Last summer I retired my voicemail. Voicemail is an antiquated communication mechanism and does not lend itself toward automation or speedy responses. Recently, I’ve noticed an uptick in the number of calls I get from phone numbers that I don’t recognize. About 90% of the time, when I answer these calls, they are solicitations of one kind or another. I’m tired of them. I don’t mind saying “no” to these solicitations, but it does grate on me when they don’t take no for an answer.

So, going forward, I’m not answering calls from numbers that I don’t recognize. That means that going forward, the best way to contact me, especially if I don’t know, is though email. The email address to use is:

jamie [at] jamietoddrubin [dot] com

In order to encourage this as my preferred form of contact, I am going to attempt to answer most messages within 24 hours.  To keep me honest, I’m making my real-time email response stats available for folks to look at¹  As of July, those numbers look as follows:

You can see that right now, I answer about 30% of my email within 24 hours. Over the next month or two, I will try to bring this up above 75-80%.

When in doubt, send me an email. It is always the best bet for the quickest response.

Social media

I’m usually pretty responsive on social media, almost always responding within the same day, although the time within the day can vary depending on how busy I am. Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter, Facebook, or Google Plus for things that don’t require a private email message.

Blog comments

I really try to stay on top of blog comments, but I also like the thread to stay on topic. For things that aren’t related to the post at hand, you are better off sending me email, or getting in touch with me on social media.

Chats, Hangouts, Skype, etc.

I’m perfectly fine doing Google Chats, Facebook Chats, Google Hangouts or Skype, but again, these depend on my ability to be fully engaged. If the question or request is fairly simple, email is almost always your best bet.

Of course, if your number is in my contacts, or we’ve pre-arranged a phone call, we’re good. I’m just drawing the line on unrecognized numbers because they turn out to be a steady drain on my very limited time.

Have questions? Drop them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them.