Email: A Prospective Client’s Guide to Not Being a Jerk

Given the nature of our business, it's probably no surprise that we, like most web professionals, are Email People™. We have our smartphones attached to us all the time, we eschew actually speaking on the phone and handle 99.9% of our business via email.  But, as the internet grows, and more and more previously "unconnected" people join the ranks of users, we realize that some people are just not Email People. I wouldn't call them ludites, per se, but some people prefer to talk or feel that the phone is faster -- and it can be, but can also result in unfocused chats, miscommunication or overlooked tasks because it wasn't discussed in the conference call. 

So we like email: it leaves a paper trail, allows us to reference your comments verbatim and like most creative or development professionals, it allows us to focus on work and prioritize communications for specific times during the day. Does this mean we'll never talk to you on the phone? Of course not. If a client wants to talk over the phone, we're more than happy to do so, but email is our preferrred method of communication.

That said, some folks aren't Email People™ because, well, they're simply bad at email. Their emails can be lacking in nuance, tone and common courtesy.  We do our best here at Moxie to open emails with a kind greeting, to thank the emailer for their inquiry (should it be their first), to use full sentences and proper punctuation and to show respect for your clients with professional grammar and a writing style that conveys our warm and jovial personalities. We're not dry and we don't expect our clients to be.

But some emails we receive are quite terse, without any pleasantries. It's understood that email is meant to be a "speedy" method of communication, but we don't believe that means you have to be a jerk.  We don't need you to sugarcoat it, but it is possible to get your point across in a professional and cordial manner while still maintaining brevity.

We appreciate respectful communication.  You don't need to "ma'am" us or be overly prim, but please remember that we are business owners and skilled professionals, just like you're a professional at whatever you do.  We are not your kid, your neighbor, or, despite some misconceptions, your employee. We are experts in what we do or you wouldn't have hired us.  We will never accept verbal abuse, unrealistic demands or blatant rudeness.

But we also don't love overly familiar interactions, either. If you're emailing me for the first time, please don't call me "honey" or  "sweetums".  That actually happened once. SWEETUMS.  I'm not on the pole here, sir.

Of course, none of our clients are like that -- our clients are awesome.  Why? Because we will usually ignore emails that are condescending, grossly undervalue our skillset or use netspeak, grammar and punctuation appalling enough to shock a teenager.

What we love in our emails:

• Greetings -- At least for the first one. Say hello,for pete's sake!  We're nice!
• Thank yous -- If you ask us to do something and we do it, especially if we do it tout de suite, please respond.  We don't need you to pen us a sonnet via skywriter, just a simple "Thanks!" will suffice. It can even be on Twitter.  
• Acknowledgement -- To that same end, if we take the time to reply to your inquiry, please hit us back with a "yay" or "nay".  We put aside client work and time with our families to read your request, to do preliminary research on your website and to formulate a thoughtful reply. We understand that we aren't going to be the designers for everyone and that perhaps our timeline/budget/moons don't align, but at the very least acknowledge our reply.  Don't leave us proverbially hangin'. 
• Spellcheck -- We realized typos happen, we make them, too. But when your email is laden with abbreviations, netspeak or misspelled words, we are  less inclined to reply or even try to figure out what you're talking about.
• Hours -- We want things to be convenient for our clients, so we don't really mind if you email us on the weekends or on national holidays. But please know that we're likely not going to reply until the next available business day. We work on the internet, we aren't open 24 hours -- so please don't send email after email after email on a Saturday night expecting a reply.  We have families and lives and need downtime to regenerate our mojo.  You wouldn't like it if someone called your house 6-8 times over the weekend , would you? For us, it's the same kind of thing.

This post was inspired by a great article I read this morning called Professional Communication 101 by Mike at BoyInk!  He breaks it down much more specifically.

In conclusion, we love email. And we probably will love working with you, too.

So be nice, would ya? 

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A Warm Wino’s Weekend

We've been slacking on Champagne Thursday -- just been too busy with actual work!  But with the temperatures rising (we're due for close to 100° this weekend in Vegas already), we bring you a refreshing drink found via Pinterest from Refinery29 -- a light and fruity Sangria Blanca.

I'm not a huge Sangria fan, as a rule. I like red wine and I like fruit, but I'm not into red wine and fruit. I know it's not very Euro of me, but I'm just, well... not that Euro, I guess. But, I do enjoy a white wine sangria from time to time. I just feel it pairs better with fruit.  I'm definitely giving this one a try -- and soon!

 

Sangria Blanca from Refinery29

This recipe makes 2 large pitchers.

• 2 white peaches
• 2 white nectarines
• 4 oranges
• 1 pint strawberries
• 2 bottles torrontes (or any non-oaked white wine)
• 1/2 cup rose infused simple syrup

Slice the peaches and nectarines into eigths or tenths, depending on how big the fruit is. The original recipe recommends cutting the oranges into "surpremes". The original author explains it thusly, "For the uninitiated, supremes are when you slice off the skin, and slice between the white membranes segmenting the fruit."  See? Then you can eat them easily when your drink is empty.

Halve the strawberries -- easy enough!  Now, simple syrup is easy to make, but I never feel like making it, to be honest.  But this seems simple enough, hence the name, so I'll probably give it a go, if I can find a rose.

To make the syrup, combine 1/3 cup of sugar and 1/3 cup of water. Add the petals of one small very fragrant rose or a 1/4 teaspoon rosewater (if you happen to have that?). Bring to a boil, and let it sit for 10 minutes to steep. Add the syrup and wine to the fruit, and let the mixture sit in the fridge for a few hours to combine.

DRINK. Refill and repeat. And once more with feeling.  Now you're enjoying your warm weekend!

 

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Bread All The Things

Joelle introduced me to BreadedCats.com not long ago and of course, since it's totally stupid and childish, we love it.  I've been a busy bee lately but I decided since it's Friday... Hashbrown Friday, I would take a 5 minute break to bread my dog.  Because that's what you do when you need a break. Doesn't everyone?  My dog Isabelle was a willing recipient since I let her eat the bread.  Please enjoy one of our breaded mascots:

 

Happy Friday!

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Nine Rhymes with Wine. Just an Observation.

Nine years ago today, Kathy said, probably in a blog comment, "I like you, let's be friends and make pretty things on the Internet."  And so it went... nine years, well over 500 sites, one book, six cities, two kids (hers), one bunny (mine) and a whole lot of coffee later, here we are... and I couldn't be happier.

I never really knew what I wanted to do "when I grew up".  Well, I take that back. I wanted to be a vet, a singer, a ballerina, an artist, a choir director, and back to a singer again. But I never really picked one. Then one fateful day in the late 90's, I started a hokey website on Angelfire.com and lo, the internet bug bit me.  HARD. A few years later, I started a blog, met Kathy with whom I became instant friends and ta da! Blog Moxie was born.

Lucky for me, Kathy knows unabashed raw talent when she sees it.  And, of course, modesty. ;-)

I am so grateful to be doing this job. I'm grateful for Kathy. And I'm grateful for the design and development communities, especially the Expression Engine community, for supporting us and being so awesome over the years. I love my job and our clients. I love how each day brings something new and the ever-evolving technology keeps me on my toes.

We're going a little retro today and re-posting our signature cocktail we developed one night in Palm Beach in 2005.  After several cocktails, I mean attempts, this is what we came up with, photographed here next to Buddha. Because that's totally normal.

The Moxie-tini

• 1 part Raspberry vodka (We used Three Olives)
• 2 parts Vodka (We used Grey Goose)
• 1/2 tsp of Raspberry liqueur (we like Chambord)
• 1/2 tsp of White Creme de Cacao

Fill a big martini glass with ice and water, set aside.  Fill a martini shaker with ice and all your liquors. Shake well, vigorously, but not so much that the ice becomes a crushed mess.  Empty the ice water out of your martini glass and strain your cocktail into the glass. You could rim the glass with pretty pink sugar or cocoa, or drop a fresh raspberry in the bottom of the glass, if you desire.  Drink. Repeat if you've got a snack and a designated driver.

Enjoy!

Who knows what the next nine years will bring... but there's no doubt, we'll be doing it with moxie!

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How Many Points in Breaded Cat?

So... apprently, this is a thing. A friend of mine sent me a link this morning for BreadedCats.com -- yet another in a long line of animal-related memes.  My first instinct was to go, "Poor kitties!  They can't possibly like that!" 

But then I saw this one and couldn't help but laugh.  I still can't imagine they enjoy that -- I wouldn't like someone wrapping bread around my head on a whim, but it's soft and, as long as it's done gently, it's not hurting anyone.

But Tortilla Cat is unamused.

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