Seth Godin wrote the book on permission marketing — the privilege (not the right) of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who actually want to get them. You know, like a mailing list. Marketers have turned this on its head with a new kind of marketing: harassment marketing. Those are marketing messages that…
When I pitch myself for a freelance writing or editing job, I almost always win. Why? Because I am selective about the gigs I pursue, have sterling qualifications, and typically come recommended by someone the potential client trusts. But I just lost out on a job — a big one that I really wanted. I…
I’m on hold right now waiting for a customer service rep — to investigate a serious problem that I neither caused nor asked for. I’d give up, except that resolving this is crucial to my future. And it’s hell. If the experience of calling your call center is a hellscape, your customer experience is terrible….
In January of 2020, nearly two years ago, I got an email from an executive at a large streaming entertainment company. Would I consider conducting a business writing workshop for the company? Sure, I said. He asked for details and references. I sent the prospect — let’s call him Oliver — my one-page writeup for…
Marketing has such a poor reputation that it now has to pretend to be customer service. And it makes me hopping mad. For example . . . The reason is simple. We all want to open customer service messages from our current providers. We are far more likely to ignore marketing messages. The marketers at…
One afternoon a couple years ago I was sitting peacefully in my den reading when I heard a loud buzzing sound. It got louder and softer, but never went away, and I’d never heard that particular sound in my house before. Like any other homeowner, I carefully looked around my house to determine if some…
I was thinking about why I trust one particular doctor more than others. It comes down to two things: expertise and empathy. Neither, by itself, is sufficient. The doctor is Caroline Levine. She is a specialist who I visit at least twice a year, and who is protecting my health from serious jeopardy. She has…
I was astounded to read a Twitter thread from a go-getter named John Plumstead, who harassed 58,408 people to get one or two deals. He can do this because there is no cost to harassing people. Let’s change that. Plumstead’s business is finding property owners in financial distress and buying their properties for less than…
In his latest cartoon, Tom Fishburne of Marketoonist expertly skewered those “brand promise” statements you often read (and retch at). He’s completely right that corporate values and “reasons to believe” are filled with cliches and buzzwords. But why? Why is so hard for brands to differentiate? Having helped several companies write these sorts of statements,…