Marketing Tips #37 - 'The Art of Flattery'

I lost my PA two weeks ago.

In your world this may have been a disaster, but I've found it quite refreshing to be back in control again - in particular of all the speculative emails I receive each day.

An efficient PA will see these as intrusions to be fended off in the politest possible way (or in the case of my last PA, irritations largely to be ignored). However, as my business is now 'Inspiring, Motivating and Helping Entrepreneurs Achieve Business Success', each one is at best a customer - and at worst a small piece of market research/feedback from which, at minimum, I can learn something.

99% of these emails are pretty positive - from people telling me about their business, sometimes asking for direct help or investment or simply sending me a few lines of positive words.

But yesterday I received the following from one Fakeidee43626824@aol.com:

'losses of £4.7million and you give advice , are you sure'

In the media meltdown and hate fallout that followed the crash of Red Letter Days two years ago, I learned that the best way to deal with such messages is to use the Delete button. The cyber equivalent of a dollop of birdshit landing on the windscreen of life, these occasional 'hate mails' are almost always anonymous, sent from dodgy internet based email addresses senders and I suspect from people who have never got up off their butt to achieve anything in life - let alone experience how difficult it is to create a business from scratch and run it for 16 years.

[Alternatively it could have been Peter Jones, having a bit of fun... But I digress.]

And so the message languished in my Recycle Bin, until 40 minutes later I received the following:

Hi Rachel,

I've just been leafing through your website and I think you're a star just for taking the time to put together some useful tips for people like me to take a look at -- it's comforting to think that even hugely successful business giants like you have been through the same exhausting process as the rest of us in your climb to the top. And it's encouraging to know that we all have the potential to succeed, because sometimes, despite your very best efforts, you can start to wonder if you're really up to the task.

So thank you for your words of encouragement.

Best regards,

Marc Jardine==========================
Biznis Cards ::: Online Print Solutions
www.biznis-cards.com

OK, it's a bit OTT - and I would hardly describe myself as a 'business giant' - but once my new PA is recruited, I know where I'll be getting her business cards from.

Enjoy your day!


Rachel