[Hidden-tech] Blogs vs. Newsletters

[Ron Miller]

Hi Susanna:
All of your arguments could be made about a blog as well. They basically 
serve the same purpose, especially in the marketing context you define. 
The blog entries are made on a regular basis and you can accumulate the 
entries and create a newsletter based on this content at intervals you 
define.

In fact, one could counter-argue that newsletters face the prospect of 
getting lost in the clutter of our in-boxes, or worse, getting snagged 
by a Spam filter and never making it there.

RSS provides a way for newsletter publishers to by-pass the in-box, but 
I think both have a place (and when you can single source all the better).

Ron

Ron Miller
Freelance Technology Writing Since 1988
Contributing Editor, EContent Magazine

email: ronsmiller at comcast.net
web: http://www.ronsmiller.com
blog: http://byronmiller.typepad.com


Susanna Opper wrote:
>    ** The author of this post was a Good Dobee.
>    ** You too can help the group
>    ** Fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area.
>    ** If you did, we all thank you.
> 
> 
>  Great question, David.  And very interesting answers from our technology
> gurus.  I'd like to add some thoughts from the perspective of effective
> business communication.  It all depends.
> 
> I always ask two questions:
> - What is the purpose of the communication?
> - Who is the audience?
> 
> And then there's the issue of resources.  To be effective, blogs need to be
> fed and nurtured.  And in a world in which everyone is overwhelmed with
> electronic communications, a blog may not meet your business needs.  If you
> want to be on your customers' mind when they are ready to buy, I vote for a
> newsletter.  Fill it with really good material, choose a frequency that
> meets the needs of your audience and fits with the time you have to devote
> to it.  Create it and sustain it with consistent email marketing so that you
> accumulate a body of work you can refer to when a customer or prospect seeks
> information.  Oh yes, and put lots of links in it to drive traffic to your
> Web site and other useful Internet resources as well.
> 
> My own newsletter "Web Words" has developed quite a following.  It's like a
> little sales agent that runs around each month and reminds people that I'm
> available to help them with their business communications.  There's more at
> this link http://www.shawenon.com/ci/16/newsletters/
> 
> --Susanna
> 
> -------------------------------------
> Susanna Opper
> Shawenon Communications
> Our distinction is communicating your distinction
> 413-528-6494
> susanna at shawenon.com
> www.shawenon.com
> 
>  
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: hidden-discuss-bounces at lists.hidden-tech.net
> [mailto:hidden-discuss-bounces at lists.hidden-tech.net] On Behalf Of Ron
> Miller
> Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2007 1:29 PM
> To: DAVID F. FARKAS
> Cc: Hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net
> Subject: Re: [Hidden-tech] Blogs vs. Newsletters
> 
>    ** The author of this post was a Good Dobee.
>    ** You too can help the group
>    ** Fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area.
>    ** If you did, we all thank you.
> 
> 
> I would recommend having a single site that handles both. It's really easy
> to set up with Feedburner. They offer a free (yes, free) service that
> enables you to set up RSS and email subscriptions and place links in your
> blog. They send a daily digest to all email subscribers and RSS subscribers
> get updated in their RSS Reader. You don't have to do a thing.
> 
> They integrate smoothly with all of the major blog players (Typepad,
> Wordpress, Blogger, etc.).
> 
> You can even customize the look and feel of the email newsletter to include
> your logo, colors, etc.
> 
> Very nice service and you can track subscribers, what they've read, where
> they clicked, etc. For a small fee (maybe $5 a month, you get more advanced
> tracking information).
> 
> If you are into podcasting (or want to get into it), they provide some nice
> tools for handling podcasting as well. I'm not as familiar with these as I'm
> not a podcaster (yet).
> 
> Ron
> 
> Ron Miller
> Freelance Technology Writing Since 1988
> Contributing Editor, EContent Magazine
> 
> email: ronsmiller at comcast.net
> web: http://www.ronsmiller.com
> blog: http://byronmiller.typepad.com
> 
> DAVID F. FARKAS wrote:
>>   ** The author of this post was a Good Dobee.
>>   ** You too can help the group
>>   ** Fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area.
>>   ** If you did, we all thank you.
>>
>>
>> Hi folks...
>>
>> What are the pros, cons and mechanics of Blogs vs. Newsletters / Lists. 
>> I understand how a newsletter run from an autoresponder works. I'm new 
>> to the Blogoshpere.
>>
>> For example... if someone 'subscribes' to a blog how are they notified 
>> of new posts?
>>
>> Thanx.
>> David
>>
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