|
|
September 11 2003
Publisher's Note: "Blog, blog, blog" and Other Thoughts from my Email World
Earlier this week I was on a panel of speakers put together by The New Media Society. The topic? Blogs, specifically blogging for business. When I was asked to be on the panel, the host suggested that I might be their 'contrarian' panelist -- the one who wasn't swayed by the hype and who might not be as enamored of the new technology as the rest of the group.
For the record, it's not that I'm against blogs. The first website project I was part of, for a business publisher in the mid-1990's, included what I consider to be a type of blog: an area where journalists would post things they learned that didn't get included, for whatever reason, in the final version of their stories. The idea was that these tidbits had value and should be shared with readers, even if they didn't quite 'fit' in any particular story that day. My recollection (it may be incorrect) is that this area of the website wasn't included in the launch; I want to say it had something to do with the need to fact-check, a lack of resources to do so, potential legal concerns and reluctance on the part of some reporters and editors to do the extra work it would take to get these up on the website.
But back to the present. My fellow panelists kept coming up with great uses for blogs -- from private intranet communication between colleagues within an organization to distributing industry-specific content to subscribers. It's not that these are bad ideas, they just don't strike me as new -- back in the late 1980's I was a member of the CompuServe office that developed and managed private networks for Marriott hotels -- where hotel managers and other employees used discussion lists and other online tools to share ideas and help each other address issues. And as far as distributing content, despite all the issues with delivery and spam (which RSS may help -- see my last publisher's note), e-mail, not blogs, are still king.
One panelist, my friend Debbie Weil (Wordbiz Report), at one point announced the death of e-mail. She quickly took it back when I and other like-minded folks in the audience disagreed and provided concrete examples of recent e-mail successes. Why are people so blinded by a new medium that they rush to throw out the old one?
Am I anti-blog? No. In fact, there are a few I read regularly, including E-Media Tidbits by Poynter.org and Anne Holland's (of MarketingSherpa fame) ContentBlog. I just think it's important to keep it all in perspective. Just as some messages are suited to leaving verbally on voice mail and others are much better delivered via e-mail, some content is a good fit for blogs and other content is not. It's knowing the difference and choosing the appropriate channel for your message that will make you successful.
"Are you getting enough sleep?"
So began the e-mail from my Mother. Well, to be honest, probably not. It's been a bit crazy here. My creative team and I developed a test registration program for a client spanning 6 websites that launched last month; we're about to deliver the creative assets for the rollout-phase which encompasses another 5 websites (each with a unique design that our registration mirrors). It includes a contest (actually, we're testing two contests against each other in test phase) and an e-mail promotion to the client's house list (which went out today, thank goodness!). We're starting work on the next round of e-mail marketing initiatives for this client which begin mailing next month. And that's just one of the clients I'm working with right now. On top of all this, the calls for proposals keep coming in -- it's like the dam broke over Labor Day and all of a sudden people want to improve their e-mail marketing and they want to do it now.
It's not just me. Many of my colleagues are experiencing a similar surge in interest and desire on the part of organizations, large and small, to spend some money to 'do it right.' This combined with rosy statistics from the likes of DoubleClick and MarketingSherpa are a good sign for the industry. Even with all the issues swarming around e-mail, companies that do it right are having success. And will continue to, no matter what type of legislation is passed or how difficult it becomes to get past spam filters. If you're sending content your recipients want to receive, it will work. Is e-mail dead? It doesn't look that way from where I sit.
Upcoming Events - Join Me!
I've also been traveling a bunch. Here are some upcoming trips and events -- if you're in the area, shoot me an e-mail and let's meet for coffee!
September 16, Noon -- Newsletters and Electronic Publishers Association (NEPA) Luncheon, Washington, DC
September 18-19 -- Meetings in Providence, RI and Boston, MA
September 22, 5:45 -- Direct Marketing Association of Washington (DMAW) Happy Hour, Silver Spring, MD
September 24 -- DoubleClick Spam Forum, New York, NY
September 25 -- Forecast 2004 Conference, Media Post, New York, NY
October 8, 6:30 PM -- The New Media Society, Washington, DC
October 21, Noon -- Newsletter and Electronic Publishers Association (NEPA) Luncheon, Washington, DC
October 24 -- Meetings in Philadelphia, PA
early November -- Private Workshop at the Star-Tribune Newspaper, Minneapolis, MN
late November -- Meetings in Denver, CO
Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear what you have to say. Feel free to contact me with any thoughts or questions about this publisher's note.
|
|
The
Jennings Report
