posted 03 September 2001 17:24            

I won't reveal Alex's supersecret subject heading suggested in tranmail, but for the uninitiated: as may be guessed from tranmail #39, it is deliberately constructed to be "ambiguous". More precisely, it is deliberately constructed to mislead the agency person into thinking it might be from a potential client, rather than from a potential subcontractor. The "ambiguity" is just enough so that the person may not realize that he or she has been intentionally tricked.

It will be interesting to hear how people who are in the agency position feel about such trickery, once they realize it is deliberate. I myself definitely don't like being tricked. I have had the unhappy experience of getting e-mail messages with such deliberately misleading subject headings. I don't mind the unintentionally misleading ones that abound (I'm sure I've contributed my share), but I did not appreciate those that were quite clearly intended to make me open the message whether or not I had any interest in the real message or whether or not I had time to deal with that particular type of message right then and there. I didn't feel the writers had been oh-so-clever, but rather I felt used. This does not sound like a good way to start a business relationship, at the very least.

When I contact agencies with basic information about my services, I use a subject heading intended to make it clear that I am offering my services to them as a subcontractor - NOT looking for a translation agency to do a job for me. I don't want to mislead them. I don't want to make them open up my message prematurely on false pretenses - it's fine with me if they stick it into a "to read" folder for the time when they themselves decide to deal with potential additions to their database. It's also fine with me if they just delete without reading, if they are already filled up to the gills with free-lancers. I am not going to insist that they pay attention to me RIGHT NOW, like some ^&*!@%$ telemarketer. (Please excuse the uncharacteristic language....)

Of course, I want agencies to read my brilliant, carefully crafted message and instantly decide that they can't live without me. But deception is not the way to do it. Alex's suggestion of a deliberately "ambiguous" subject line is just a baby step away from those endless spam messages shouting "URGENT!!!!" when it's the same get-rich scam you've been seeing for years, or (my nomination for most irritating) claiming "This is the information you requested" when you never heard of them before and don't even have the physical equipment to use their product.

I suspect that Alex was not called on the carpet for his little "subject line" trick when he sent out info about his services to agencies only because people 1) gave him the benefit of the doubt (assuming that he just didn't know how to write a clear subject heading....) or 2) had provided an e-mail address that was only for resumes/inquiries from translators anyway or 3) hardly ever get requests from real clients by e-mail. Of course, perhaps he really did annoy more people than he realized - people who have already had their time wasted are most likely to just trash the message and not waste more time responding. Silence does not imply consent - or happiness with what was done.

We should always remember that we are dealing with real people at the other end - real people who have other things on their minds besides us. Whether it is our first contact or our umpteen millionth job for them, we should try to make our subject headings clear enough so that the busy people who have to deal with our messages can prioritize their IN box. That may seem boring, but it helps people keep some control over their lives (a hard thing to do these days).

Peace, Cathy Flick cathyf@infocom.com

posted 05 September 2001 22:35            

a lot of what you say carries great wisdom about building relationships on honest foundations.

But the fact remains that the job of the subject line is to get the email opened.

Once it is opened, the subject line is forgotten and the content is considered.

Using a subject line that appeals to the prospective client without lying and without being too specific either is, in my experience, more effective. You may not like it, but that is the truth.

Could it be the email equivalent of using an A4 white envelope to send your resume instead of folding it into 3 to fit in a DL envelope? That's the way I see it. Not a baby-step away from spamming.

Get your email opened and filed. That's your goal. I don't advocate dishonesty. Tell the truth, but tell it well. That is what marketing is all about.

posted 17 January 2002 00:33            

This is a tough question with good arguments on both sides. However, I definitely support Cathy on this one. In fact, this was one of the few pieces of advice that I did not agree with from Alex's e-book.

Yes, I do want to make sales but I am not so hungry that I will put a deceptive title in my e-mail to get people to open it. Cathy's question remains, can you be just as effective in your marketing with a clear, concise subject line? And even more importantly, can you feel good about yourself and your ethical standards after sending your e-mail?

So, is the job of your subject line to get your mail opened? Or is it to make you feel good about yourself, your work, your life? Actually I think all of these things can be achieved in the subject line doing it Cathy's way. I wouldn't feel good about myself if I did it Alex's way though. Getting philosophical here but that's where we seem to be going. Take care.

posted 17 January 2002 16:42            

Being a translator, I realise that being totally honest with your clients from the word go is the best policy. Honesty equals respect and all that.

But then again, having been a project manager and database co-ordinator (read: slave ), I also realise that deleting mails is far too easy when you're under stress (= all the time). For instance, if someone sent me mail with a header "English to Farsi translator", that was kept because these translators are hard to come by. But mails headed "French to English translator" were binned simply because there's such a lot of them! (Both mails and translators... ) Anything with no specific info at all, such as "Translator details" or "CV" also got binned because there was just no time to review them.

When it comes down to it, it's all a matter of time. If you're waiting for 30 urgent jobs and your inbox is stuffed with "CV"-headed mails, you tend to lose your sense of humour and just bin the lot. Brutal, but true.

So where's the middle ground? I don't see anything wrong in putting a more neutral subject header on mails, type "Excellent translation!" (could be a client referring to a translation). But not "Translation request" - that's just annoying and guarantees a quick trip to the trashcan.

I think the key lies in my statement above - you lose your sense of humour when faced with loads of e-mail which you don't need. So why not help the PMs get it back?! I'd be certain to open a mail headed something along the lines of "Amazingly brilliant translator for sale!" or somesuch. (But come up with something more witty - I'm not very good at snappy one-liners!! ) I'd think that someone with that much cheek had to be worth a look.

I'm really not sure about the success of using really misleading subject headers - I can't say I ever tried it myself, and I never, ever open mails along the lines of "Win a million!". So I can't really comment on that. It's an interesting idea, but it depends on how it's executed, I suppose.

All in all, sending your CV by e-mail is a bit of a gamble - it's much too easy to hit that delete key. I personally prefer to go for the hard copy approach. Yes, it's more expensive and time-consuming, and the round filing cabinet on the floor is always there - but at the end of the day, while hitting Delete causes me no sleepless nights whatsoever, chucking someone's lovingly created and printed CV in the bin is harder. Especially if they send presents too.

But then again, if you're going for quantity, e-mail is the best approach by far. Only you can decide...

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apollo@translatortips.net

posted 21 January 2002 15:12            

quote:

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Originally posted by Martin Louis:
Sorry Alex Although I can't recall the offending line.

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This thread is taking a nasty turn People are judging blind on something.

For crying out loud, the subject line in question is...

translation

...is that so bad? The point is that it can be thought to be a translation request or a translator CV. It's just a clever little trick that gets your email opened. It hardly ranks as a baby step away from spamming.

And it certainly is not deceitful. You are writing about translation. That's what you're offering them isn't it? Translation services.

posted 22 January 2002 11:19            

it was not specifically just your post.

The whole thread got carried away Chinese whispers style. What someone says in one post becomes the truth later on down the line. Closing the thread now.