Email is Dead. So speaketh many of the technorati. I suppose its true, certainly it is easy to see how among the younger set that email is not their preferred means of communication. But, for now, there are still lessons to be learned about communication. My friends at Liz Strauss’ “Successful Blog” dropped a good list of key ideas for marketing through email.
Of course, most of us aren’t going to be marketing at all, let alone through email. This list, though, has other useful lessons for us. Here’s the list of tragic mistakes to avoid:
- You are wasting their time.
- You are not consistent.
- You forget to scrutinize before you send.
- You are not share happy.
You can read the author’s, Kelly Gregorio, insights on how this list applies to marketing. Here, though, as some thoughts on how these 4 things actually apply to real life.
First, always realize that time is your most precious commodity, far more important than money. You never have as much as you wish, no matter how much time you perceive that you have. Never forget that you really have no idea when your last breath will come, hence to waste a second on anything unplanned is tragic. In the realm of your life, whether business or pleasure, you cannot waste your time….nor the time of others. Be focused in how you offer a benefit to the others around you.
Second always be consistent in who you are. In our world today, far too many people spend energy creating a fake persona, working to have one image here and another image there. Over time, this becomes impossible to keep up. There’s an old adage that says if you avoid telling lies, then you won’t have to worry about remembering each lie or who you told it to. If you are consistent in all of life, whether with the young or old, the rich or the poor, you will be able to hold your reputation firm in any situation.
Third keep focus on the quality of all of your life, in particular on the small details. Many people have good vision, even excellence, at the macro level, but it is as the minute level of small detail where many drop the ball. Whether through haste or simply being too lazy to double-check, the details can be ignored to great peril. Sure, most of the time in your relationships, even in business, you can get away with it in our current world of just “good enough,” however, this attention to detail can be what sets you apart from others.
Fourth don’t ignore your options, your varied paths and opportunities in life. The concept of being “share happy,” as Gregorio sees it means that if you are up-to-date in the modern world of technology, your communication can’t only be in email, but you must also use Twitter or Facebook or Google+ or Linked In. In the real world, many options show up, just about every day. Are you aware of them? If you are a regular reader, you know I urge you to have goals, have a plan…all good of course, but at the same time, you must actively keep aware of all the options that come your way.