Comments on: Do You Publish A Newsletter?

By: Monika

Monika — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 04:25:33 +0000

@ Annette: I guess you are giving your subscribers a choice which is always the best solution anyway. Let people choose what THEY like best. Great idea! I shall take this into account myself if I ever go that far. Thanks for visiting. It’s always nice to see new “faces” here.

By: annette young

annette young — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 20:25:36 +0000

I have a weekly newsletter for writers and I send it out in text and html format. The subscriber gets to choose so from that, I take it they are able to read the contents ok.
I have never had any negative comments from subscribers, I am however considering publishing it online as well.

By: Monika

Monika — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 02:02:47 +0000

@ Barb Sawyers: I guess on the html front we have to agree to disagree for now. However, I appreciate your input and why you disagree with me. I’m also not opposed to learning new things and therefore I will look at what you have to say in your free ebook download. Thank you and I look forward to looking over your info.

By: Monika

Monika — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 01:53:17 +0000

@ WD: Sean, maybe you misunderstood me when I mentioned the sales aspect. What I mean is that newsletters are an excellent promotional tool that help to build trust. I hate selling myself because I can’t stand it when I’m sold to in a very offensive way either. Therefore I strongly believe that newsletters are doing the promotion for me in the background. A wise man once said: “To fish in the pond you first have to feed the fish until they become content and sluggish”. Or something like this. Anyway, I think you get the meaning.

By: Monika

Monika — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 01:50:50 +0000

@ R.T.: You actually see it as I meant it to be. Yes, you do sell yourself but in effect, people only let themselves be sold to once they trust you anyway. Giving your existing customers more bang for their buck is a great way to build that trust on the backend.

By: Monika

Monika — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 01:49:26 +0000

@ Lis: Good question and the way I see it is that newsletter subscribers are your real fans. Yes, they will be a smaller group because as I see it, most people subscribe all too easy to blog updates and then complain why their RSS reader is so stuffed. I also feel that by sending out a newsletter to a smaller group of people it is easier to build up trust because if you give them bonus content they are much more likely to stick around.

Having said this, the same happens in some measures when you publish to your blog or website. In the end though, newsletters have and always will be a marketing platform to sell yourself. I don’t mean this in ways of a “pimp yourself out” fashion, but more so to pre-sell you, your business your product – without selling. I hope this makes sense.

By: Barb Sawyers

Barb Sawyers — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:17:14 +0000

I have my own newsletter and also create them for clients http://www.stickycommunication.ca. I disagree with your assertion on not using html for two reasons
1. most people, especially businesses, do have a high speed connection, at least here in Canada
2. email service providers have excellent delivery rates, which they report on
However, I agree that content trumps graphics. What’s more, I use text in the banner, which shows in the preview pane, because that’s all people with Outlook or BlackBerries will see in those critical first seconds.
I use similar content for both email and blogs. The email is pushed to people I know. The blog helps me make new friends. So you really need both.

By: Writer Dad

Writer Dad — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:35:06 +0000

I have one newsletter set up, but it isn’t designed for sales, it’s just for creative writing. It’s been successful, but it’s certainly time for me to take it to the next level.

By: RT Cunningham

RT Cunningham — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 12:17:28 +0000

Monika, you hit the nail on the head with this one. I need to set up a newsletter on my business site (not my blogs) because I see it as a way to keep participation active. I have no need to sell them anything because they have already been sold.

By: Passive Income

Passive Income — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 06:57:43 +0000

I guess I really don’t get it – what exactly is the difference between someone subscribing to my feed via email and a newsletter I send out? Most people subscribe via social media such mybloglog or via a RSS reader anyways. I agree about building up trust and people will buy from you but why go the exclusive content route: that just means fewer people to buy my vastly overpriced IM product ?