I want to put a free RSS Feed on my blogs (free ones and payd ones) or instead, an eMail Marketing software, like Aweber or iContact.

A friend of mine told me to forget the RSS Feed and spend the $19/month with Aweber or other EM SW.

Can you give me your opinion?

Thanks

Email Marketing,
Now, I need to take my own advice and get back into publishing your newsletter.

Do you see a large number of unsubscribes because of the amount of email people get?

Yet new methods are changing how we communicate. RSS is one. Devices like iPhone is another. And there is a wave of products and software coming that will push how we use technology to communicate even further. I just feel it’s important to keep up with the times. Not the bleeding edge, but certainly the trends. And all trends show conversational and relationship models of marketing are quickly overtaking the more traditional, interruption-style marketing. And it’s happening on all levels.

Abel,
There’s certainly no harm. I just think it’s unnecessary to create different content between a newsletter and blog. The blog has so many advantages over a static website. Leveraging these advantages can only increase the viability of a newsletter.

Paul,
Exactly…email paired with a blog. As you allude too, email is dying. Spam is really helping push that process. And people really want some control over how they’re marketed too.

Communicatrix,
Oh, I don’t disagree with you at all. I think the newsletter should be a full, stand-alone article so that everything is ‘right there.’

Yet I also see the advantage of inviting people to join in the conversation from their inbox. It’s just difficult to do that if your blog and newsletter content are different.

I also don’t feel it’s wise to publish all your blog content to your newsletter list. I would choose the recent post I feel my readers would be most interested in.

You’re presuming I’m making offers: that’s not what everyone’s newsletter is for. What if it’s there to share, only in a different way–a quieter, cleaner and more leisurely way?

I’m not saying that’s the only way to go, of course. But I find that the newsletters I gravitate towards give me everything right there, they don’t make me go somewhere else to get it.

Not that I’m anti-conversation! That’s what blogs are for…

Email is not dead…yet, and I think it, paired with a blog, can be a useful marketing strategy; an online marketing peanut butter & jelly sandwich!

I use the list to send out email updates on new content. I use snippet to attract them to click and read full on the blog.

The point is as you said, Dawud, is to use repetition to build rapport and eventually credibility.

That said, there’s no harm creating different newsletter content, if you have the resources.

And that kind of proves the point. It’s true that email is ‘push’ technology. And yet, if the content is great, and people want it, then the push is welcome- at least in my inbox, and from what I can tell, from lots of others I know, too.

I didn’t get an email update about the discussion from the previous blog post- and so I didn’t know more posts were coming in, and so I didn’t think to go back and check until now. And I missed out on the conversation.

It’s the same with my ezine- and with ezines I subscribe to. Sometimes it’s the article or the content. Sometimes it’s a sales offer. Either way, if I like the person and I appreciate the content, then I have a deep appreciation for them dropping something in front of my nose so I don’t have to think about going to look and see.

Here’s an article that I wrote on the subject that I think explains this sometimes misunderstood phenomenon:

Why a personal secretary is critical to your response rates.

I was writing this from the perspective of someone making an offer, but it applies equally to content, in my experience.

I see your point. Do people signup for your newsletter on your blog? If so, do they expect different content?

Tanner,
Clarity is the bottom line for me. You simply have to know what you want to do with each. What’s the goal? For me, it’s about conversation. But then again, I’m an advocate that conversation leads to relationships that leads to increased business.

Char,
Absolutely, business owners should do what they feel is right…in service to their readers.

What I don’t see is that if you’re just publishing your blog posts as a newsletter, is it really a newsletter? Or is it just an email update of your feed?

Joanna,
I think it takes more than just inviting. People can be shown that if they choose to interact with you in the comment box, there’s benefit for them. But I’ve found it takes more than just the invitation. It also takes some education – and constantly reminding people until it gets in their consciousness.

Kalenda,
Good idea. Let me if adding ‘discuss this’ to your newsletter changes anything about it, your blog or your business as a whole.

That being said my practice is the way you describe, to provide a summary (and maybe some pointers back) to things that have already appeared on the blog. But I’m not sure I’d look to it as a way of extending the conversation.

In my experience the e-mail ‘newsletter’ is the least interactive part of the things that I do. The only comments I get back are from friends who don’t have the time or inclination to follow the blog. I kind of think that if people want to join in and comment they will – through the blog.

I’m not sure that an invitation from an e-mail is going to make any difference – nor reflect what subscribers are looking for. In fact it might be the opposite of what they’re looking for – maybe they’re happy with the summary rather than the conversational dimension of the blogs that we enjoy (but maybe isn’t for everybody).

To go off on a slightly different tack, in terms of extending the conversation and having more interaction, I’m wondering if we shouldn’t be looking elsewhere altogether. I’m currently experimenting with Facebook and I can see that it has a lot more potential for interaction – you can see who you’re talking to, what they’re about, it’s easy to have quick and easy conversations, perhaps people feel more relaxed there about engaging in quite an easy-osy way?

Joanna

As a solo-entreprenuer I knew I could not committ the time to doing both a newsletter and a blog. Also, I didn’t want to produce a newsletter packed with sales pitches. There are many blogs out there now that pack their blogs with sales pitches too.

The openess and two-way discussion that a blog allows felt like the right approach for how I run my business.

Bottom line, there is a time and a place for newsletters, blogs and other social media venues a business owner should do what is within their value system.