The other day I had the extreme pleasure of being interviewed by one of the country's top copywriters.  I was being interviewed for my experience with a particular copywriting process and program.  When I was asked to do the interview I felt extremely honored.  How exciting to be interviewed by one of the best copywriters in the world!  What a wonderful addition to my resume and how exciting if I am quoted in this particular piece of copy.  Great promotion for me too.

The call arrived, right on time and I was ready.  As most interviews go, there was a bit of friendly chit chat before the questions and after the interview questions were over there was a little bit more of friendly chit chat and then we said goodbye.  The call went well.  I'm a friendly person by nature and I enjoy talking with and meeting new people. 

Then the email came…..

I like to send people thank you notes or emails after they've taken valuable time out of their day to talk with me and help me out, so I was happy to be on the reciprocating end of a thank you note.  However, when I read the note, I was left scratching my head. 

This top notch, presumably professional, copywriter thanked me for my time and told me I was as sweet as I was pretty.  (presumably he found my picture online when he was doing some research)  Squish.  My elation was immediately deflated.  Sweet?  Pretty?  Was he asking me out on a date or thanking me for my time and insight?

In this day and age where we're all operating online, and rarely in person, it is important to make sure that we operate and communicate on a level that is acceptable and comfortable to others.  While building relationships is certainly possible online, and I feel like I have many online friends with whom I feel comfortable enough stepping outside of 'professional etiquette', there are other relationships that are just professional and only the test of time will tell if it's going to change. 

In short, always err on the side of caution and use only professional language in your communications.  Your message may not have any other intention than kindness and gratitude, but if you use language that can be misinterpreted…well your message can be misinterpreted.  I'm sure that this particular copywriter only meant to be complementary, however I felt condescended to and patronized rather than appreciated. 

Additionally, it gave me a poor impression of this man (which is the last thing any of us want to do).  Rather than think, "What a great person", I thought "How on earth can he write great copy if he can't word a simple thank you note in a professional manner?"

In the world of online marketing and ecommerce, where there are more than 100 million ecommerce sites and plenty of competition, every impression counts and wouldn't it be a shame if one simple email cost you a customer or a potential partnership - or worse, motivated someone to write a blog post about email etiquette

Have a great day and take a few minutes to read your emails before you send them!

-Annette