Hugh’s Blog

Old is new

I hosted a webinar this week with Michael Katz (http://www.bluepenguindevelopment.com/) on e-newsletter. It was a small breath of fresh air.

Michael reminded us of the importance of connections and providing value for the people you want to connect with. As simple as that. And he repeatedly admonished us to not sell. “I’m never trying to sell them” he said “just connect and let them make up their mind”.

We are clearly in a world of high-tech, 24/7, e-buzz. You can’t escape it even if you tried (which is not likely to be a practical idea). The rush to be ‘connected’ is on. Facebook is continuing to add about 5M users (a month!), some 19% of Internet users are on Twitter (or some alternative) to share/see updates and 10-15% of corporate band width is now estimated to be consumed by social media site use.

So newsletters are new all over again.

Just imagine 500-600 words! It’s like a…a…a Yes that’s right kids, it’s like a real article and you wrote it. What a concept.

Here’s another surprise. Snail mail is getting traction as a direct mail campaign tool. I love the example I came across (http://bit.ly/cSYPO5) of audible.com, the audio book company using snail mail to get people to sign up for emails! It seems that the lowly, much maligned letter now trumps the hundreds of tweets, blogs and email that roll across your screen daily.

What’s the message? Simple, don’t assume that just because millions are putting the faith in social media means that they know what they are doing or that it’s working for them. Sometimes the ‘old stuff’ that you already know a lot about is the best strategy.

Drop me a line and let me know what you think…

Hugh D. Culver is a thought leader in personal performance at work. He has worked with over 450 organizations to inspire change, growth and success in the workplace. You can reach Hugh at hugh@HughCulver.com