“I never understood people’s obsession with Ouija boards. I don’t even want to talk to the living.”
– Greg Perry
A discussion about this is long overdue.
For some reason, people are contacting me lately using the worst modes of communication for doing so possible. So, to try to get everyone who wants to send me a message (good, bad, or fugly hate mail) in the right lane, behold… here are the 3 worst ways to contact me:
#1 Ye Olde Telephone
There are few things I despise more than yapping on the phone.
I’d rather do anything than talk on the phone.
I hate phones.
They’re the devil.
Ratchet-jawing on the phone wastes time. Sucks the life out of me. And, I’m simply not a polite conversationalist, anyway. (The exceptions are talking to one of my parents or being interviewed or doing a training for a podcast, radio show, webinar etc — then, suddenly, I like phones. Go figure…)
Yes, I have a phone number on my sites.
(For compliance reasons.)
But, that number rings directly to a combo voicemail/fax line. And even the voice mail message tells people the best way to contact me for fastest response.
The bottom line?
Phone is the worst possible way to contact me.
Unless, of course, you want the lowest priority possible…
#2 Linkedin
I have no idea why people contact me on Linkedin.
And, quite frankly, now that I think about it, I’m not even sure why I’m *on* Linkedin.
Especially since, I only log in to see who’s viewing my profile.
Messages are rarely (if ever) read.
#3 Flakebook
Actually, this isn’t so bad per se.
It’s just that I refuse to put their dorky messenger app on my phone, which means the only way I’m going to see your message (much less reply to it) is if I’m not feeling particularly lazy that day and go through the motions to log in on my phone’s browser. Or, when I’m working on my lap top.
What that means is this:
Even if I see your message, I won’t reply right away.
And, will probably forget about it altogether.
The flakebook evangelists loooooathe me for this.
But, that’s okay.
I tend to loathe them, too…
So there you have it.
The 3 worst ways to contact me.
But, what about the 3 *best* ways?
What if someone wants to send me a message, complain about something I wrote (I am ridiculously low on hate mail, btw, hint, hint…), or has a customer service question or request for an email, podcast, or “Email Players” issue topic?
In that case, here are the best ways:
(In order)
1. Email
Via the contact form on my site, ideally.
Otherwise, email me directly (by replying to any of my daily emails) and having the patience to get through my spamarrest process.
2. Text
If you have my text, that is.
3. Twitter
I’m not always a big social media fan.
(Shocking??)
But, I do dig on Twitter.
And while it’s not the ideal way to contact me, it’s far and away better than the phone, Flakebook, or Linkedin. Especially since, the 140 characters forces people to be pithy.
BTW…
I usually don’t have time to answer all messages any mo’.
The exception being for “Email Players” subscribers. One of the main perks for “Email Players” subscribers is access to me via email with any questions I’m qualified to answer.
Everyone else?
Unless it’s customer service related, etc, I probably won’t reply.
Don’t take it personally, though.
It’s not you.
It’s me…
All right, enough of this clacking.
It’s business time:
We’re about a week out from the December “Email Players” issue deadline. One of the lessons inside is a cool email trick I learned watching Bugs Bunny cartoons.
I never see anyone using this tick.
But, it gives your emails more “depth.”
More persuasion power.
And, more entertainment value.
All of which can boost ye sales.
Subscribe here before it mails:
Ben Settle
