Over the past two and a half years (and 1,100 posts) I have occasionally recieved correspondence from people unhappy with something I’ve written or an opinion I have offered.
I have a policy of always offering people a right to reply. However, in most cases Mr. or Ms. Angry just vents in an e-mail including some thinly veiled insults or threats and leaves it at that. I’m sure they feel better about it but it doesn’t actually address what they are unhappy with.
We’re all human, we all make mistakes. But it’s how we address those mistakes that often can make or break a story.
This was brought home to me this week by the approaches of two people who contacted me regarding this blog.
Rather than ranting or raving about a percieved slight or innacuracy they established a dialogue and in my opinion did a fine job of putting forward their case.
I posted about John Zagula’s new book earlier in the week. A a couple of days later I received an e-mail from Justin Kirby, co-founder of the Viral + Buzz Marketing Association who contrary to my earlier post had read it and got in touch.
Neither party was screaming or threatening, rather they established a dialogue and did a fine job of promoting their respective initiatives.
I think there’s a lesson there for most PR people, I certainly learned from it.
Footnote:
You can find out more about the Viral + Buzz Marketing Association here.
Murphy's Law 