Louis Sideways, founder of Sideways Marketing, had one more important task to finish before the year ended. He needed to write an out-of-office reply that made everyone think he was still working while also making it clear he was not responding. Below are his thought processes.
Listen, hopefully you can spend your last two weeks of the year in a quaint New England town or snowed-in at a ski resort. But even if you find yourself in El Paso or Cincinnati, there’s no need to work the last two weeks of the year. There’s certainly no reason to waste valuable vacation time.
The solution is a grand out-of-office email reply.
I start the message with a bland comment about how grateful I am for all the people in my life and say that, during this holiday season, I want to acknowledge them so they feel seen right away.
Then, I say that for every client and coworker, I feel like I have really seen a lot of growth. This makes the sender feel like they’ve accomplished something this year.
I mention that, as kids are opening their presents from Santa, we were part of that process. Marketers, of course, are the North Pole’s best friends. This allows everyone to acknowledge the importance of Sideways Marketing.
Next, I say that I have entered into my end-of-year period of reflection. I don’t acknowledge how many egg nogs I’ll be drinking or how many carols I’ll be rewriting with insulting lyrics to sing to my relatives. I just say that I’ll reflect. It stirs up images of me sitting by the fire with a notebook, not a bowl full of Jello.
Finally, I like to end my out-of-office reply by hoping the person writing can take some time to relax this year. As they’re whipping up a hot chocolate this season, think of me, starting to market the new year.
Finally, I include a link to a YouTube video of a bunch of kids singing Jingle Bell Rock. The video is so terrible that the person who opened the link will immediately throw their phone across the room and forget all about emailing me.
I hope this helps you. Happy New Year!