Posts tagged email campaign
The Evolution from Technology to Content
Dec 14th
I recently read an interesting article that explored the histories of two former online titans, AOL and MySpace, web companies that seemed to have the world on a string. Once the leaders of two gigantic categories, Internet Service Providers and Social Network Media, what went so wrong?
While some bad business decisions, such as the disastrous “merger of the century” between Time Warner and AOL, certainly share some of the blame, that isn’t what killed either AOL or MySpace. No, what took these companies to the brink was the outdated technology they offered to consumers.
AOL’s core business in the ’90s was dial-up Internet, which was wildly profitable then. Their groundbreaking platform was many people’s first introduction to the Internet and World Wide Web, including my own. (akl26jimbo, for those of you that have known me long enough to remember) But it seems that very quickly the introduction of Cable Internet and DSL made AOL’s technology obsolete. The tides turned quickly, and the company was too slow to respond.
MySpace had a similar experience. They were the first company to introduce social networking technology to the masses, and grew rapidly at the beginning. But their platform, while groundbreaking and innovative, was also unrefined More >
Why Slashing Your Marketing Now Is Such A Poor Decision
Dec 1st
When you read the news about our current economy, it’s easy to become confused. Is the economy getting better? Standing still? Continuing to decline? I guess it depends on who you ask. And hey, the stock market is doing great! And lots of folks see that as a sign that our economy is on healthy footing. Today someone on CNBC today was even touting “Dow 12,000” by the end of this year. Can you imagine that?
After all we’ve been through that’s hard to believe - starting with the collapse of Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, the sub-prime mortgage crisis and credit crunch, and then government takeovers and massive bailouts. Then throw in record unemployment, a weakening dollar, huge government borrowing, and record bank closures. You get the idea. Yes, we were saved from the brink. But things still hardly qualify as “normal” these days. And we are now talking about Dow 12,000?
But what has become crystal clear that some of the challenges that we are currently facing WILL be here for a while. Unemployment is now over 10%, and if you count those that are under-employed or have given up looking entirely, the numbers are significantly higher. Most economists agree More >
The End Of Snail Mail ?
Dec 1st
I just saw on the news that up to 700 Post Office locations may be closed, and service on Saturday may come to an end. The reasons are pretty straightforward – fewer and fewer people are using the postal service, and there isn’t enough revenue.
Most of the time, the only things in my own mailbox are bills or an occasional account statement. And even these items are a vanishing breed, as more folks sign up for online billing options and “E-Statement” products.
It’s hard to speculate what the USPS will look like in 2015 or 2020, but it may be very different than what we all grew up with. Further cuts in service seem inevitable, and the bi-annual postage increases that we have recently come to expect are probably permanent.
Now I guess you could say that these are all “good” developments for someone in my business, which I will broadly refer to as E-marketing. Every new cost increase or service cut simply makes my own product more attractive!
But I think even though it isn’t an immediate threat, it would be quite a shame to see the Post Office go away completely.
Although I haven’t sent a hand-written letter through the mail in More >
