I recently got my first comment ever, and I have to admit it’s a small but significant milestone. That means at least one person is out there reading this and responding. So: thanks Tina Marshall, whoever and wherever you are.
Tina left her name, some good, brief commentary and a link to a quasi-related article, but no personal URL. So, out of total curiosity, I researched the origins of Tina’s comments and what her motive might be. Turns out it came from the blog of J. Peterman, that quirky old school mail order company once so famously portrayed on Seinfeld.
I found another comment by the same Tina on another blog with a link to a J. Peterman promotion. My guess is there might be a bit of soft promoting going on here. Maybe I am to start shopping at J. Peterman?
First of all, Tina — you left my first human comment and I’m so grateful no matter what your intentions were. As they say here in Hawaii — mahalo.
But above that minor ripple, this comment issue begs the question: when is copywriting just writing? Isn’t any kind of written solicitation to engage in commerce a form of copywriting?
I think we’re going to see more and more natural writing and less in-your-face sales copy as the web evolves. People are catching onto the “hook” of marketers and it’s becoming less effective. If you want a parallel then Just look at our current politics and which of the two voices are being favored in the polls.
We’ve all talked about the “death” of traditional marketing (TV, magazine newspapers, etc.). But aren’t we really talking about the end of the dialect of the salesman?
travis
who would have guessed social media would lead to the “death” of advertising and marketing? i applaud obama for embracing this medium and massaging it into working tool. let’s hope it pays off for him in november.
but back to social media. it’s interesting with all these weekly conferences about it in SF not one of them can figure out how to wield it properly and profit from it. sounds familiar? like the early years of the internet?
keep up the great blogging!
Charles
Yeah, Travis, that’s an interesting point (thanks for your comment by the way). I think the problem with certain people not seeing the profit potential is that they’re still focused on traditional marketing and sales. Gary Vaynerchuk would argue that it’s all about personal branding and that we’re about to enter a “gold rush.”
Wired Magazine’s Paul Boutin actually goes as far as saying that social media has even killed blogging! But hey — everyone is entitled to their own perspective, right?