A Personal Story Backfires...

In trying to be more personal and share my own experiences, I goofed. Yesterday, I wrote about the San Diego fires in an email promotion. I said I thought the reason there weren't more deaths is that people were more prepared to evacuate early - much earlier than they were in 2003.

In that fire, there were more deaths because people waited until the last minute to evacuate. In my email message, I meant to express that preparation and caution were good things in times of disasters. Even though packing up and evacuating was a real pain for our household, being prepared is worth it.

Then I made an error in using this story. Here's my mistake: I went on to say that you need to be prepared and cautious about protecting your online business too.

The thing is, I used this example to promote a teleseminar we're giving next week on legal issues. I didn't see it at the time as being insensitive, but I do now. So I want to apologize to anyone I might have offended.

And, in the spirit of learning from one's mistakes, has this happened to you? Have you written something that backfired? Or, have you read other messages that seemed offensive or insensitive. (I don't want to be alone on this!)

Hit the comment link and share.

Comments

[Rosalind Joffe]

I think that anyone who is honest can say, Yup, I've said things that have offended or hurt some people. It's impossible not to if you're going to open your mouth. But having the ability to look at yourself and notice this and then acknowledge it is what it's all about. Thanks for sharing.