My blog is singing happy birthday to me! (and a contest to win for you!)

Dear friends and readers. Exactly one year ago today the Gilbert Direct Marketing blog was born. Frankly I never expected it to take off the way it did. I want to offer you my readers my sincerest thank you for turning this blog into one of the top rated (99th percentile, based on Grader by Hubspot) direct and social media blogs.

Your comments, both public and private have kept me going.

So here is a contest for you. Winner gets a free one hour review of either your linkedin profile, or your own social media sites. Guess how many page views I have had in the last year. Closest the the exact number of page views wins. Post your answer to the comments below to win.

Dear Mr. Postmaster General, you’ve started a trend… but…

A week ago the USPS Postmaster General sent out a memo stating there would be no postal increase for direct mailers in 2010. We must make our voice heard and hold their feet to the fire to keep the direct and catalog marketing business moving. Therefore I wrote the letter below to the USPS. I urge you to send in your own letter, or use/modify my letter to suit your needs. The Postmaster General’s Contact information is below…

Dying to Get Your Offer (aka: dead men still get mail)

Another kind of “do not mail” database:

Don’t mailers know they’re wasting money? Direct mail costs enough these days. So much so that it doesn’t make sense to mail someone who can be easily suppressed from a mailing list.

Guest Article: 10 Tips for Looking HOT on Internet Marketing Video by Jessica Kizorek

Preparing to be in front of a camera soon? Follow these ten tips or risk looking like a loser on video. Guest Article: 10 Tips for Looking HOT on Internet Marketing Video by Jessica Kizorek

BREAKING NEWS: US Postal Service makes a bold statement: No 2010 postal increases!

US Postal Service makes a bold statement: No 2010 postal increases!

BERNHART SURVEY: Digital & direct marketing employment outlook shows improvement for 4th quarter 2009

With the drumbeat of layoffs diminishing only faintly, the latest Bernhart Associates Quarterly Digital and Direct Marketing Employment Report shows digital and direct marketers are poised in the current fourth quarter (Q4) to add to payrolls for the third consecutive quarter.

David Ogilvy had it right!

It’s time to go back to the future with David Ogilvy. Direct vs General vs. Internet vs. Social Media. Direct wins hands down. Here’s why…

Easy, Cost Effective Internet Video Part 2 – Video search optimization and a bonus content tip

Online video can also drive search engine results. Since I’m by no means a search expert, I reached out to Khrysti Nazzaro, director of optimized services at the search engine marketing firm MoreVisibility, for some advice. “Videos can be powerful tools for ranking in the search engine results pages (SERPs) if your site’s pages are well-optimized for them.

Consider creating a “

Guest Post: Social media – Peeling past the hyperbole to learn valuable lessons by Carol Worthington-Levy

On whose scale is that either measurable or successful? D’oh! It’s smoke and mirrors – our own industry’s media falling into the same tepid pool as the bigger media has, by expanding stories into big headlines that exaggerate, but don’t really state the truth. While I have respect for what our media is up against, I don’t respect their not culling through PR releases to find out what the real truth is before printing it.

Social Media Rules (of engagement) To Live By

Over in the linkedin group I manage, (Direct Marketing Questions & Answers), we’ve been having a discussion on the zig vs. zag nature of direct marketing and social media.

In essence, the theory is this: with everybody zigging towards social media these days, does that leave a giant hole (translation: opportunity) for traditional direct marketing to be used to engage customers and prospects? It’s been a spirited discussion so far. And I firmly believe that traditional direct marketing (integrated with the web) presents such an opportunity in a zigzag market.