the communication of choice for "Important but not urgent" topics late at night. I do keep my phone nearby because I have two very young adult children (18 and 20) and a mother with Parkinson's. Texting me at that time will annoy me if not urgent. Calling with a non-urgent topic will get you quite an earful. But emails .... type away.

    0Reply
  • Sam Craven
    Houston, TX · Member since 2011 · 673 posts · 360 votes
    12y

    I dont care when the emails come in, if they are important to me then I will handle them in an appropriate time.

    We test sending wholesale properties out at different times and different days.  Late night/early morning emails dont convert any different than mid day / morning ones.

    0Reply
  • Ann Bellamy
    Lender · Tyngsboro, MA · Member since 2009 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    12y

    The whole point of email is that you can send it whenever you want without interrupting the other person. And read it - or not - whenever you want. 

    A phone ringing at night is intrusive.  An email, not at all.  If someone chooses to leave their phone by their bed without learning how to turn email alerts off, well then it must be ok with them to hear email alerts all night, because most spam is sent at night.  

    You can never please everyone, so don't try.  Just go with the norm.  And in this case, I think, as do most, apparently, that it's fine.  

    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    Investor · Central Valley, CA · Member since 2012 · 6k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    12y

    I'm wondering if there is a generational difference on this. Or varying work experience with changing technologies.  I'm of the mindset that my phone and my email are not the same thing.  Even though I can use my iPhone to check my email, my phone is a phone that accepts calls and texts.  Phone calls and texts are for people I know, people I'm doing business with and emergencies.  My email goes to a mailbox. That mailbox doesn't bother me or call attention to itself unless I let it.  

    Lots of agents write offers and send them via email to me late at night. If I'm up I might see it, if not I'll see it in the morning.  It's like an inbox at the office.  Now if those same agents called or texted me in the middle of the night I'd think there was an emergency, and if there wasn't I would think they were clueless. Or drunk.

    0Reply
  • David J.
    Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2009 · 210 posts · 261 votes
    12y

    In my line of work we set our emails to go out at 2am so people think we are diligently at our desks plowing through contracts and important client files.  Anything after 2am and they will think you are too tired, and anything before 10pm is slacker territory. 

    With that said,  it is crazy to me that people that choose to get emails on their phones have a problem with emails that come in at night.  Anyone sending them assumes you won't read it until the next moring, so turn your phone off and get some sleep.... Or don't.  Thats why the silent option was made.

    1Reply
  • Shaun Reilly
    Landlord and Rehabber · Newton, MA · Member since 2010 · 2k+ posts · 877 votes
    12y
    Originally posted by @Brie Schmidt:

    If you are an actual client of mine or I am an actual client of yours and we are currently doing business together then I understand late night emails.  If you are marketing or selling me something and do it I will just unsubscribe.  I see it as not being respectful of my time.  Just like people put my email on a distro list because it is public on BP without speaking to me first I immediately unsubscribe and add them to my contacts as a company I will not want to do business with.  Maybe I am a brat... 

    Very interesting to see different point of views.

    Obviously my first post was a bit tongue in cheek, but in reality someone calling me in the middle of the afternoon if it is not some true emergency or scheduled it is a lack of respect of my time.  And in fact in my mind if it is NOT something that is all that important I'd rather get the email at 3AM then at 3PM since it won't interupt me while I'm doing stuff.  Honestly I wish more people would send emails in off hours to keep me from being tempted to check stuff as it comes in during the day.

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