MaineBusiness.com

More Votes Are In: Maybe I'm Not a Jerk After All

As many of you may know from reading my recent post, "The Votes Are In...I'm a Jerk!" I sent an email to my Maine contacts that wasn't universally loved.

The email started with the subject line, "You Won't Be Hearing from Me Again!" and continued in that sarcastic tone that is my way of talking. The purpose of the email was to promote our upcoming Working Lunch Seminars and getting people to subscribe our a new mailing list, flyte's Web Marketing Alerts, so I wouldn't have to bother everyone with these marketing emails.

I thought it was clever and different enough to cut through the clutter. However, two people complained, one contractor thought she was fired, and one prospect thought I was angry she was taking too long making a buying decision.

Oops.

So, I sent out a follow up email with the subject line, "I'm Sorry." Within just a few minutes I had dozens of responses, and within a day over 100 people had responded out of the 540 I sent it to.

(Please note that all of these people are friends, business contacts, or people who have filled out the contact form on our site agreeing to our privacy policy that we'll "gently" market to them.)

The majority of people, it turns out, got the joke and were sympathetic. Others thanked me for the mea culpa email. Others were relieved that I wasn't sick/hurt/fired/suicidal. A few referenced Joe Biden or the Turner Broadcasting snafu in Boston.

In the end dozens signed up for our new email mailing list and we sold 7 or 8 seats to upcoming Working Lunch Seminars at $50 a pop.

So, did I learn anything?

• A few negative responses DOESN'T mean your marketing campaign is a failure. In fact, it's probably a sign that people notice it.
• Being clever and being clear aren't the same thing. I should have been clearer in my message so that no one thought they were fired and people knew what to do.
• A mistake is only bad if you can't learn from it.
• Apologies are so few and far between, they may be a great way to cut through the clutter. (However, don't abuse this tactic.)

If you'd like to see all the responses I received from my second email I've posted them here.

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