Say it Ain't So, Bob Bly

There are two pictures I have in my head when I think of Willie Mays, but the image that lingers is the one where he's begging at the plate in the 1973 World Series.

I love the body of work Willie Mays put together, But he played one year too long.

There are two books I have in my head when I think of Bob Bly, and I hope the work that lingers in my mind is The Copywriter's Handbook - and not his most recent work.

In Blog Schmog, Bob Bly makes an attempt to discredit blogging and those advocating its use as a business tool. While he makes some good points, it doesn't deliver the promised "guide through the fog of evangelistic enthusiasm to even-handedly examine the possibilities and pitfalls of blogging as a marketing tool."

What it does deliver is a shower of evangelistic enthusiasm for direct marketing, spam and other interruption marketing techniques.  He's correct that it's difficult to immediately measure the ROI of blogging. But what's the ROI for a smile and greeting when someone walks into your store?

Look, direct marketing still has a purpose. When done right, even a 92% failure rate can be counted on as a success. I love the body of work Bob Bly has put together, but we wrote one book too many.

Iowa/IABC is hosting Mr. Bly for a full-day event on March 7 - and word has it he'll talk about copywriting:-) Thankfully, I have a speaking engagement elsewhere.

$entry.title