The Art of the Word…
Letter writing has forever been integral, and honored as a means of communication – and surely deemed “art” in the past. It is fast dying, which is sad. But it makes me wonder: what comprises a good message in this digital age?
History shows us that crafting a meaningful, thoughtful and relevant message was almost key to survival. Love, escape, family health, politics. It was the only means of communication before the telephone (don’t get me started on the Pony Express). Even Julia Child had to correspond with her colleagues, to write one of the most relevant cookbooks to this day. They did it by post, and later by phone.
So when you think about your email or blogs, remember that from line, subject line, content construction and message meaning is KEY to success.
Pretend you are trapped in the 19th century. You MUST write something so relevant that your loved recipient cannot ascertain ANY OTHER meaning, and you continue to enthrall them, and hold them dear. And wait with baited breath for a response. That’s your goal, right? And we love our customers. We should. They pay our bills.
When you think about constructing a message (which will impact your KPI or your ROI)… don’t throw out the usual crap everyone is doing now (an offer, a sweep, a discount you’ve been offering with every email). GRAB THEIR ATTENTION. Sit and think.
And think outside of the box. And keep it short. The digital age has revolutionized the “short attention span” as we all know. So you have to be VERY creative. This is good. You can do it.
March 2nd, 2011 at 10:42 am
Jaime, thank you.
I have a friend in NYC I love. She and I decided we would find the CRAZIEST things to write letters on to each other. These include a greasy paper bag from a hamburger take-out meal (every crease and side filled!) We have also invoked whomever was sitting beside us at the time. I’ve had strangers write notes on letters to her I’ve never met, yet they were game.
It truly is a losing art. And one I want to resurrect.
In my industry, people are not paying attention to the WEALTH of art at their hands… if they would just think about it….
Thanks so much for the comment. You made my day.
Dori
March 2nd, 2011 at 10:03 am
Dori,
I finally had a moment to sit and read your blog and I truly enjoyed envisioning you saying all of this good stuff. This particular blog stuck out to me because of this amazing thing that happened to me a little over a year ago. While packing up my newly sold house, I found an old suitcase in my basement. I smiled to myself because I immediately knew what was inside. For 30 years, I had saved all of the cards and letters sent to me by dear friends and loves in my life and put them inside this suitcase. Somewhere along the way, I stopped doing it and the suitcase ended up tucked away on a dusty shelf beneath cans of paint and other forgotten boxes. Though I had a ton of work to do packing up my house, I took the suitcase upstairs to my bedroom and sat up a good portion of that night reading all of them…laughing…crying and filing them into individual folders. I put them back into the suitcase and left it sitting there by my bed for the next few weeks while I dismantled my home.
As the final days approached before I had to leave my home of 20 years, I decided to send the files to all of the people with whom I had kept contact. Some of these packets were very thick and required boxes and some only had 2 or 3 letters but one by one, out into the U.S. Postal System they went. Within days I started receiving calls and emails from the recipients and the reactions ranged from tears of joy and remembrance to people who felt like they had just won the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes. I was told over and over again that this file of cards and letters was the BEST gift they had ever received. They were thrilled and honored that I had kept their writings and thoughts over the years since it offered them a look back at all of our evolutionary processes.
This was a simple act and and the unwarranted payoff was overwhelming.
I recommend writing a personal letter to a dear friend or colleague as soon as possible.
As always Dori, keep putting great things out to the universe.
Jaime Donegan