Chris Brogan, author of the self-titled blog about community and social media, posted a nice blog entitled "Great PR Manners Go a Long Way." Chris sites a letter he received from a man named Scott Duehlmeier, from The Summit Group Communications, who was writing to Chris - very politely I may add - to ask him permission to send him more information on a client.
Chris uses this very polite letter to impart a lesson onto his readers. The lesson being that being polite will get you farther than being rude. The letter is very nice. Chris and the 15 people who commented on the blog all agree. The problem is they all missed the point. They all missed the real lesson.
The point of Scott's letter was to ask Chris for permission to send him more information. The fact that while doing so he was polite does not impress me. Maybe it's the Midwesterner in me, but I just feel like it goes without saying that one is polite when one is asking for something she wants.
It is simple: If you are not polite, I am not going to read your email or press release. Obviously.
The real lesson here is that Scott asked Chris if he could send him more information. He did not write, "I think you will find this interesting..." and then tack on a press release. He asked. Opt-in marketing campaigns are much more successful - although more difficult to execute - because the people who respond with a request for more info are really interested.
The magic word here is not "please". The magic words are "May I?"
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