“Set this sh*t up for me” is NOT the way to approach me, and other bad decisions

Good morning!

You know one thing that's guaranteed to frost my petunias these days?

It's when complete strangers approach me in an aggressive manner and expect me to dash to their rescue.

Given my past week, it's a miracle that I'm still open and helpful (you might remember that a few days ago, I was attempting to glory in being a selfish b*tch.  While I failed that dismally ….it was still such a nice idea).  Add to that the fact I've managed to yet again run myself down more so than a monster truck rally that took place in quicksand, and you'll have a basic idea as to the state of my being right now.

Well!  There I was at Pizza Hut with my boys and their friend and her mom (an utterly wonderful woman!).  We were dining on the gourmet Pizza brunch when it hit me – my health!  It was less evident than zombies in a Girl Scout picnic!  But wait, I couldn't go on shut down mode just yet…I still had one more post to get out.
  But that shouldn't be *that* difficult….right?

Ho ho ho. 

Imagine my reaction, coming home to the following email.

"Your free sitebuilder was corrupt. The plr rights and sites are here but no prompts or guide is available. Why don't you come on down to my level and set this shit up for me. Do it once and I'll know. Do it twice and I'll remember it forever and can be a productive affliate promoter. Let's see if your real or like all of the other useless promoters. Please e-mail me personally.

Thank you."

Talk about making one's blood boil!

Well, actually, my blood *would* boil if I had the energy…right now, I'm lucky if my blood is able to power my body beyond my morning coffee.

Take a gander at those comments again:

Why don't you come on down to my level and set this shit up for me. Do it once and I'll know. Do it twice and I'll remember it forever and can be a productive affliate promoter. Let's see if your real or like all of the other useless promoters.

Doesn't email from complete strangers  like that make you want to jump and do their every bidding?

Yep.  Me neither.

The site builder in question did have a problem (my bad), so I did upload once more (btw, you should definitely grab it if you're into niche site building – it's the product at PLR Micro Niche Site Builder.  I bought it at the insanely cheap price it is set so I could rebrand it meself – it's definitely a no brainer! Download it for free here, and then buy it for yourself so you can do what I've done (I even include the PSD files I customized meself so you don't even need a design).

But do you *really* think I'd expend my own time on someone who uses that language with me?

Sorry folks, perhaps I'm from the older generation, but I treat others as I'd like to be treated meself.  Politeness rocks; being taken for granted….does *not*.

And it looks like I'm not the only marketer online who has experienced this – Tiffany Dow just wrote Thankless Selfish Subscribers Who Have No Business in Internet Marketing.  To wit:

…I’m about to go Honey Badger on someone so you’ve been warned. I did a video blog about it which you REALLY should watch if you can do video. It just has a better effect than mere text can do. But if you can’t do video, read my words below. Don’t worry about the red face and veins popping out of my head – I calm down in the end….LOL…MORE….

It's truly a tremendous read, I highly encourage you to add her blog to your feed and follow everything she writes.  She's a true gem in the industry.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…..

Let's apply this post to the most important person around, shall we? 

When you want to learn something from someone online, treat them as you'd like to be treated yourself.

Honestly, it's just plain basic common sense, aye?

Nobody has any reason to do *anything* for you.  You *must* take ownership of your own needs and your own requirements and *not* depend upon anyone else.

There's nothing wrong with asking for help, of course!  But always be aware of how you come across to the person reading your email.

They have failed Mind-reading 101, and they *will* color your words with their preconceived notions, life experiences and the like.

Trust me on this.  My spectacular failure of last week showed this admirably to me.  No matter how honest or sincere or good-at-heart you might be, if the recipient chooses to react with their own preconceived notions, you're toast.  Blackened, burnt, charred…..toast.

Ick.

Thus, for 2012, please do yourself a favor…and do not act as though you're doing someone a favor by challenging them to help you out.

You'll only lose out at the end.

Grow strong,

Barbara Ling

ps – there *is* hope for the gentleman who emailed me – I did get the response "So you are real. I applogize for my crudeness. Will try harder."  I certainly do hope so.

pps – speaking about marketing, have you seen: