Fabulous Direct Marketing Links!

Welcome to another edition of the Friday Blog Log! We've got another famous line-up of excellent blog posts for your reading pleasure.

Our first post comes from Gordon Whyte's Blog of the Daily Challenges of the Entrepreneur. HA! And, there are many. This is an interesting read because it in, he presents an article from a leading futurist thinker, Ray Kurzweil. Kurzweil discusses the evolution on mankind from big bang to now and into the future, and how this evolution will impact the way that both entrepreneurs and big business alike manage and conduct business. The most interesting fact to us is that those who continue to be nimble and proactive will survive. Companies will have to "abandon redundant strategic planning techniques and leadership models designed for the industrial age" in order to compete in the present and future global economy.

Next, is a good post for us all to have on hand as we come up with our big ideas and want to get some press. In the DM News post, "Who You Need to Know at DM News," by author Cara Wood, Cara tells you exactly who at DM News that you need to contact to share your expertise, outstanding results, case studies, hiring needs, etc. Since DM News is read by many in our industry, this is a great resource to have on hand to get yourself published in their many publications.

While laden with lots of ads (blogging purists will most likely revolt!), this next post presents some great ideas on How to Defend your Direct Marketing Budget in these leaner economic times. Author Robert Bergquist provides some great ideas on how not to panic, how to take the right actions, looking to outside expertise for assistance in leaner organizations, and the importance of testing and tracking every campaign for success. These are all great ideas with lots of merit. And thinking about them now can pull you through for the short-term, so that you're positioned well for the long-term as our economy bounces back (it's all cyclical, remember?).

Finally, in a witty post, "Wanna Get Away Southwest," blog author and student, Zack's Business Explained in Layman's Terms Blog discusses how his CRM class pondered the recent Southwest situation where they were fined for cracks in their fuselage. This is really not good! Being an avid Southwest supporter and customer (they're just nicer than the others), I'm hoping that they get these problems fixed -- for obvious reasons, the key one being my well being. Zack provides a story board, complete with his ideas on how Southwest can effectively re-assure their customers in their take-off script.

We hope you enjoy these posts as much as we did.

Have a great weekend!

Privacy (or lack of it) in the Future

I'm a sucker for a good futurist. Isn't it fun to theorize about what our world will look like in 10, 15, 100+ years? I truly enjoy hearing expert takes on the future of marketing, the future of commerce, etc., etc.

That's why I was pleased to see this commentary on one man's vision of the future of consumer privacy. From DM News, check out this article written by Robert Gellman (a privacy consultant out of Washington DC), titled: "Looking out for data surveillance predictions for 2020."

Some of Gellman's predictions are fairly predictable--i.e.: that we'll be a cashless society and that all transactions will be electronic (he calls this a "penniless marketplace"--thought that was cute).

Other predictions are a tad more dire. For example, he predicts that every auto will be equipped with a tracking device which will, for example, not allow pedophiles to go near schools. This device will also record where we go and be able to issue tickets when we break a traffic rule... Interesting.

And, here's what he thinks about computing: "Very personalized PC. Every computer will have a static IP address. No one will be able to operate a computer without registering through a token, fingerprint or other identification device. All e-mail will be stored permanently, and records of other network activity, including searching and transactions, will also be retained. Stolen computers will be a hot black market item for criminals who will use them to avoid accountability for online actions."

And, of course, he has a take on direct marketing: "Direct marketing activities will be positively affected by the availability of more personal information. However, public aversion to spam, telephone calls and postal mail will make it harder to exploit the information by traditional means. Many free Internet services will remain free only to those who do not block ads."

I believe that the future of direct marketing will include a complete trend toward opt-in (it's already heading in that direction). Consumers, now empowered by their ability to get the information they need on their own, seek out companies to serve them. They look for what they want and then they buy what they want. It will get tougher and tougher to get consumers to respond to unsolicited marketing messages.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the future, be it marketing, privacy, whatever.