Eggblogg

What's the definition of 'spam'?

Wow, things got heated today at Chris Brogan's website. Earlier in the day he had sent out an email to his LinkedIn connections, inviting them to subscribe to his email newsletter. I was one of the recipients, and I was struck by how reasonable the email was (I'm usually quick to cry 'spam!')

I thought no more about it, but after receiving a few odd complaints Chris opened it up for discussion. By throwing in my 2-pennyworth I managed to get hit in the crossfire myself!

As I always tell the students in my email marketing workshops, 'the definition of spam lies with the recipient'. And you can be sure there'll always be at least one recipient who thinks it's 'spam'!

eTips: why emails get stopped and what you can do about it

This week's eTips is a basic intro to spam filtering and what the email marketer needs to be aware of:

Where did our emails go?

Is boasting important for business?

The English are becoming a nation of boasters, according to Lucy Kellaway. Our old values of humility or modesty have been eroded by the competitive nature of today's workplace: "What gets us noticed now is sharp elbows not elbow grease."

I know what she means. As a child I once took part in a piano competition and plonked my way to first place. My parents were naturally pleased and surprised. I then spent my book token prize on two books of piano music, and used my felt tip pens to draw a decorative fontispiece inside each, proclaiming 'This book belongs to (my name) for a win in the Bromley Festival 1973' surrounded with dancing treble clefs and other twirly stuff. I can still remember the cold reaction I got from my parents when I showed them. Even though no-one else was likely to see the books except my family, the message was clear. Success is good, but boasting about it is not.

In the sixteenth century, European courtiers were advised to adopt an attitude called sprezzatura, the art of concealing one's brilliance behind an appearance of nonchalance, to make even the hardest of tasks appear effortless and natural. I sometimes wonder if I've been reincarnated from that era, because my every instinct tells me this is something to aspire to. That's probably why I never made it to the top in my corporate career. Now I'm in business for myself I've had to do a bit of boasting, but I'm still much better boasting about other people (oops, that sounds a bit like a boast.)

Trouble is, if you don't boast about your achievements, how is anyone supposed to know you're any good?  And if you're in business, is there a way to stand out from the competition while still adopting a 'show, don't tell' attitude? And how do you boast successfully without sounding boring or desperate?

I most admire people who are brilliant yet do not shout about it, as long it's genuine humility rather than false modesty. I wouldn't call myself self-effacing, but I'd be mortified to be accused of boasting. Is that wrong?

There goes the neighbourhood

The other day I mentioned Twitter in a meeting with some journo/publishing types, and they'd never heard of it. I marvelled at that. I may not be a hard-core Tweeter, but I love the fact that I'm experiencing it at a time when it's still not mainstream.

Twitter still inhabits a relatively innocent space; it hasn't yet been completely ruined by The Bad Guys or overtaken by the heaving masses. It's a natural home for thinkers, experimentalists and wits.  But last week the Guardian ran a piece which makes me fear for the future of Twitter. Not that the article was negative, far from it, but coverage in a national newspaper is one more step towards its demise. I'm sorry, but I am unapologetically a Twitter snob. I know that as soon as Twitter is mainstream, the thing that makes it such a joy will be gone. As will all those thoughtful, interesting people who currently use it.

As Deborah Schultz put it, social interactions minus intelligence equals noise. And the world is noisy enough.

eTips - we've got the visitors, now where are the sales?

Today's eTips is about spending just a small amount on testing usability and customer experience in order to gain a big return.