Day 20: The Neon Man (Slash Coleman & PBS): Say Goodbye to Constant Contact

A year and a half ago I could send out a Facebook invite and get a great response. About 75% of all invites would actually RSVP and of those nearly 80% would actually show up. If I was trying to fill a 100 seat venue, during that time I could depend on at least 14 seats being filled from my Facebook invite efforts.

However, 6 months later a flip occurred which is about the same time Constant Contact started it's campaign off the web. The Facebook invite went belly up as everyone and their brother seemed to be flooding the Facebook in-box with them.  Try to send one now and you're lucky if anyone actually looks at them.

At about the same time, I noticed the number of Constant Contact users increased as well and my e-mail in-box was suddenly flooded with informal e-Newsletters - all of them looked the same - smart, glossy, professional and blah. What was once unusual became so old so fast that I, like a lot of other internet users, started deleting them almost immediately.

Now, if I'm holding an event and send out Facebook invites, my response rate has fallen to less than 3% which is what business books typically tell you is "normal."

In sending out my requests during the last few days via e-mail. I experimented with two different versions of an e-mail. Although they are both effective, can you guess which one is getting a better response?



E-mail #1

Hi emily, happy new year – I hope you are well!

I wanted to ask you a favor?

My show, The Neon Man and Me, has been picked up by a national distributor and will begin to air on PBS stations nationwide in March. But even though every PBS station has the opportunity to broadcast the show doesn't mean that they'll air it.  I wanted to ask if you would write one e-mail or call one station on my behalf? On my website at http://bit.ly/neonhelp there is a sample e-mail that you can cut-n-paste, a sample phone script and a station list. It’s extremely easy to use. Thanks in advance for your help. It means a lot. Slash

E-mail #2

Hi Emily, Happy New Year. I hope you are well!

I wanted to share some good news and to ask you a favor.  My show, The Neon Man and Me, has been picked up by a national distributor and will begin to air on PBS stations nationwide in March 2010. I’m excited because part of my mission from the beginning has been to inspire men and boys to talk openly about their feelings related to bereavement, loss, male friendship and other difficult topics.

Although every local PBS station has the opportunity to broadcast the show doesn't mean that they'll air it.  I would really be grateful if you would write an e-mail or call one PBS station on my behalf. On my website there is an e-mail that you can cut and paste, a sample phone script and a PBS station list. It’s extremely easy to use:  http://bit.ly/neonhelp.

Also, the program has three 15 second commercial spots available. For most companies, this is a great opportunity to reach a national PBS audience in a targeted demographic. If you know someone who might be interested in a commercial spot, please let me know and pass along this information to them.

Thank you in advance for your help. I truly appreciate it. I look forward to catching up with you soon! 

Slash 

Have you guessed?

Yep, e-mail #1! It  was created to look like someone who didn't know much about what they were doing created it. I purposely used lower case letters in the name and even in the subject bar. It's quick, easy to read and clear. In a world where we are flooded with information this is important to keep in mind. #1 sounds personal. #2 is kind of formal and sounds kind of spammy. In addition #2 is asking for two things, e-mail help and funding.

I continue to use both though because with some of my contacts I need to sound formal and with others I don't. Which would you prefer receiving?

For more info about "The Neon Man and Me" and other storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com