The Direct Creative blog is a simply designed, rather interesting blog about marketing, copywriting, and direct marketing design. It is the blogging corner for a company called Direct Creative, a copywriting and consulting company owned by Dean Rieck. Dean started the blog in October because he enjoys talking shop and sharing his thoughts and observations on his vocation, his job, his career and his life. Dean keeps it all business and doesn’t talk about his personal walk up to this point in his life, and how he really came to be in this field. All business, all the time… copywriting and marketing advice is what it is all about here.
Now, direct marketing is often a term that makes folks (myself included) cringe. Dean makes it fun by pointing out where folks make mistakes in their copywriting. There aren’t a lot of archives, but reading through I felt informed and entertained with the content within.
My favorite entry was a very recent one where it looks like a postcard is selling kitchen cabinets, but it is really a condominium complex that is trying to sell their units. Dean very carefully examines where the writers went wrong by trying to be to smart by half… and in the end, a quick view of the card leaves the recipient unaware that their future home might be in the palm of their hands because the message is lost.
The website itself is nicely laid out. A bright orange header bar is gently overlaid by what looks like to be a “sheet” of paper almost … it is a nice, classy design for a blog on creative marketing. Layout-wise, we are presented with a two-column format with entries on the right and navigation to the left. The left navigation area seems a bit cluttered by a lot of offers and Amazon.com ads and the usual money-making on your blog opportunities, but it isn’t too overwhelming and noisy, and it really could be with all of the different widgets, feeds, gadgets and toys out there in the blogosphere. The RSS subscription feed is easy to find, as are the archives. All told, it is a nice, clean layout without too much noise. The perfect vehicle for Dean’s message.
I have a friend who is a copywriter and will refer her to this page to see if there are tips and tricks she can pick up. For the average, everyday non-marketing type like myself there isn’t a real need to revisit. But if you’re in the marketing industry and direct mail or copywriting is your thing, this blog (and Dean himself as a consultant) are a great resource. I give the blog a 3.75 rating because it is for a very specific audience and not the whole wide world of readers. NULL