from Patty Fletcher of Campbell’s World
Tell it to the World Marketing
Hello to all,
I hope this message finds you all doing super well.
Here at Tell-It-To-The-World Marketing, where we support talented authors, as well as successful business owners in their marketing, by marrying social media, with more traditional approaches,
The goal is to help the client market their Book, Blog, or Business to the very best of their ability.
One of the best ways for me to do this, is to share tips with my clients, so that they can define the services I provide them, to better meet their needs.
Today I’d like to talk to you about professional curtesy and encourage you mightily to read, and if you’re not already doing so to please consider strongly adopting these simple practices into your daily business.
As is my way I’m going to share a story with you so as to illustrate better the point I wish to make.
I ask you, as you read, put yourself in both my place and the place of the business owner and ask yourself first, how you’d have felt if this were you dealing with the issue as a consumer, and then, as the business owner, what you have done instead.
Several weeks ago I submitted an ad on behalf of a new client of mine to an online magazine for their November issue. The owner of said magazine wrote back to say that while they could not accept the photo portion of my ad, they could take the text version and assured me that it would be included. I was very glad as the client is one, I feel very strongly about because their product is one which will if known of help many.
Thinking all was well when I got the November issue, I made ready to send the issue to my client, so they could see the end result of my outreach services. Luckily for me, I listened to good advice given me by a previous supervisor and decided to check the magazine before sending it forward.
To my dismay upon reading the magazine I found no mention of me, or my ad at all. Not even so much as a note explaining why it was not there or saying that it would be included in another issue.
To my further dismay when I wrote the owner of said magazine to speak to them about this and to let them know of my displeasure at having had my ad, which met all submission guidelines having been left out, I received no reply from the magazine owner. Rather, said magazine owner forwarded the letter I sent not to his top editor who might have been the one to deal with such as they’re listed as top editor and there-for held responsible for what is and is not in the magazine but to their secondary editor who does the proofing and finds whatever mistakes the owner and top editor might miss.
To say I found this quite unprofessional would be a gross understatement. Not only did the owner of the magazine not respond to my having sent a letter questioning why my ad was not included but he further shirked his responsibility by forwarding my letter not to his listed top editor but to the secondary editor who in my opinion had no responsibility what so ever and I might ad has thus far been the only one to reply to me or try to make the issue right in any way.
What do I think should’ve happened instead of this mockery of professionalism?
- The owner of said magazine should take full responsibility for the error.
- Said magazine owner also should’ve responded personally to my letter since my letter was sent to him directly and
- If he were not going to deal with the issue directly, he most assuredly shouldn’t have left it to his secondary editor who has no responsibility to this portion of the trouble what so ever to deal with.
People let me just say this, whether you are an author or a business owner, and by the way if you’re a published author writing is your business, but no matter if someone takes the time to send you any type of correspondence you should absolutely see that it is handled and not shirk your responsibility to someone under you.
The magazine specifies that all submissions are to be sent to the owner and gives an email address for doing such. After having used said email and having it bounce several times, I chose to send to the email address I had on file for them and still have received nothing in return since my having been assured that my ad had been accepted.
Will I use this magazine in the future or refer any of those I market to it? NO! I will not. I find this to have been the most noisome and unprofessional experience I’ve ever had and hope to never again have another.
My advice to you? Do not be as this sluggardly magazine owner and shirk your responsibilities. Even if the responsibility of the issue is in the end delegated to another to handle, if someone takes the time to write to you, take the time to write them back if for no other reason than to direct them kindly to the proper person with whom their grievance needs to be addressed.
Thank you for reading, and until next time this is Patty who would very much like to know
Professional curtesy, where are you?
Patty L. Fletcher
Self-Published author and Owner of Tell-It-To-The-World Marketing
Karen J. Mossman 