Leave the Hang-Ups To Us

How do you network?

by Colleen McCarty, VP Talent and Organization Development

Recently my husband was cleaning out his memorabilia and was reminded of an old friend from high school. Nostalgic, he googled his friend, found an email address, and sent his friend an email. Within minutes his email was returned with the message:

“I just facebooked you last week!”*

So have you facebooked anyone lately? And is it business or pleasure?

Personally, I like LinkedIn as I network for business. Apparently that shows my age as the May 2008 issue of Selling Power Magazine suggests that professionals 30 and over prefer LinkedIn while those under 30 prefer FaceBook.  Linked In lets me stay in contact with my professional network. There I can find past and current business associates and stay up-to-date with their professional successes and ever-changing contact information. I can ask questions and leverage their relationships. I can stay in-touch on a professional level. And when I want to stay closer on a personal level I pick up the phone to talk.

How do you use social networking sites to stay in touch?

 

Traditional communication still matters

by Mark Horne, Guest Writer

Robert Bly is one of the most well known copywriters in the business.  Like many veterans of “traditional media,” he now has a blog.  Somewhat ironically, he occasionally uses it to strike a blow for the reputation of traditional media over against those who deride it in favor of social media on the Internet.  He writes against the opinion of new media advocates who claim intrusion advertising is dead.

If social media and other forms of electronic two-way communication are making traditional “dead tree” media obsolete, why hasn’t direct mail — perhaps the most intrusive of the paper-based marketing media — disappeared?

According to the Winterberry Group, total U.S. direct mail spending in 2007 was $58.4 billion, an increase of 18.2% over the $49.4 billion spent in 2004.

What gives? If “no one reads direct mail anymore” as one blogging consultant told me recently, why are advertisers spending more than $58 billion a year on it?

 

Obviously, we like new media or we wouldn’t be writing this post in it.  But Bly’s point is irrefutable.  Even with the popularity of “social media” people still read paper.  And they also still use their phones.  There is no evidence that will change anytime soon.