That’s right! You heard it here first. I am giving out FREE HUGS in 2010. To claim yours, simply approach me on sight and tell me that you want your free hug and I will oblige with all due speed and decorum.
Now what in the wide, wide world of sports does this have to do with email marketing? Simply stated, everything. But before I explain, I must first digress.
You see, in 2004, an Australian man who goes by the moniker “Juan Mann” Battling depression & loneliness, he wandered into a party and received the gift of his life from a stranger. The gift? It was a simple hug—a hug that helped shake Mann out of his doldrums and inspired him to do something crazy. Mann promptly wrote the words “FREE HUGS” on a sign and then started walking the Pitt Street Mall in Sydney looking to give free hugs to anyone who asked.
At first, strangers avoided Mann like the plague. But then, one older woman took him up on the offer, then another person, and another. And now, nearly six years later, his FREE HUGS campaign has spawned spontaneous & random acts of kindness the world around (as well as one of YouTube’s most viewed videos)
Yes, Juan Mann made a difference and started a movement.
The question is whether in 2010 you will be that “Juan Mann” for your organization. Will you break out from behind your marketing dashboard, laptop, cubicle and other corporate restraints to actually meet with those customers, subscribers, friends & followers upon whom your business relies for its very existence? And if you do, are you prepared to give them the hug they so richly deserve?
My resolution is to do just that in 2010. FREE HUGS cut through the technology and connect people to people. They remind us that we aren’t merely the sum for our inboxes, Facebook updates, and tweets. They also remind us that to truly understand our subscribers needs as email marketers, we need to understand them as individuals with individuals needs. They remind us that SUBSCRIBERS RULE!
Looking for more resolutions to help you get more from your email marketing efforts in 2010? Check out our new, hot-off-the-presses piece entitled, “Five Resolutions Every Marketer Must Make in 2010." We couldn’t fit my hug in there, but I trust that you’ll take me up on the offer be it on the road, at an industry conference or at Connections 2010!
Now what in the wide, wide world of sports does this have to do with email marketing? Simply stated, everything. But before I explain, I must first digress.
You see, in 2004, an Australian man who goes by the moniker “Juan Mann” Battling depression & loneliness, he wandered into a party and received the gift of his life from a stranger. The gift? It was a simple hug—a hug that helped shake Mann out of his doldrums and inspired him to do something crazy. Mann promptly wrote the words “FREE HUGS” on a sign and then started walking the Pitt Street Mall in Sydney looking to give free hugs to anyone who asked.
At first, strangers avoided Mann like the plague. But then, one older woman took him up on the offer, then another person, and another. And now, nearly six years later, his FREE HUGS campaign has spawned spontaneous & random acts of kindness the world around (as well as one of YouTube’s most viewed videos)
Yes, Juan Mann made a difference and started a movement.
The question is whether in 2010 you will be that “Juan Mann” for your organization. Will you break out from behind your marketing dashboard, laptop, cubicle and other corporate restraints to actually meet with those customers, subscribers, friends & followers upon whom your business relies for its very existence? And if you do, are you prepared to give them the hug they so richly deserve?
My resolution is to do just that in 2010. FREE HUGS cut through the technology and connect people to people. They remind us that we aren’t merely the sum for our inboxes, Facebook updates, and tweets. They also remind us that to truly understand our subscribers needs as email marketers, we need to understand them as individuals with individuals needs. They remind us that SUBSCRIBERS RULE!
Looking for more resolutions to help you get more from your email marketing efforts in 2010? Check out our new, hot-off-the-presses piece entitled, “Five Resolutions Every Marketer Must Make in 2010." We couldn’t fit my hug in there, but I trust that you’ll take me up on the offer be it on the road, at an industry conference or at Connections 2010!
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