'How
Rude!' -- Internet Marketing Tales From the Darkside
©
1999, by Harmony Major
"Take
me off your mailing list. I did not write you for information and I do
not want your mail. If you continue to mail your stupid information to
me, I will consider it harrassment."
"Where
are the JOBS (EMPLOYMENT). I have searched hundreds of web sites, looked
thru thousands of classified ads. I've only found a few jobs, none I want
to do. Why must almost everyone LIE, and say they have an employment opp.,
only for us to find out it's a business opp.? WHERE ARE THEY???"
Internet
"business-people" seem to be so hectically involved in learning the proper
and most effective ways to advertise, promote their websites, get more
prospects for their business, increase sales, etc., that they seem to actually
forget the most important and invaluable skills of all.
Courtesy.
Organization. Honesty.
First
of all, I'd like to say hello, and that I hope you're having a wonderful
day. I hope things are going well for you today, and that it's been profitable,
successful, and peaceful thus far -- much the opposite of mine.
As
you can see, I've been called almost every name in the book. Liar, spammer,
scammer ... you name it, I've probably been called it. The first incident
above occurred when a prospect REQUESTED information from a smart autoresponder.
It automatically sent her pre-written follow-up emails every few days from
her original request. In turn, the prospect sent me that type of message
twice, and followed the email with the "Happy" virus each time.
Of
course I wasn't dumb enough to download the virus, and I wrote her back
explaining why she was getting the information, and that the only way that
she could have gotten it was by sending an e-mail to the autoresponder
requesting more information on my ad.
As
it turns out, she did finally realize her mistake, and she apologized for
her "inappropriate behavior."
The
second incident occurred with no forewarning. I was checking the posts
on the new forum at my website, and found that message in response to a
cheerful "welcome" that I had posted for my guests. I didn't quite know
what to do about this one. Should I have left it up? Deleted it? Ignored
it?
I
left his comments on the board and decided to post a response to his nasty
accusations to try to clear up the misunderstanding. I expressed my distaste
at the immature way he handled the situation, and told him that he could
have at least been courteous enough to write me privately with his gripes.
In
a nutshell, I also explained to him that I wasn't a liar, nor do I mislead
people for the fun of it. I have much better things to do with my time.
As
it turns out, this same person actually signed up for my new affiliate
program later on that evening. Not too long after that, he writes me for
HELP with questions. After he'd left those unkind comments on our discussion
board, he turned around and joined one of the very "opp's" that he'd been
griping about. AND, now he needs my help.
Me
... "The Liar?" Ironic, wouldn't you say?
The
point of my telling you those stories was not simply to air pent-up frustrations,
nor was it to upset any of the offending parties. I only used those examples
to stress how the Internet seems to make people lose all of their manners
and God-given common sense in dealing with their peers!
Being
polite, courteous, and helpful are IMPORTANT on the Internet. Even more
important than they are in person, because the only things that people
have to judge you by online are the way you handle yourself, the way you
treat them and 'talk' to those around you, and by what you say. People
are much less likely to trust you, and MORE likely to develop misconceptions
about you. Therefore, don't add fuel to the fire by being discourteous
and impolite.
Sometimes
I ask myself, "would this person be saying the same things to me or acting
the same way if I were talking to him in person?" The answer is always
'no.'
Why is that, exactly? Because in person, you're much more worried about
what people are thinking about you, and whether or not they accept you.
On the Internet, people feel that they can 'talk' to us any kind of way,
and get away with it. After all, they may never have to communicate with
us ever again.
Although
that may be true, the Internet can be a cold and anonymous place. We have
to remember to treat others as WE expect to be treated. You may not ever
have to 'talk' to or hear from me again, nor will you ever have to meet
me. However, by disrespecting a woman that deserves to be respected, you're
ruining YOUR reputation, and damaging my perception of you.
I
was reading something just the other day that briefly addressed this topic.
The author stated how people are more likely to act out of character and
rude on the Internet than they would in "real life." She said that we shouldn't
take people's rudeness and disrespect to heart on the Internet, because
it's not their normal way of handling things.
I
felt that this was an INCREDIBLY ridiculous thing to say. I respect MYSELF,
and expect others to respect and be courteous to me, just as I extend that
same honor and respect to them. The Internet does NOT make you invincible,
and just because someone is "acting out of character" does NOT mean that
we have to accept that as an every day practice.
EVERY
person deserves honesty and respect. And we as intelligent human beings
should respect ourselves enough not to communicate with someone who doesn't
share the same view.
Harmony
Major is the author of Yahoo! Secrets, where she reveals
how YOU can drive HUNDREDS more visitors to your site each day, by getting
a #1 listing on Yahoo. Don't just settle for "getting listed."
Use her instantly-effective tactics to boost your site traffic with a TOP
Yahoo listing! Visit: http://YahooSecrets.com
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