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Email Etiquette: A review we could all benefit from

By on April 7th, 2012
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Sorry if this is a little 101 for some of you, but I had it set as an unfinished draft, probably hastily scrabbled together when someone who should know better abused my email reading patience.

The fact is that while email is ubiquitous and benefits us in too many obvious ways to warrant a blog post, one conversation we hear about increasingly is the burden of addressing it. Email’s ease of use lends itself to careless, ignorant and deliberately layered use.

So here’s a critical piece of email etiquette that some people could benefit from. I pulled it from a great list of 101 tips. Some of them are outdated or matter less depending on your platform or situation, but I’ve grabbed one section in particular here to focus on (my comments are in [ ]):

To, From, CC, BCc, RR, Subject:

  1. Only use Cc: when it is important for those you Cc: to know about the contents of the email. Overuse can cause your emails to be ignored. [I have 1000s unread]
  2. Don’t use Return Receipt (RR) on every single email. Doing so is viewed as intrusive, annoying and can be declined by the other side anyway.
  3. Include addresses in the To: field for those who you would like a response from.
  4. Include addresses in the Cc: field for those who you are just FYI’ing.
  5. Make sure your name is displayed properly in the From: field.
  6. Remove addresses from the To:, CC; and BCc: field that don’t need to see your reply. [BIG ONE. Unnecessary email can mean junkmail to some or just more work for others]
  7. Always include a brief Subject. No subject can get your email flagged as spam. [A good subject is like leaving a good phone message–it can help the recipient act more quickly]
  8. Think about your motives when adding addresses to To:, CC:, BCc. Use your discretion. [Many people Cc: as an ass covering measure–think about how that looks to the recipient]
  9. Never expose your friend’s or contact’s email address to strangers by listing them all in the To: field. Use BCc:! [BIG ONE. Email is private.Even if you trust the people you share  addresses with, it may make the owners of the addresses uncomfortable. Also, if enough people do this, everyone will have everyone's addresses].
  10. Make sure when using BCc: that your intentions are proper. To send BCc: copies to others as a way of talking behind someone’s back is inconsiderate.

via Email Etiquette: 101 Email Etiquette Tips.

Proper, or at least thoughtful use of basic tools like email can help us handle the exploding media fire-hose enough to keep benefitting from it. If you feel someone just isn’t respecting your privacy or time, you can always send them here: http://www.thanksbutno.com/




Building Businesses That Stand For Something

By on March 21st, 2012
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Read a great article this morning by Chuck Templeton that sums up the benefits of doing business ethically/sustainably, including a better long-term bottom line.

I had to comment:

This article expresses why part of me cringes when people bring up CSR. It’s typically practiced as a band-aid solution to an issue AND as a marketing strategy. It does a diservice to both. It just doesn’t wash to try to distract people from margins created unsustainably/unethically by doing good somewhere else.

The challenge for many is that they’ve been taught to hide the negative side of their business for so long that they have trouble fathoming the benefits of addressing their issues publicly.

For others, there are legitimate hurdles like laws that demand quarterly shareholder growth and a lack of business instruments for making choices that offer social impact in the short term and financial returns in the long. For these situations, and archaic legislation that prevents charitable organizations from making a profit while doing good, there’s a task force working on it.

Long story short. If you knew that improving your practices or your industry publicly could be your markting and could build towards a healthier bottom line, would you?

What’s holding you back?

Building Businesses That Stand For Something | Co.Exist: World changing ideas and innovation.




Come meet people doing well by doing good: bcorp + prospective bcorp mixer

By on March 16th, 2012
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I’m getting more and more questions about BCorp.
Instead of answering the basics through email, I thought I’d post a bit about why we’re certified and invite you to an event that’s happening this week where you can learn more about it.

Maybe the best way to start is to answer why Hypenotic became a BCorp.

Yes, I realize we don’t have legislation to support our commitment to running a purpose driven business in Ontario. Yet. My hope is that when enough corporations make the symbolic commitment, it will put pressure on lawmakers to create provisions for us. That’s why we’re putting in extra effort to help BCorp grow.

Until then, the certification offers several direct benefits:

  1. We were doing business ethically already, so it’s nice to be recognized for it. We love gold stars.
  2. As it turns out, we’re not perfect, and our scorecard gives us insight into where we can improve.
  3. There are now over 500 BCorps in Canada and the US, 7 states that recognize it and 5 more in the pipeline. We’d prefer to both get business from and give business to these kinds of enterprises.

Certification also has several indirect benefits:

  1. We’ve already received work from the kind of clients we like in part due to our certification.
  2. This morning I presented to a dream arts/community based client after making it to the second round of proposals. They cited two reasons for inviting us: A previous project they like, and upon digging into us, our Bcorp certification.

I see many indications that unsustainable business practices are being recognized for what they are, including a financial crisis dominoing across Europe and the US’ housing collapse in 2007/8. I truly believe that businesses will increasingly require proof at minimum of ethical practices, but more likely evidence that how they make their margins actually brings value to others as well.

We were already observing many of the certification tenets, but this year we’re putting one person in charge of shepherding us to better grades. We can only improve in some areas, but we like the idea of a roadmap, so we’re glad to have them.

If you’re incorporated (big or small), and would like to meet corporate leaders of purpose driven businesses, then we’ve got a party for you. It’s Happening Wednesday at fellow Bcorp Patagonia’s swell space down the street on King West and is co-hosted by Bcorp and The Natural Step Canada. We’re each supposed to bring a prospective Bcorp. Will you come?




Skip ROI. Try ROE (Experience).

By on January 6th, 2012
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Last week, a pizza-maker at a chain (re)taught me one of marketing’s most important lessons: the value of a good story.

I was at a place called Anthony’s, where they make coal-fired pizza. We were there because the food is good, which is enough, but for Anthony’s, apparently good food is the bar for entry.

My 4 year old daughter wanted to see the pizzas being made so I brought her around the side of the bar they were using and stood her on a chair.

In the flurry of 6 people hopping around the two ovens, one asked if she’d like some dough. We’ve had the offer of a piece of dough to play with before at Mother’s Dumplings in Toronto for years, so that’s what we were expecting.

A minute later, another fellow yanked a full flattened pie of raw dough onto a plate, put it in front of us, and before I could ask what we were supposed to do with it, gave Pip a handful of cheese. He told her to spread it around. She asked for sauce, and he dipped a ladle in their pizza sauce and poured it on. Then he asked her what she liked on her pizza. She replied, he supplied, we decorated together, and he got someone to put the pie in the oven.

We went back to our table, told my delighted in-laws and Pippa’s jealous sister what happened, and Pippa alternated between gloating and being thrilled for the next 10 minutes.

When it came, she nearly exploded with excitement, but she let us all taste it. Naturally, to her, nothing was going to taste as good for a long time.

This was in Boca, where people spend most of each day deciding what they’re going to do for dinner. At Xmas, so their relatives were visiting. at 6:30pm, with a line-up out the door. In the grand scheme of things, it didn’t take him much effort or cost him much. But the payoff includes:

  • Guaranteed future visits from us
  • Likely visits from my family (2 brothers and 2 sisters, each with spouses and 2 kids, plus my parents)
  • Likely visits from people each of us tell about the story, and the people they tell, etc
  • This blog post, which gets read by enough people when I post, but will be indexed by search engines and served up in perpetuity

It doesn’t seem to matter how many times you hear it from hallowed, New York Times best-selling marketing gurus, people just don’t seem to clue in to the power of good stories. Long story short:

  • Stories travel in ways traditional communications can’t hold a candle to
  • They last (sometimes getting more interesting over time!)
  • We hear them from trusted peers, not brands
  • If they’re good enough, people will write about them, increasing their chance of being seen

Let me leave you with 3 questions:

  1. Have you been witness to the creation of any good stories?
  2. Any thoughts on stories you can create for your organization?
  3. Can surprising and delighting people be part of your content strategy?



The best American wall map

By on January 5th, 2012
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via slate.com

David Imus’ “The Essential Geography of the United States of America” is an example of a triumph of craft over industry. It’s also an example of what’s possible when you dedicate your life to your passion.

Posted via email from Barry A. Martin Feed




The day web design changed

By on December 12th, 2011
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I have a headache. And I know why. It’s from looking at too much (on screen) small type. And straining.

Of course I’m responsible for putting plenty of it out there over the years, but now I’m 40, I need reading glasses, and I empathize with everyone who has been peering down their nose through bifocals at our website.
In 2012, I’m going to set type bigger. Then I’m going to look at our metrics and see what impact it has on our readership. I’ll let you know. But in the meantime, you might want to to consider whether the experience you’re giving your readers includes a headache.




What an economist can teach you about Social Media

By on December 10th, 2011
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Last October in Turin, Italy,  I was one of about 100 people captivated by economist Manfred Max Neef’s ability to communicate critical and complex concepts through simple, sometimes passionate, sometimes funny anecdotes. Because they were conveyed so compellingly, several have stuck with me. One in particular might explain why so many people (still) don’t get Social Media.

Max Neef told a story about his interest in  defining the single attribute that distinguishes humans from all other animals. He asked a teacher, who suggested it was the ‘soul’, but he wasn’t convinced.

The next teacher he asked explained that humans have intelligence, but animals only have their instincts. But his experience with his own cat wouldn’t let him accept this answer either.

Max Neef forgot abut the question after that until an ‘a-ha’ moment years later, when he realized that it must be ‘humour’. Two weeks later, he came across a paper by a Japanese expert in animal behaviour citing a species of birds who tell each other jokes.

In University, over breakfast with his father–a brilliant scientist, it occurred to Max Neef that he’d never put the question to him. So he did. His father said, “try stupidity”.

Defining himself as a ‘stupidologist’ (having studied the affliction for some time) he explained that stupidity describes not the lack of faculties, but having all the information you need and still making bad decisions.

He went on to explain that we have created more information in the last 100 years than in all of history prior, and that decision-makers were still making the wrong decisions.

But there’s a big difference between having information and understanding it.

He used love as an example to make the point, explaining that no matter how much empirical data we collect on the subject–social, chemical, etc–without ever being in love, you just won’t “get it”.

This is the challenge facing organizations trying to leverage social networking platforms in their communications strategies today: You have to get bitten by the bug to use it effectively. But of course the irony is that when you do, your priorities change.

Next week I’ll list some tips for easing into it, even with your hectic schedule. In spite of your preconceived ideas about it.

 

PS: In case you don’t know, today is Slow Food’s Terra Madre Day. Slow Food Toronto has put together an amazing list of producers, artisans and chefs for you and the family to meet and eat with (free) between 2 and 6 pm at Harbourfront.




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