11/01/2008 by Tony Attwood.

A survey of US journalists by Brodeur suggests blogs are having a huge impact on the news - and not just on the news itself but also on the tone and editorial direction of the news.

The report says journalists do not feel that blogs generate exclusives; rather they see them as helpful in generating context and angles. As a result, 70% of reporters admitted to checking blogs regularly.

So… what? Well, it means that if you want your company to be noticed more, you need to be blogging more.

The problem is that not all companies possess anyone on the staff who is able to write a blog in an interesting and stimulating manner - nor do they have the ability to create a blog that is going to be noticed. We’ve all heard of blogs that get picked up by the nation, and have millions hanging on every word - but these are extremely rare and don’t normally deal with the every day world of manufacturing etc. Most blogs are read by virtually no one.

As with everything else there are ways of writing and ways of publishing blogs that get them read - and where that does happen there can be great results (providing of course you are saying things that are of interest to the wider world. Blogs that merely reflect on the fact that you have just launched a new version of the VX190plJU software tend to have a more limited appeal.)

The best routes thus far seem to be linking blogs to web sites, linking them to a regular email news or commentary service, and linking them to PR and direct mail campaigns. One survey which we reported earlier, suggested that pound for pound, blogging brings in far more revenue than using services such as Ad Words.

We (that is Hamilton House) have been experimenting a lot with blogs, and we are now trying to replicate the findings about Ad Words. Thus far we have had some real success in getting these notes noticed - both as email news items and through blogs.

If you would like to talk about it, do give me a call on 01536 399 000.

Tony Attwood

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04/01/2008 by Tony Attwood.

I don’t believe in simple answers - like “do this and you will make a fortune.” Life’s not like that, and direct mail isn’t like that.

But still, we all like simple answers - a single point that we can take evaluate our mailshots against. Then we can say, “ah that one worked because it had lots of Factor X” and “that one didn’t work because it didn’t have enough Factor X”

So, to start the new year, here is Factor X. It applies in most direct mail. It’s dead simple, and most firms sending out direct mail don’t do it.

The more your direct mail reflects the world-view of the recipient, the more successful it will be.

If you get sent a mailshot that reflects this approach, please send it to me and I will put it up on the internet for all to see. If you get sent one that totally does not reflect this approach, I’ll put that up as well, and we can all have a look and see if we agree. (If you send me one of your own and want me to comment on it, that’s fine too - and I guarantee that WON’T be put up for others to see - I’ll only be displaying ads that are in the public domain, in that they are being sent out to potential customers.

If you want to know more about what makes direct mail tick, it is on

http://www.theory.bz/start.html

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