Can You Be Too Professional?
This thought came to me as I was doing my daily checking of email. I came across a link exchange request, which isn’t usually that big of a deal. For the most part I glance and delete. Exchanging links is not my main focus, as one way links are better. Plus I have forms on just about every site, so when someone sends me an email I usually delete it. I don’t exchange with those who don’t even really look at my site.
But today’s link exchange email got my attention. It was simple, yet specific. She had a blog, gave me the link, told me what the blog was about, and wanted to know if I’d like to exchange links. Very short and to the point. Granted she didn’t say exactly what site she was wanting to exchange with, but I have a pretty good idea based on the topic of her blog. You can’t hold it against someone if they don’t realize you have more than one site or blog!
Funny thing how this particular email made me respond, where as the “professional looking” link exchange emails make me hit delete before I even get past “I visited your site xxx and….”. You know the ones that go on about how “important” it is to exchange links, and how their site has a PR-whatever so I would be an idiot not to exchange with them. Yeah, the cookie-cutter emails. The ones I REALLY don’t have time to read or mess with. Those irritate me to no end, and they make me even more mad when they send me a “reminder” to add their link a week later. HA! Not a chance I’d even think about it now!
So it makes me wonder, is there such a thing as “too professional”? Does casual work better sometimes? Have we got so wrapped up in trying to make the most of our time by sending mass emails that we are just spinning our wheels? I can’t help but think if we took our time and actually emailed people one by one on a personal basis we’d get a whole lot farther than if we did things in a mass fashion.
Now granted I actually do not seek out link exchanges by hand anyway. Ever. Meaning I don’t go to sites and email the owners. Heck no, that to me is a shot in the dark. Instead I go to groups looking for specific types of sites to exchange main page links with (not even link pages…..I flat out refuse to do traditional link exchanges now). I also keep my eyes open for others looking for the same kind of “link exchanges” as I do….which is IS catching on!
Anyway, I thought this was an interesting topic to bring up. What’s your opinion? Can we be too professional?
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Comments
Yes, I think at times we are too professional… I’m like you… at times, when I get an email that seems like it’s a cookie cutter email, I don’t even read it… I prefer the old fashioned emails where they call you by name and are actually talking about you, not some generic person they are trying to get to buy their product!
But then again, if you’re going to take a more casual approach when you contact businesses, you need to make sure you still use proper grammar and spelling! You don’t want to look like you don’t know what you’re talking about! lol!
Bev
Posted by: Bev Schweigert | December 12th, 2007 13:16
Agree, I hate people who explain benefits to me like I’m a dummy. Asking for a link is asking for a favor, and if you wanted to borrow my car, you wouldn’t waste three sentences on what a great deal it was for me.
Posted by: joe | December 12th, 2007 20:59
Can you be too professional?
In my opinion, absolutely! I’ve even caught myself trying to “put on the professional face” when replying to someone - more specifically replying to a question about advertising. I try to “put on the professional face” and reply the most “proper” way possible. I often do that because I can’t be too sure by the initial email how professional the other person is. Majority of the time time, I find that I end up “scareing” the person off thinking I’m a bit “untouchable” or I totally confuse the person.
I think sometimes it’s okay to tone it down a notch. Besides, that’s one of the benefits of being a “home business owner” isn’t it? It’s better to add that personal touch. Otherwise, our replies end up looking like a canned response that weren’t even read in the first place. KWIM?
Posted by: Anita | December 12th, 2007 21:50
I think we are too smart these days and you really have to have a personal touch to get your point across. People like to do business with people who they have a relationship with. So a personal email starts them on the way.
Posted by: Christy | December 13th, 2007 22:47
I prefer to do business with someone that offers more personal service.
I also noticed when I changed my site to be personal (about me page, blog, myspace) I had more sales and I was also attracting better customers–really nice friendly customers.
Posted by: M | December 26th, 2007 20:12