Having typed your name and pressed "SEND" I know who you are—a member of my family of readers. I then hand-enter your name and email address into Constant Contact. So I screwed up. The typefaces matched; the sizes did not. As I said, "Good gotcha."Two Reasons Why I Erred
1. I was careless. Sloppy.
2. The Creeps at Yahoo.
I have used Yahoo for a lot of years. I hate the bastards for a whole lot of reasons. Here's a damned good reason—Yahoo's naked theft of my private emails and selling the contents to strangers. For years, Yahoo has faithfully allowed me to use Verdana type (they call it "Modern") in my email messages. Lately, however, when I write an email in "Modern" type, for some reason the message goes out in Times ("Classic" in Yahoo-speak). My signature and address were in Verdana. The salutation and message was in Times. The whole thing was clearly impersonal. I said screw it, I'll make everything in Times.
Same thing with type size. I have crappy eyesight—20/400 plus cataracts. I miss subtle differences. The salutation might be bigger or smaller.
Not said on your part—but implied: I am a hypocrite. I don't give a damn.
Well, I do give a damn.
I do my best in this digital world to personalize the impersonal.
For a guy 83, dealing with technology is a bitch. I will go to my grave trying to persuade the world that human beings are not simply blips of data.
In short, I am sorry for my error. I am as offended at myself as you are with me.
Thanks again for taking the time to write.
Do keep in touch.
And never be shy about giving me hell when I deserve it!
Cheers.
P.S. Regarding your closing admonition:
You wrote:
>>I would have simply used the salutation 'Dear Henry'.<<
My response: We have never met. Until now, I have never heard of you. I am a traditionalist who believes addressing a complete stranger by the first name is impertinent.
For example, I wouldn't dream of addressing the President of the United State as Dear Donald...
• Regarding the honorific of Mr., Mrs., or Miss, you do not always know a person's gender by the first name. At my first job in publishing many years ago, the company had a longtime, very distinguished author of children's books, Noel Streatfeild, OBE. In my first week on the job I wrote a letter to Mr. Noel Streatfeild with the salutation, Dear Mr. Streatfeild. Noel Streatfeild was a woman. I got roundly reamed out by the president of the company.
• So IMHO, the proper salutation to a stranger is Dear [First name] [Last name].
• In my second letter to you, I addressed you as "Dear Henry." That's because your initial letter to me started, "Dear Denny." That was you signal to me that we are now on a first-name basis.
Takeaways to Consider
• "The two basic tenets of selling are:
1) People buy from other people more happily than from faceless corporations.
2) In the marketplace as in theater, there is indeed a factor at work called "the willing suspension of disbelief.
Who stands behind our pancakes? Aunt Jamima. Our angel food cake? Betty Crocker. Our coffee? Juan Valdez. Anyone over the age of three knows that it's all a myth. But like Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy, the myths are comforting." —Bill Jayme, Legendary Freelancer
• Always remember L.L. Bean's Personal Guarantee:
This was not some nameless "We" of a faceless corporation. This was signed in blood by the owner himself who had brass balls that went CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
• On the subject of envelopes in your mail [and the salutation in your email]:
"People first look at their name. To see if it's correctly spelled. If the initials and title are right, it's for them!" —Dr. Siegfried Vögele (1931-2014), The Handbook of Direct Mail.
• In short, if you decide to personalize a message, getting it right is essential. If the person's name is wrong, you are incompetent and thereafter everything from you is suspect.
• I hate Dear Sir/Madam or Dear Friend. But it's more honest than Dear Hatch, Denny.
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Word Count: 2,080
At age 15, Denny Hatch—as a lowly apprentice—wrote his first news release for a Connecticut summer theater. To his astonishment it ran verbatim in The Middletown Press. He was instantly hooked on writing. After a two-year stint in the U.S. Army (1958-60), Denny had nine jobs in his first 12 years in business. He was fired from five of them and went on to save two businesses and start three others. One of his businesses—WHO’S MAILING WHAT! newsletter and archive service founded in 1984—revolutionized the science of how to measure the success of competitors’ direct mail. In the past 55 years he has been a book club director, magazine publisher, advertising copywriter/designer, editor, journalist and marketing consultant. He is the author of four published novels and seven books on business and marketing.
CONTACT
Denny Hatch
The St. James
200 West Washington Square, #3007
Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-644-9526
dennyhatch@yahoo.com
Note to Readers:
May I send you an alert when each new blog is posted? If so, kindly give me the okay by sending your First Name, Last Name and e-mail to dennyhatch@yahoo.com. I guarantee your personal information will not be shared with anyone at any time for any reason. I look forward to being in touch!
Invitation to Marketers and Direct Marketers:
Guest Blog Posts Are Welcome.
If you have a marketing story to tell, case history, concept to propose or a memoir, give a shout. I’ll get right back to you. I am: dennyhatch@yahoo.com
215-644-9526 (rings on my desk).
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