| LED Digest 2359: Tips on Dealing with Angry Email |
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================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom pair Networks: The LED's Web Host Hosting and Domain Registration from a Trusted Leader pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. March 2, 2007 Issue no. 2359 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ====== NEW ===================== <Moderator Comment> ~ Quick Headlines ==== CONTINUING ================= --== On Rude Emails... ==-- ~ Jon Langley "What also makes us feel better is when we put a hidden meaning behind the words." ~ Amy D. Moore "...it is best to print it out and read it on paper before sending or replying." ~ Nancy Schettler "Then I go and make myself a nice cup of tea!" ~ Dr. Mani Sivasubramanian "Always remember who is on the other side of an email." --== Fabricating Content for SEO ==-- ~ Michael Linehan "...what is the long term effect of engaging in this tactic?" ~ Mary Findley "The second you say 'I can't' you close the door to possibilities." ========== NEW =================================== <Moderator Comment> On Tuesday I mentioned that pair.com wasn't renewing their Key Sponsorship of the list. Well, one door closing opened several others, and by 2:00 pm I had sold the spot for a year. In total I had 18 inquiries about sponsoring the list. I followed up on each of them; most were tire kicking (which is fine), but 2 or 3 were more serious and may turn into on-going relationships. Plus, our Key Sponsor has been gracious enough to not demand an exclusive agreement, so there'll be room for LEDer's ads as usual, too. I'm excited about the new partnership we've formed -- it's a great company with a high quality, useful product, with fantastic people behind it. Stay tuned for Monday's announcement. -------------------- QUICK HEADLINES Just a few quick headlines for you to chew on this Friday. - The Digg Bury Brigade - From Pronet Advertising (these guys are social media maniacs!) comes proof that the Digg "bury brigade" exists: http://www.pronetadvertising.com/articles/the-bury-brigade... It's long been known that a small hub of Digg regulars carry great weight on the site, and have the power to influence how stories are promoted and buried. This article outlines some proof-positives that a select few of obsessive Diggers are burying stories that don't line up with their ideology or personal preferences. Yes, it's true, social media is heavily biased against certain topics, such as anything to do with Microsoft. ;) And don't forget about the recent Wired article about buying votes on Digg! http://www.wired.com/news/technology/internet/0,72832-0.html - Invest in a Quality Domain - This one touches on an area we've recently been discussing (domain name valuation, etc). Aaron Wall has some interesting points to make on the value of domain names, particularly the importance of investing in a professional domain at the beginning. He uses an example of a site he owns with a poor URL (he doesn't say, but I'm guessing it might be http://www.search-marketing.info) as costing him in links and even sponsorship opportunities over the years. Worthwhile read, check it out: http://www.seobook.com/archives/002078.shtml - Click Fraud Stats from Google - No doubt you heard about Google coming out with some real numbers on click fraud today. The bottom line according to their report: 0.02 % of clicks are fraud less than 10% of all clicks are fraudulent This amount of fraudulent activity has been estimated to cost the industry some $1 billion annualy. Ouch, that's a lotta AdSense! Here's the full article: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2007/02/invalid-clicks-googles... Also worth a read is Danny Sullivan's write-up on the issue, right here: http://searchengineland.com/070301-000001.php. (thanks to GJ Berg) - GoDaddy Steals a Domain? - Hmm... this one doesn't sound good. Apparently GoDaddy deleted someone's domain registration for an invalid email (you're required to have a valid email account with your registrar). Basically they sent emails to the invalid email account, obviously not expecting to get a response. Then they took the domain, without trying to contact the owner via telephone or postal mail. Here's the full run down: http://domainnamewire.com/2007/02/27/godaddy-deletes... And GoDaddy responds here: http://domainnamewire.com/2007/02/28/godaddy-responds... Here's an explanation from the latter article cited above: ----------------------- "I just heard from GoDaddy that the cost the new owner paid for the domain was $18.99. This is the price of a backorder, not a regular registration. Perhaps this is how it worked: Person tries e-mailing domain owner with Whois information and e-mail bounces. Person backorders domain and then sends complaint to GoDaddy. GoDaddy tries to contact only via e-mail, which bounces. Domain is cancelled and given to person with backorder." Source: cited above ----------------------- Have a great weekend, Adam ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: Jon Langley Subject: Rude emails > I don't want to treat people badly, but sometimes > email makes it so easy! ... How have you dealt > with this situation before? - Moderator Comment, LED Digest 2358 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1757/55/ We too get a lot of emails that really nark us. Buyers who do not read or do not understand. We find, typing up an email telling them exactly how we feel, what we think of them and what they can do with their "problem" and every thing else, makes us feel better. We re-read it just to make sure that we got our point across, then delete it... It makes us feel better. We then wait an hour or two or three, then after we have calmed down, we try again, but this time, we make sure we don't swear. It is difficult sometimes... What also makes us feel better is when we put a hidden meaning behind the words. But in such a way that "IF" they read the hidden meaning, we can then apologise and say that it wasn't meant to read like that, but how it actually read. And yes, a phone call between 2 parties also means that people realise that there is a human being the other end. If we get rude emails, then we either ring them to make sure that they know we are human, OR, depending on the case, we ignore it and if they come back and say something we can say that we get all our emails. Including the Spam ones, however, we do have a filter that filters out emails that contain any rude words and it may have been possible that they "misspelt" a word that made it a rude word. If they double check their email they sent they can correct the error and resend it... The amount of people that then say, yes... Sorry, the word "duck" was misspelt... and reword the entire email so that it was nothing like the original. (If any LED'ers do not have a qwerty keyboard, the d and f are next door to each other) Jon Langley -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Amy D. Moore Subject: Rude emails Adam, I would love to hear more about why she couldn't unsubscribe. This issue is one that keeps coming up in my work. I recently shut down a subscriber listserve which had grown 400% over the two years I had managed it for the client so that it was full of people who casually subscribed as opposed to vested subscribers. As one of many free services provided through that program (The Vermont Business Materials Exchange - http://vbmx.org) it seems to me that if people have the ability to subscribe and in the process, they have read and agreed to a user agreement, they also have an ethical responsibility to manage their own unsubscription. If they honestly cannot uphold their end of a "thanks for giving me something of value for free", I believe they have a responsibility to politely request assistance from someone else. From your story, I think her cursory approach was the first violation in a communication breakdown. In my case, during that Valentine's Blizzard which must have had everyone on edge as about 1% of the listserve went about publicly blaming one, mistaken, offender, I ended up dropping everything and taking the "urgent but not important" job of switching to a cron delivered daily e-mail and making it my number one priority on top of pacifying a small, rude group by individual e-mails. The angry e-mail thing? I swear it was on I-Sales years ago and that John brought it up, but we read projected light with the right, analytical side of our brain and reflected light with the left feeling side of our brain. Any time you write or receive something reactive on a computer, it is best to print it out and read it on paper before sending or replying. Amy D. Moore http://vbmx.org The Vermont Business Materials Exchange - Waste is a Misplaced Resource <Moderator Comment> Great points, Amy. I couldn't get many details from her about why the unsubscription wasn't working. She only said that she tried to do it "on the Web" and that she was still receiving them... I mentioned that it was impossible to know, but maybe she wasn't using the correct email address? I left it at that to keep things clean, quick and easy, but it did leave me feeling she was a bit "clueless" about the process. One thing I'm really positive about is the steady rise in sophistication from subscribers, though. I get far less of these than I used to. -Adam -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Nancy Schettler Subject: Rude emails It doesn't take very long, if you have a web presence, to become the recipient of a rude e-mail! What do I do? Take a deep breath, and reply, keeping my answer as short as possible. No fluff, no explanations , just simple and short sentences. Though I would *like* to be able to please all people, all the time, I learned long ago that it just isn't possible. So the rude and irate folks, I want out of my life as soon as possible. Then I go and make myself a nice cup of tea! And remember all the *nice* e-mails I've gotten. (I save those, for re-reading on just such a day.) Nancy Schettler Favorite Fabrics www.favoritefabrics.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Dr. Mani Sivasubramanian Subject: Rude emails Adam, kudos on the way you handled it. But then, it's easy when you're a really nice person, anyway :) > How have you dealt with this situation before? Few tips: #1 - Save as draft. When I fire off an angry email reply, instead of sending it, I file it as a draft to look at a few hours later. Often, I then decide to delete it and re-write a nicer note. Rarely, though, I will send the draft 'as is'. #2 - Take quick action. Like you did. Call or email the person back to rectify a wrong. Leaving it until later is never a good solution. #3 - Be frank and honest. You had a bad day. We all do. I've shared personal stuff - how a child we operated that day was not doing well, or how I had little sleep the night before, or how an argument with my sister left me irritable. Often, the other party will empathize and accept your apology. #4 - Always remember who is on the other side of an email. Always. It isn't easy. But when I write any email (including this one), I visualize *you* on the other end of it. And try to say things I would only dare say if we were sitting across a table or standing face to face. (And no, that doesn't always mean I say only nice and polite things - some messages merit and deserve curt, even rude replies, imho) Time and again, when I have responded in a firm (some might say 'rude') manner to an equally 'rude' email, I've had the original sender write back to apologize - using the #3 method above. It works on me - I've found some loyal friends and long term clients from such interactions, too. Interesting topic, looking forward to other experiences. All success Dr.Mani ... the Internet Infopreneur http://internetinfopreneur.com -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Michael Linehan Subject: Generating content > But you know what - this works. It gets links, traffic spikes, > and helps rankings. Until Google refines their algorithm, > brute force backlinking via social sites is the norm. > We ran a collection of articles for the client and generated > several hundred links fairly quickly. Their site saw a boost > in rankings for relevant keywords... - Nathan Holley, LED Digest 2358 Yes. But did they get any more BUSINESS? If not, it is "a tale told by a webguy, full of sound of fury, signifying nothing". (Couldn't resist.) Also - seriously - what is the long term effect of engaging in this tactic? I'm really leary about "traffic spikes", coming from any tactic. Is this how to build a really solid, reputable business? I prefer a long-term plan for ongoing growth and stable success. One client right now is sitting at #1 out of 470,000,000 - yes, million - and yes, it's for a centrally relevant, useful search term. Simple, clean, basic work. I've never gone the "trick du jour" route, and never will. It's the same strategic v tactical choice that existed long before the switch was thrown to bring the Web into being. Michael Linehan, Marketing Alchemy -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Mary Findley Subject: Generating content > Dirk [Johnson], I have to disagree with you. I think > a real-estate agent can find a ton of things to write > about that isn't "fake" content. - Renee Kennedy, LED Digest 2358 Renee I have to agree with you as well. One of the most important articles that can be written for real estate agents is how to clean and prepare your home both for sale and moving out. Asking a professional cleaning expert to write such articles - and I do know someone who would do that :-) hint hint - would be wise since there is so much wrong information floating around about cleaning. Generally as long as that person's name, company name and website is referred to in the article she will be most happy to help. The same is true for sprucing up your lawn, the exterior of your home, garage etc. I grew up in Kansas City and still have family there. An article about getting around town would be worth it's weight in gold. How to get where you need to go and miss the road construction, pot holes etc. Do a thorough search on schools or talk to someone in the school districts. An article on what cirriculums the school districts offer and the more highly rated schools would be a blessing to parents. My grandparents had a farm when I was growing up. When granddad took me down to innoculate the cows - I was 9 at the time - he handed me a syringe and told me innoculate the next cow. I looked up at him and said "Granddad I can't do that." He replied "Can't died in the cornfield" and walked away. Those were the most important words anyone has ever spoken to me. The second you say "I can't" you close the door to possibilities. Mary Findley, Nationally respected cleaning expert Owner: Mary Moppins http://www.goclean.com Coauthor: "The Complete Idiots Guide to Cleaning" http://www.goclean.com/bookclean.htm ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by pair Networks: pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains The Archives: http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/126/120/ Subscribe: http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/52/77/ Unsubscribe, Change Email, or Hold / Resume Delivery: http://www.led-digest.com/content/category/4/17/86/ (c) Copyright 1995-2007 Orange Wheel, LLC. 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