The following is a letter that Marketing Profs sent out after they mistakenly distributed 7 emails all at once to their entire database. This is an organization that marketers look to for information and education. Even the so called authority can err quite badly from time to time. What they did do right is address the situation head on, as opposed to ignoring it.

A Note to Readers

Humble Pie

First of all, if you are reading this newsletter today… THANK YOU. It means that you didn’t unsubscribe (or blacklist us) following our horrific email error last week.

The error was this: As part of a segmented test to our subscriber list, we had planned to mail seven different messages to entice MProfs subscription upgrades to Premium. But instead of getting one of those offers, as intended, each of our 180,000 subscribers received all seven emails last Thursday. We only realized the error when the complaints started rolling in. Well, crashing in, really. At that point, the damage was done. All we could do was stop the bleeding, in the words of our Customer Service Maven, Shelley Ryan.

In such times, the only thing you can do is apologize, sincerely and profusely-and take the necessary steps to ensure that our list isn’t subject to that sort of misuse ever again. So most of the people on our small staff dropped whatever was at hand and personally responded to every individual complaint we received. (And there were a lot.)

We also immediately drafted a final email of apology (subject line: “We goofed-SORRY!”) in which Director of Membership Marketing Sharon Hudson explained and apologized for the error:

“Dear Valued Member: We are so sorry for the many messages you may have received from us today. It was not intentional. We’re running some sales tests right now, and we made a technical mistake in our selection process. Believe me, our hearts are heavy with regret for this error.

I assure you we are very protective of your email address, and would NEVER intentionally engage in this type of practice. Please forgive us.

If you have emailed us to complain, thank you. We hope to respond to each and every one of you personally as well. Thank you for your understanding.

For online publishers like MarketingProfs, our subscribers are both prized and highly valued. To offend any of you is anathema. When I asked Sharon about the lessons learned from the fiasco, here’s what she listed immediately:

1. First off, don’t do it again. Ever.

2. Check (and then double- and triple-check) email selection settings.

She added that the silver lining is that many of you expressed both sympathy and a true passion for MarketingProfs. While we had our share of nasty notes and unsubscribes, we also found that many readers were exceptionally kind andunderstanding.

I know its been a panic-stricken day; wrote one such subscriber. “But you’re dealing with MARKETING professionals, for goodness’ sake…. We’ve all done this or something like it before.”

Again, thank you. We appreciate your support.

Until next week,

Ann Handley

ann@marketingprofs.com

Chief Content Officer and Keeper of the Blog

www.marketingprofs.com

www.mpdailyfix.com

Today, I came across Irving Wladawsky-Berger’s blog post on The Essence of Blogging. Irving is the Vice President of Technical Strategy and Innovation for the IBM Corporation. I enjoyed Irving’s perspectives on the influence blogs are having on society, as well as the importance they can play in business when it comes to public relations, increasing awareness (and traffic to your website), and education.

The fact that IBM encourages employees to blog echoes the same policies of my employer, Twelve Horses. But what I especially enjoyed reading were the Policy and Guidelines that IBM established for the purposes of employee blogging.

The introduction for the Policy and Guidelines is refreshing because it illustrates the value of blogging for a company like IBM, and many others. The first paragraph states, “…it is very much in IBM’s interest – and, we believe, in each IBMer’s own – to be aware of this sphere of information, interaction and idea exchange.”

IBM recognizes the positive influence blogging can have on their company culture and encourages it. Employee blogging will assist IBM in continuing to be innovative and competitive because they are learning and contributing to a sphere that is rich with applicable and interactive information. Furthermore, it extends the company’s reach and influence because they are actually participating in the conversations that are going on in the blogosphere. The opportunity to form meaningful, valuable, and even profitable relationships with customers, resellers, or other partners can be just a comment, trackback, tag, post, or StubleUpon away.

Here is the Executive Summary, but I do recommend that you read the whole document because it goes into a more detailed discussion of each item.

Guidelines for IBM Bloggers: Executive Summary

1. Know and follow IBM’s Business Conduct Guidelines.
2. Blogs, wikis and other forms of online discourse are individual interactions, not corporate communications. IBMers are personally responsible for their posts. Be mindful that what you write will be public for a long time – protect your privacy.
3. Identify yourself – name and, when relevant, role at IBM – when you blog about IBM or IBM-related matters. And write in the first person. You must make it clear that you are speaking for yourself and not on behalf of IBM.
4. If you publish a blog or post to a blog and it has something to do with work you do or subjects associated with IBM, use a disclaimer such as this: “The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.”
5. Respect copyright, fair use and financial disclosure laws.
6. Don’t provide IBM’s or another’s confidential or other proprietary information.
7. Don’t cite or reference clients, partners or suppliers without their approval.
8. Respect your audience. Don’t use ethnic slurs, personal insults, obscenity, etc., and show proper consideration for others’ privacy and for topics that may be considered objectionable or inflammatory – such as politics and religion.
9. Find out who else is blogging on the topic, and cite them.
10. Don’t pick fights, be the first to correct your own mistakes, and don’t alter previous posts without indicating that you have done so.
11. Try to add value. Provide worthwhile information and perspective.

Technorati : blogosphere, company blogs, employee blogging