Actually, I will be around [and hopefully for a while], which brings me on to the point of that admittedly misleading headline.
I’m seeing quite a few “Out Of Office” (OOO) email autoresponders recently.
An epidemic of them, if you’ll pardon the expression.
And these OOO messages are at the same time:
Impersonal
Unnecessary
Rude
If you’re a personal brand – and if you’re reading this, you are – nobody needs to know your whereabouts from one day to the next.
We just need to know you’re around if we need you.
Reply when you want [and if you want] with a personal response, or get someone else to reply.
Just don’t hit us with a schedule of your lack of presence.
Nothing says “my business and my clients are less important than my real life” more effectively than an OOO message.
If that’s what you want us to feel, then fine.
But there are more useful emotions you might want to create in our burgeoning relationship, right?
Love you lots
Jonny