Whatever: How (And How Not) To Market To Me When I’m in Blogger Mode
I think I’ve linked to John Scalzi’s blog before. He’s a science fiction writer and a blogger and I’m sure some other things, too. This particular post is about two different marketing pitches, and why one’s bad and one’s good. The basic idea of his post is that mass marketing, even when it’s trying to be slick (Or maybe especially if it’s trying to be slick), comes off as being intrusive and doesn’t work. At least not on smart people like us. But if you take a minute to show that you know a little about the person you’re marketing to, and then offer something worthwhile, people will listen.
I understand that companies want to sell their products. I don’t fault them for wanting to make a buck. But intrusive marketing drives me up the wall. My blog doesn’t have a following like Scalzi’s (yet), so I’m not on anyone’s radar (Except for a few F’ing spammers). But if I get to that point, I’ll probably react a lot like he did.
By the way, sending me free stuff is always encouraged. If you send me free stuff, I promise to review it on the site. I don’t promise that anyone will read it, and I don’t promise to review it positively, but I promise to review it honestly.