OK.  It’s pretty much the middle of summer and we are still taking some vacations.

Many of us are afraid to let our clients know that we actually take time off, but come on, do you really want people to believe that you are available 24/7?  To me that broadcasts scarcity and that you don’t have enough business to warrant a vacation!

But, if you do take time off and you don’t mind letting people know via your out of the office (OOO) reply email, at least make it interesting.

I recently discovered a FREE service that will write a couple of really catchy out of office messages to replace that “sorry, I am out of the office with limited access to email” message that you have been using.  (Really?  It’s 2018 for crying out loud!)

Go to http://www.ooogenerator.com to check it out.  Answer a few simple questions and see what you get. I’m going to be out of the office from August 6th through August 8th, teaching a SRES course.  Here is what it wrote for me:

Message #1

Hi, you’ve reached Jerry Kidd’s ghost of vacations past. I’ll make sure your email gets read and responded to when he’s back at work on 8/9/18. But for now, it’s my job to make sure that he does a great job teaching while he’s away in Carmichael, CA.

If it’s urgent, reach out to my assistant at (925) 359-xxxx – I’m not scheduled to haunt them until later this year. Thank you and have a boo-tiful day!

Message #2

If you’re reading this email, I thank you for coming this far. Now, I’d like to invite you to go a little further….

If you need to reach me, travel to Carmichael, CA where I’ll be teaching a class until 8/9/18. There, on the highest peak, of the tallest mountain, you’ll find a small house with a red door. Open the door. Inside the house, you’ll meet a kind, old man who will give you a flower. When you understand that flower, you’ll know how to truly reach me.

For those of you not willing to take the journey, please wait until my return or call my assistant at (925) 359-xxxx.

If you didn’t like those, just go back and try again.

Here are two more:

Message #1

Once upon a time, Jerry discovered a magical land called vacation. It only lasted from August 1 to the 12th of never, but not a moment was wasted in this Kingdom free of Powerpoint and water cooler talk. Vacation land was filled with sleeping, eating, and goofing off. And, there were no emails to worry about because the urgent, timely ones were sent to my assistant at email@email.com.

Picture the peaceful vacation Kingdom. Now, go: Start planning your own enchanted journey.

Message #2

Did you know that most people in the US only use about 51% of their paid time off?

Well, I am not most people. I give everything 100%. EVERYTHING. Work, friends, family, my Netflix shows, you name it. And I plan to give my vacation days 100% which is why I’m on vacation in Maui until the 12th of never. If you need me before then, I’m sorry but I’ll be 100% dedicated to goofing off.

Feel free to reach out to my assistant at email@email.com if it’s an emergency. Thank you, and as always, keep it 100.

I’m pretty sure that should make even the pickiest of clients smile.

You can edit them before you decide to use them, so why not give it a try?