So very true! The kid blasting out marketing emails today may be the head of marketing for a company you'd like to work with 10 years from now.

The impact of making a positive difference in another person's life is worth more than money. Unfortunately, I've found that many best practices are ignored when only the human aspect is discussed. Many people like to think in terms of quantifiable numbers and cause-and-effect timelines.

Perhaps between the people doing things for selfless reasons and those doing them for selfish reasons, we'll get a large group of people all doing the right thing?

We can hope. I plan on hoping for quite some time yet.

I really appreciate you stopping by and sharing that story. Great example of how powerful a kind voice can be in the life of another. Thanks!

“hasn't he heard of spell-check, or the power of reaching out to someone on a more personal and professional level?”

That's what I call straightforward smart thinking! =)

I don't think–depending on the type of email and promotion involved–that it would be entirely a waste of time to respond to the email. It's all a matter of perspective and what you hope to get out of interactions with people, I suppose.

Your $.02 are welcome and appreciated. Thanks!

I'm with you on “the real problem” which is why I find it interesting to pursue such emails up the chain of command whenever I have time. The intended message is often far different from the one you put in quotation marks and those with a vested interest in an endeavor are often good about thoughtful insight.

When time isn't available, I typically use the “delete” option.

There was that time when I used the “this is NOT how you win friends and influence people” line…and it got a response. I regret not taking a more proactive approach to that situation.

Thanks Ed!

Many years ago, I got access to a very large, responsive database of prospects related to the niche I was in. Unknowingly, at the time, I thought 'personalization' merely meant mail-merging names into a template!

Fortunately (in retrospect), the person who gave me access to the database had seeded it with email addresses, and spotted my mistake. Instead of ranting or deleting, he emailed me a nice note pointing out my error, and suggesting an alternative.

That man and I are now great friends. It helps that he is one of the best known Internet marketers around. And an expert at what he does and teaches. I learned a valuable lesson that has stood me in great stead since then.

You NEVER know who may be listening, or why they did what they did.

It's EASY to assume the worst – but any number of things (ignorance, desperation, laziness etc) may have caused them to behave in a 'wrong' way.

By pointing it out, politely and with compassion, and a desire to educate and help them change their ways, you may make an indelible impact on what they do in the future. And that's just as impactful a result as getting more business out of the transaction

Oh, by the way, the person who taught me that lesson was Mark Joyner, the 'Godfather of Internet marketing'

All success
Dr.Mani

Really though. Impressed with your response time and some great points. Now to get the people sending the emails to give the points a view and see what sort of mileage they get from them!

It is too bad that the guy who wrote the letter has a learning disability. I am slightly dyslexic myself, so I can sympathize with his spelling difficulties. But still, hasn't he heard of spell-check, or the power of reaching out to someone on a more personal and professional level?

Even at my low level of engagement on the internet, I get spam, much of which is actually better written than this letter. I wouldn't waste my time replying to something like this, so why should Chris Brogan, who undoubtedly gets umpteen of these 'requests' per day? However, instead of simply ignoring it and deleting it as I would have, Brogan decided to use it as an example to the rest of us. I, for one, am grateful.

Just my two cents….

It wasn't meant as an attack so I'm glad you chose not to view it as such.

Chris's response was lightning-fast. If there were such a thing as social media boxing, I'm sure he'd do very well. =) He lists the link to his follow-up post below. check it out for some great pointers on writing promo copy. Might be interesting to save the link and forward it the authors of those annoying emails?

Although chatting with Chris on Twitter since, and reading his reply here, I can see why he chose his post approach as well.

Reality:
If someone is willing to buy a list and spam on the fly with a
half-assed blast, they are very unlikely to heed wise counsel.

Sure, everyone needs a job on the way up,
and one action may not define the person.
But people who want to operate with integrity and vision are usually
lucid, quality individuals who will not put their name on garbage.

The real problem:
That unsolicited email (with or without typos),
screams “We're willing to interrupt you out of nowhere for
OUR benefit. What's best for you couldn't mean less!!”

Connecting with customers through social media isn't going to be very useful if your company is struggling to communicate within its own ranks. Giving front line employees the ability to connect with customers in real time doesn't do much if those employees can't connect with managers on the same sort of timeline, yes?

Lots of learning points to be found here, I'm afraid.