How NOT To Influence Me

July 13, 2009 · Comments

empty seats

One UPDATE: I got an email from the author. He has a disability that is similar to dyslexia, so I’ll give him a pass for that part. I’m still not cheery with the cold call nature, but the typing is his thing. Sorry, author.

Wow, I got the most personalized email today from a marketer:


Hey. Were sending out incase influencer packages for our client, SoBe Lifewater. Tge packages are going to interesting people from the world of film, music, sports and digital. If you have any interest feel free to check out the link that shows past campaigns or just an email me an address and I’ll get it out to you. All the best. [link removed]

Let’s see. No personalization. Poor formatting. Misspellings. Typos.

Yeah. I can’t wait to become an influencer.

Photo credit takk

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader.

Tagged as: ,

ChrisBrogan.com runs on the Thesis Theme for WordPress

Thesis WordPress theme

Thesis is the search engine optimized WordPress theme of choice for serious online publishers. If you’re a blogger who doesn’t understand a lot of PHP, Thesis will give a ton of functionality without having to alter any code. For the advanced, Thesis has incredible customization possibilities via Thesis hooks.

With so many design options, you can use the template over and over and never have it look like the same site. The theme is robust and flexible enough not only to accommodate a site like ChrisBrogan.com, but also to enable the site to run far more efficiently than it ever has before.

  • operabladerunnr
    By not doing something well, you are doing the opposite of your intent. New medium, old problem.
  • It sounds to me, like they had quite an influence on you, and you are being an influencer regarding their product right now...

    I wonder how much negative influence costs?
  • I can haz influence :)
  • Ok that was bad. Even my 7 year old son knows how to butter up better than that ;-)
  • mansitrivedi
    Wow. This is absolutely terrible. Poor punctuation!
  • Ed
    "Oh hay! And if you wear a SoBe Tshirt to our booth at CluelessMarketingExpo,
    I may even take one iPod ear bud out while you speak to with me"
  • fabulousphotogifts
    It could be really clever negative advertising - you know where it's so bad you can't help but click a link or share it with everybody and their curiosity gets the better of them and they click to the site / product etc......

    ... nah!

    But it did have one use - a reminder of how not to do it in the real world.

    But you keep doing what you're doing Chris.

    Jonathan.
  • It's so interesting. Just because you're "doing" social media is no excuse for not being able to communicate or have the basic writing skills.
  • Chris, I love when you get all salty at poor attempts by marketers. Do you have a top 5 or 10 "Lame Marketing Attempts" post? It would be great to see you chastise them all at once :D
  • Dear Marketer,

    You suck.

    Regards,
    The Influencer
  • That pitch had me at "Hey".

    Personalization is always key - relevancy and easy to click access to additional information are also essential.

    So many folks pitching "Influencers" now-a-days - and yet they forgot the simple tact of being human & composing a message that entices, engages and has value and interest for the bloggers' community. Let alone - spelling, grammar and creativity of their outreach.

    Ahh - yes, Power and Perils of the blogosphere. Sure, bloggers and social media
    'Influencers' may hold help stir a conversation, bring attention to a cause, new service, product or brand - but be careful what you ask for. As Uncle Ben said, "With great power comes great responsibility."

    Weave and wield your pitch well - for you may just awaken the wraith of the Influencer you stirred with your blunt ignorant pitch stick.
  • I wonder why people even bother sending out crap like that. It makes me feel embarrassed for them.
  • WOW! This is really a bad one....Btw, can you share the email subject line of this email?
  • blogtillyoudrop
    Nice! The other problem is that they're also expecting an email back from you! When emailing bloggers I personally think it's better to send all the info upfront followed by 'do not hesitate to contact me should you have any queries'

    When will they learn?
  • jerry
    This piece from Chris' company website - management page
    Colin is the VP of Sale and Marketng of New Marketing Labs, helping new clients to board and raising the flag for this great pirate ship of an adventure.

    We all make errors as we rush to get pieces out. Some poor intern has probably been canned due to your hissy fit. Glass houses - stones - time to stand up and apologize Chris.
  • It's hilarious how every negative comment is anonymous or faux-named.

    I'm not apologizing for shit. Call my out like you did. That's always fair.
  • I thought I was on the Bad Pitch Blog for a second....
  • Wow you're not kidding! I can't stand that and glad to see I'm not the only one. Back in December whilst Christmas shopping (online of course) I was so happy to see that the company Freitag had an EXCELLENT example of how to actually speak to their consumers. Take a look if you like.

    http://mortmort.com/2008/12/09/freitag-now-that...
  • Well, he could have someone else proofread his email before he sent it (which is a good idea even if you're not dyslexic).
  • You should've written him back and told him you'd like one of the film influencer packages. :-)
  • tristan
    I'm not trying to sound cold, but if the author has a problem typing then shouldn't s/he have their work checked prior to being sent? There is a perfectly good reason for that spelling error but without knowing the author has a condition then the response from most people will be similar to yours.
  • Is this the person who publishes Social Media Douchebag?

    You Stay Classy Spam Marketers!
  • melissaruth
    Seems to me Chris that whether or not he has personal issues, it's still bad business to send an email like that. If one has issues, one must have their emails double checked first before sending. Just my 2 cents
  • In your email newsletter that came out today, one of the things you mention is:

    "Replace the phrase "who's fault is this" with "how can we get this back to normal?" Spending time on blame is wasteful. You get BACK tons of time just from this."

    Wouldn't a better option here in this post have been:

    "So I received this email today from a marketing company and this is what it said. Now, instead of this approach (which might work on some), they could have gone about it this way."

    It's not wasting time with blame; it's offering constructive criticism and improvement. Different approach, different result, perhaps?
  • Touche. Thanks, Danny. I'll make that tomorrow's post in penance.
  • No "touche" implied, fella - just a suggestion :)
  • levimontgomery
    Don't be too eager to give the guy a pass for "a disability similar to dyslexia." Any decent writing program out there, from the freebies to the woolly mammoth of MS Office, would have fixed him right up. If all else fails, use Firefox, and get real-time spell checking in just about anything that takes keyboard input, including comment boxes, email programs, etc.

    The bottom line is that this individual isn't representing some no-name tap-water-in-a-bottle account, and he owes it to his account, to himself, to you, and to whoever is paying him to wake up and smell the poo-poo.

    (Failing all of the above, he could seek help. I'd edit his email for him for a buck. And I'll take PayPal.)
  • I generally ditch something like this; I'm pressing delete before I've even finished reading the missive.

    So, this is an example of what not to do. What do you suggest one does in order to have the same desired outcome but actually succeed?
  • While a writing disability can excuse why it was writ as it was, with spelling mistakes and grammatical nightmares, it's no excuse for having pressed the 'send' button.

    If you know that typing is not your strong suit, but you're acting on behalf of a client or a corporation, then you get someone to take a second look at it before you ever send it out the door.
  • Chris

    While I can understand the disability and am sensitive to that, I would think that depending upon which format he was using, that the word "the"would autocorrect in most cases.

    I just cannot believe that SoBe Lifewater would want this to be associated them. If SoBe is his client he would have to have typos of this nature in all his emails to them so they would know that this is something that they could check prior to be sent out.

    With technology today and spell check, I am having a hard time putting aside the typos.

    Suzanne Vara
    @Lvadgal
  • Hey, I'm an influencer, why didn't I get that email!! LOL Kidding!!
  • greeblemonkey
    My fave are pitches for baby stuff when my son is nearly 7 old. I mean sure, I can understand the people who try to get me to promote candy not knowing I am diabetic or promote tanning products not knowing my real life company does skin cancer prevention... That stuff is buried pretty deep on my blog. But I clearly share my don's age on my about page as well as my real name SO ENOUGH WITH THE BABY WIPES, OK???
  • Genuine interest in anyone as a potential influencer merits a phone call minimally ....better still an in house demo and face to face offer.
    This email is intense with what's in it for them.
    There was a phone call made to apologize. So there was time to call with the original offer. Thanks for giving a tangible example of what not to do.
    (ps. Having worked with students with spelling needs for 8 years, nothing pleased them more than working with an editor. It's how they learned and they wanted to spell well).
    I do not get why there wasn't an editing effort and / or an offer to show who else such a promo was being sent to.
    And Ed's comment below has me laughing outloud.
  • If I ever used my ADHD as an excuse for handing in (and more importantly sending) work like that, I hope my boss fires me. If your author was that quick to send his response regarding his LD, then he was clearly aware of it before he hit the send button on the original email. I'd also bet he took his sweet time making sure his response to you was spot on.

    I give him less of a pass for the LD then I do the content...
  • He just needs an editor.
  • Windy
    Today, (I think), people become less and less to think by their mind. They judge thing by FEELING. So, there so many marketing, adv, package surrounding the real value (or surrounding something which DO NOT has value).
    It a good news to many people, ie, marketers, bands, and people in Wall streets.
  • Even if a person has a disability, there are tools, like a spell checker, to help. You can also have someone review it for you.
  • Great article!
  • BartCas
    Chris – no question, not our finest performance. Messaging went out without passing through proper filters, which is not an excuse, just the facts. We know better, so expect better from us moving forward.

    Look forward to seeing you again soon.

    BC
  • Hey there Bart,

    Nice of you to stop by and offer your take - many others would have just stayed away. Agreed, not great start to begin with but at least it looks like you're listening - nice job.
  • BartCas
    Danny -- only taking credit for good work isn't my style. Appreciate your thoughts and words of encouragement.

    Bart
  • Chris, I am truly appreciative and a bit in awe of how your efforts to provide helpful advice to make the social community better and pave the way for individuals and businesses joining the conversation. Coming to L.A. soon? Thanks again!
  • Kris

    Pleese fergive my encompetence ;-)
  • If only there was some sort of program that could assist in point out typos. Help me out here.
  • Haha, but you can keep doing what you are doing....
blog comments powered by Disqus

Previous post:

Next post: