Apart from bills the only thing that comes through my post box are flyers for local pizza companies and private hire taxi firms. I wish I could get Akismet for my post box (or maybe this already exists – a big dog).
Anyway, a while back I found an unusual hand-printed business card had been slipped in alongside the junk. I almost threw it away before noticing that it contained the URL for a WordPress.com blog. On closer inspection it turned out to be an advert for a blog about the area in which I am living, and which must have been hand delivered by the author – an unusual way to promote a blog. I can’t imagine that a similar online method of promotion would have made it past spam filters.
The card reads:
Over the coming days, weeks, months and years I am going to write and tell you about my life here in Spitalfields at the heart of London. How can I ever describe the exuberant richness and multiplicity of culture in this place to you? This is both my task and my delight.
The blog itself is an interesting read and I’ve already learned about several places of interest in my local area, as well as reading about some of the more colourful local characters. It seems that sometimes hand delivered spam is ok.
That’s exceedingly cool. Someone did some real work there, pounding pavement to get their word out.
I’m looking at the site right now. I’ve had a similar notion for my local area just outside San Francisco proper, but I won’t be staying here long enough to make it worthwhile. I’ll be on the lookout for someone who might want to partner up (I have someone in mind, actually).
Thanks for posting about this.
It’s only spam if there is commercial interests, right? Spitalfields Life seems not to qualify then, and maybe could be qualified as being neighbourly?
Wikipedia refers to spam as ‘unsolicited bulk messages’ so I guess even my bills fall into that category… but in this case, neighbourly yes.
Hand delivered spam, now that’s service!
For highly localized blogs this might be a good way to promote a site, it’s easily forget the simple things can still be effective.
Such kind of adverts too costly to be massive. So it has good effect because it is unusual and our attention filters allow them to be read. it’s main idea of any advertisement: to do very unusual presentation, too unusual to grab attention.
Hello,
well, if it was useful to you, maybe you shouldn’t call it spam at all. 🙂
But it’s a nice idea. Maybe I shall do the same.