Ever had the "oh the sh*t!" moment in your work?
Learn how to correct your errors and profit from these mistakes
As you build your online business, mistakes can be a part of the process. If you make a mistake and send out a broken link, or announce a wrong date.
Every business owner knows the familiar feeling when you realize the thousands or hundreds of others saw something you hadn't thought of doing.
Your heart sinks. You wish the time machine was around, if only to right the wrong. As some people sigh in silent and let their anxieties run wild, others find themselves sprinting down the hall, muttering "I have done a wrong thing. I did a bad thing."
That's the way Tara Sota once did. As an inventor of vaginal dilation, Tara had switched gears in order to aid her business partner with another product entirely: personalized golf cart mats. She accidentally sent out seven hundred golfers with an address to the website of the vaginal dilator. Although Tara could look back at it and laugh at it she claims it was "by all accounts, the largest error (she's) suffered."
Tara's is one of many entrepreneurial war stories that we've collected useful lessons from. Recovering gracefully from your "oh what a mess!" moments doesn't have to be nearly as hard as it may seem.
Here are some creative ways to make sure you don't just admit your errors to your viewers, but to also utilize them for your benefit.
6 strategic ways to fix silly mistakes
1. "oops!" email "oops!" email
The most popular method of apologizing for a business in email, it gives the owner an opportunity to clarify their position and send the right data.
The majority of entrepreneurs believe that even a small apology could help humanize your brand. If you admit that you've made a mistake by apologizing, your customers will see they are valued.
Additionally, recipients tend to be more likely to open the email if they see "oops" on the subject. Entrepreneurs we interviewed said they had open rates as high as 80percent on correction emails.
Scott Vogel of The Marketing Solution Institute and be a Video Pro once conducted the marketing of postcards for his client, one of the leading hotels in the world. The aim was to establish an email list through driving offline traffic towards an online promotion. New subscribers, whom were observed demographically as well as psychographically, received an email certificate for a free steak dinner at the hotel's high-end restaurant.
Everything was set when Scott was out of town to address an event, or, at least, he thought that was the case. Then he realized he'd entered the wrong date in the calendar for the event: July 12 instead of July 11.
He replied quickly and explained his response quickly, pointing out that the marketing agency was the culprit, and but not the Hotel. Perhaps the message was sent out too quickly. In this case, the correct message had incorrectly listed the time.
"Holy hell!" he remembers.
Then, once more, He wrote another email that contained the subject line "Oops again" and admitted that he had been at fault. It is interesting to note that more people read the correction emails than did the first email.
In the end, the steak dinner was successful. The event was profitable for the hotel and the agency continued working in conjunction with the hotel. Even though Scott attempts to erase the errors in his email out of his mind, he's learned his lesson: "Always, always, ensure that everything is tested. Then, test it once more. That's why I love the test feature of email that doesn't make mistakes."
If you're wondering what to write in an email to correct the error aside, think about the language that is natural to your company's image. It's okay to have fun and show that you have some thing in common with the recipient.
Carina Glover is the creator of HerHeadquarters, a brand partnership application for female entrepreneurs. She introduces her oops message by saying, "Don't you hate when that happens?" or in some cases, a more playful strategy: "You know, I lost my streak. I had been clean for 60 days."
2. Be on your toes and think about how you can be active,
Maggie Giele, a business and marketing strategist was able to recall filming her first live-streamed video. It was sitting on the floor of her living space and her phone was set up. Starting out with shaky hands Maggie eventually settled in and settled into her rhythm. 10 minutes into watching the stream, she realized the view behind her didn't exactly convey a professional setting: a dining table full of empty beer bottles. The party she had hosted prior to the event.
"The moment I noticed the beer bottles, I had such one "OH A!" @!$" Moment," Maggie said. "My mind flew through my options for what to say next. I was tempted to laugh about it. I thought to myself, "Well I'm guessing you were able to see those bottles too? But I'm no drinking person, but I did have fun with some acquaintances last night!' After that, I went on."
Now Maggie employs that tale to advise clients. She informs them that there are things that could go wrong with live-streaming, but they'll find a way to overcome it.
"In situations like this, where it's personally embarrassing (I had a total fight-or-flight moment) it's really not something you are able to accomplish," she said. There's nothing you can do but stammer an awkward apology or laugh at your own self.
3. Meme it up
Sometimes, words escape you. It is possible to be so embarrassed because of the error that only a meme can capture the essence of your story. Simple images with a caption done right, can give your audience something to make them laugh, while also cutting off some of your slack.
Liz Wilcox, an email marketing expert and launch strategy copywriter, presented at a virtual summit recently and provided a significant offer to new subscribers of email. It was an instant hit. Within 48 hours, more than the 450 participants had registered.
However, Liz recognized something was not right as she began to be bombarded by Facebook alerts and emails from subscribers. The people weren't receiving their freebies. In the meantime, existing customers had become subscribed twice, which meant they were getting duplicate emails. There was something wrong with her email system.
Any other kind of company could be able to explain an issue with technology, the glitch was extremely painful for Liz who just taught hundreds of attendees about the exact topic that had gone wrong.
"So this is me talking about email marketing and they've just learnt all kinds of wonderful things -- and my ConvertKit had gone on the fritz," she said.
So Liz made this meme as she recreated her email sequence completely from scratch.
The meme helped Liz explain the mistake in her own quirky way.
"It was kind of on brand for me because I always tell people I'm only semiprofessional here," she said jokingly.
For other entrepreneurs experiencing an awkward moment, she advises, "Just have fun with your experience and avoid thinking about it too much. People will see the vulnerability in you and also your humanity. This will help them actually love you even more."
4. Offer a discount ... and make yourself the butt of the gag
Drizly, also known as the "Amazon for liquor," is an alcohol e-commerce platform that operates in more than 100 locations across both the United States and Canada. A recent email malfunction, Drizly butchered its personalized attempts across multiple locations.
The subject line read: "I can't wait to consume alcoholic beverages delivered by your company" !"
The email began "Let's start this celebration", "name"
The problem gets even more savage. The email's body, in the area where Drizly was planning to provide specific product suggestions, the recipients were provided with a fake "Lorem Ipsum" Text with the price stated as $XX.XX. Oh the horror.
Below is the email that Drizly left afterward:
In this instance Drizly's actions went way beyond the simple apology email.
Who would read the mail and not be laughing? The "lol I don't know what that" subject line did wonders for the brand of alcohol and its customers. To add a little bit of smiles it was offered as a reward that included a self-deprecating quip in the promo coupon code"LOREMIPSUM.
5. Make a contest out of it
If you don't have the budget the space for discounts or other perks that can benefit all of your clients, you could nonetheless engage them through a sweepstakes contest.
If the San Francisco chapter of the American Marketing Association made a mistake in their email, they followed up with the subject line "Oops ... Find our typo and win (2) tickets to our summer party!"
The email stated:
There was a bump which we're prepared to compensate for it.
We spelled the wrong word in the email we received yesterday and we're living in shame for ever (or at least until this weekend).
The first two spelling enthusiasts that email us at info@info@info@. @*****.org and tell us which mistake they made will receive two tickets for our AMA SF Summer Partay on July 31st.
But even if you don't take home the prize, you are still able to attend this fun occasion. Find tickets here.
Look at how brief and easy the follow-up email you send? Note the way AMA employed the final sentence to advertise their event the final time and not be pushy.
6. Enjoy your slip-up by celebrating it with social media and experiences
Billboard typos are glaringly evident -- possibly more so than email typos. The company that provides phone service, Visible, discovered that by accident when they launched a series of billboards across Denver, CO offering "unlimited massages, minutes and information."
The word "massage" is not a message -- a mistake that sends chills down the spine of every proofreader.
Initially, this typo was the subject of the attention of some jolly Twitter trolling as well as some LMFAOs.
With the buzz on the internet that included a tweet by an local CBS anchor, Visible chose to take advantage of the moment and continue to make jokes. According to Chief Marketing Manager of the company, the phone service company responded with a series of social jokes, including "oh we cram (instead of crap) We've made a mistake," and "Hey we offer a telephone service considers you will to really work (instead of requiring)."
In response to a tweet that contained sharp hashtags aimed at copywriters, Visible used the thread as a recruiting opportunity.
Topping all corporate responses ever sent to correct a typo, Visible kept their word regarding the massages for free. The phone services company held a one-day occasion in Denver offering free massages, no strings attached. For a sweet deal, they offered free eye creams, kombucha as well as essential oil bracelets. Also, of course, a place for charging your smartphone during the massage.
The lesson of failing
Each mistake has a painful aftermath. But if you allow yourself some time to reflect on the situation, you'll end as a smarter, more robust entrepreneur. Here's a few lessons our brave entrepreneurs learned:
Don't work while tired
HerHeadquarters the founder Carina Glover sent an email to potential investor, referring to her company in the form of "HerHeadache." In the time, she'd been struggling to get through an awful anxiety. Carina quickly realized the error in the split second the email went out. In a few minutes she got a notice that the investor had read the email.
"That just crushed me even more" she recalls.
But Carina took a moment to reflect and wrote in her apology email "I'm an excellent founder, and I'm a hard worker and I'm not afraid to face the pain of."
Then she realized that trying to proofread her own work when exhausted was working against her. It is easy to fall into the trap of relying on your memory instead of reading the text in the front of you.
"My approach has been , 'No excuses. It's done.'" Carina said. "But this does not mean that I must neglect myself. Now I take breaks when I'm in need of it."
You can forgive yourself
If Jenn Robbinsaccidentally sent out a Frankenstein email using parts and pieces from three emails stitched together, she initially was concerned about the impression it would leave on prospective clients. Jenn works as a copywriter that specialises in funnels. She thought of potential clients thinking, "She can't even schedule the emails she writes herself."
In the end, a quick apology email was enough. She forgave herself and moved on.
After all, failures are a part of entrepreneurship.
Albert Einstein once said, "Anyone who hasn't committed a mistake hasn't tried anything novel."
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