All Entries Tagged With: "dr ralph wilson"
Comparing Ezines To Blogs?
Ok, I got this in a newsletter and just had to ask myself if this guy has just run out of things to talk about or what?
How Do E-Mail Newsletters Compare to Blogs?
by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, Editor, Web Marketing Today
Well, Doc. I’d start by saying that ezines are different than blogs the same as apples are different to baboons. Oh wait apple and baboon both have an a in them so they are more similar than ezines and blogs.
Of course, I’m a veteran e-mail newsletter publisher — that’s my bias. But blogging has certainly established itself as a powerful marketing medium. Here are some of the differences between the media:
I agree. Dr. Ralph F. Wilson has been in the email newsletter business since I can remember and I’ve been around a long time. I know I’m picking on him a little here, but I think Dr. Wilson hasn’t quite grasped blogging yet. Both newsletters and blogs are good and have their advantages, but they aren’t really comaprable since each has different goals or reasons for being used.
Let’s start with definitions. A blog (short for “web log”) is a website in which entries are typically displayed in reverse chronological order. The most common blogging platforms are easy to use content management systems which notify subscribers of a new blog post by means of RSS feeds. E-mail newsletters, on the other hand, are usually published using third-party Email Marketing Service (EMS) providers such as iContact or ConstantContact.
Again, pointing out that they are 2 different things altogether.
Blogs are certainly easier to publish than e-mail newsletters — and much faster. The blogging platform allows you to write and instantly publish your thoughts with a built-in content management system, so the most recent blog automatically becomes part of your website content. E-mail newsletters, on the other hand, aren’t so automatic. They must be written, laid out in an attractive HTML format, copied into a web interface at the EMS provider site, and scheduled to be sent out. If you want to add the content to your website (which I strongly recommend), that is a separate step altogether.
Again, pointing out that they are 2 different things altogether.
The most popular blogging platforms are free — Blogger, WordPress.com, WordPress.org, and others. This is one of the reasons that blogging has grown so rapidly. EMS providers usually charge on the basis of the number of e-mails sent to subscribers each month, though some charge based on the size of the mailing list.
Yet another way they are two very different things.
Blogging at its best includes frequent posts. Three times a week might be an appropriate minimum for an active blogger. A frequent poster is seen in a positive light. E-mail newsletters should be published a minimum of once a month. Once a week is possible, but the content has to be excellent. E-mail too often, and you’ll be perceived as spamming.
Yet another way they are two very different things. he continues to point out that ezines and blogs are not the same thing.
Subscribers click on a link in the RSS feed to read the latest post on the blog website. E-mail newsletters, however, arrive in the subscriber’s e-mail box; the reader doesn’t usually have to go to a website to read the newsletter, as is the case in a blog.
Blog readership can be measured by unique visitors to the blog site and by the number of subscribers to an RSS feed (tracked, for example, by FeedBurner). E-mail newsletter readers are measured by the number of subscribers, qualified by such fuzzy metrics as open rate and inbox delivery rate. Since spam filters dispose of a significant percentage of even double opt-in newsletters, e-mail delivery isn’t as reliable as it used to be. However, nearly 100% of Internet users actively use e-mail. Active RSS reader users, on the other hand are only a fraction of that — though RSS users tend to be more active Internet citizens and visit more websites.
Hmmm. He failed to mention that users can subscribe to blogs and have it delivered to their email daily, so blogs can reach everyone that uses email too.
The biggest difference between blog and e-mail newsletter approaches to reaching subscribers is the e-mail subscriber list. E-mail newsletter publishers have an actual list of e-mail addresses — and often names and locations — of their subscribers, while bloggers have no tangible list at all.
Uhh, Doc, we do have a tangible list of subscribers just as ezine publishers do. We have both blogs and a newsletter that people subscribe to once per week to get summaries of posts we made throughout the week. My ezine subscribers do not necessarily visit the blog daily. They get to visit once per week to catch up on what has been going on.
An active, up-to-date list is considered a business asset, since it enables the publisher to push to subscribers newsletters and advertising at will. It can’t force subscribers to open or even read an e-mail, but it can count on delivery of a high percentage of the e-mails sent — despite the challenges posed by spam and spam filters.
This applies to both blogs and ezines. Hey, we did finally find a similarity!
So which is best? Blogs or e-mails? I don’t think one size fits all. I’m an e-mail newsletter publisher and an evangelist for the benefits of this kind of marketing. However, many, many businesses have found blogging a successful way to get the word out.
Choose both. It’s not one or the other here. You can blog every day, which you should, then you can put summaries of your blog posts into a newsletter and send it out to your email list. Having a newsletter and a blog work together is a great way to reach people the way they choose to be reached.
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