Subject: Re: Help! a typo is causing me grief
Thu Oct 01 14:01:01 1998



>We just had a very large mailing go out with a significant typo in a web
>address. Instead of 
>
><HTTP://www.sitename.on.ca/department/>
>
>the brochure reads
>
><HTTP://www.sitename/department/>
>
>Since the brochure has gone out, I can't fix the print job. I can think
>of a workable solution, but I'd be extremely appreciative of any perls
>of wisdom that could be extracted from the collective experience on this
>list. 


does www.sitename.com exist?   if so, it's worth hauling out the begging
bowl and writing to their webmaster to ask for a link.   the worst they
can do is say no.

it's also a good situation in which to be honest about screwing up.. put
up a page that says, 

   "we blew it on the brochures.   if you've gotten here, obviously you
    guessed right.   if you know anyone else who's gotten a brochure, 
    please let them know the right URL."


it's not like you'll be able to hide the mistake.. you may as well shoot
for whatever points you can get on style.   

turn it into setup for a promotion opportunity on the next brochure..
make dead certain you get the URL right next time, then print it in
40-point type, bright red, and say "this one really works!"   that'll
draw a few more eyes to your site, and is almost guaranteed to make
people remember the URL.