Tom Asacker: Harry S. Truman on marketing

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Harry S. Truman on marketing

"Always be sincere, even if you don't mean it."

Seth Godin posted something today that resonated with me. Read it and see if it resonates with you. And my guess is that if it doesn't today, it will in the very near future. So here's why I shared Seth's feelings:

I received an email yesterday from a NYC PR person pimping her hotel client. I typically tag such correspondence as what it is - "spam" - and let Gmail deal with subsequent interruptions. But this particular time I was in a playful mood, so I responded to the email asking said PR person if she'd like me to highlight her client in my GuruBBQ show. She obviously has never watched the show, because she sent me an immediate reply:

"Yes, that would be great! What other info do you need? How about photos?"

I shook my head while typing this reply:

"You've never watched my show, have you? ;)"

I never heard from her again.

I've come to expect that type of email, so it didn't really bother me. But this next one did. I received an email from a fellow business author asking for some marketing advise. I typically go out of my way to help people who ask, so I began considering his issue and a reply. But then I noticed something in the email header. This author sent the same email to five other Toms, including Tom Peters. Want to know what the book is about? The brave new opt-in, customer-centric marketplace.

I could post dozens of these "spam" examples each week: from x-rated URL's in my blog comments and trackbacks, to the email from the guy from Africa who needs help getting his million out of his bank, to more subtle and disturbing ones, like the ones above. But I won't. For I'm sure that if you're reading this blog, you know better and wouldn't really gain from reading them. Am I right? ;-)