Photograph by Shikeroku
I’m suspicious of business Newsletters. I suspect they’re fraudulent. They appear as if they are offering me News – they really hope to sell me something. In other words, they are a dressed-up bit of advertising. That’s my difficulty.
For a long time I’ve been thinking about publishing a Newsletter. I get them all the time – many are stunning in design. Many come from people whom I respect & want to support. But I still delete them all, most of the time. Business Newsletters irritate me.
The fact that I have this difficulty with Newsletters is not a reason to stop producing your Newsletter. I am only one voice, one consumer – I am no authority. The fact that I don’t like Newsletters should not stop me publishing one: the Newsletter is for others, not for me.
The problem is Advertising.
I hate it. I resent it. I have to put up with it. It is everywhere. I am thrilled to see it decline. But it’ll be around for a long time yet. Brands want to be recognised: they need to keep reminding people that they exist. In the global market, with so many companies producing similar products & services, your brand is your difference – it is hard to get it to stay in the consciousness of others.
Advertising interrupts. It breaks into my world. It sorta shouts: Notice Me, See Me …. and often more Buy Me.
I began with Newsletters because I’ve been tweeting with @IrishSmiley(Frederique Murphy) – a business that publishes a blog and a Newsletter. The blog contained a promise that there is extra stuff in the Newsletter, different in tone, more personal. I got interested, I almost signed up for the Newsletter. But my suspicion held me back. “I bet it’s all spoof designed to send me ads” said the voice within.
My gut tells me that News is good. Personal is great. A Newsletter that’s personal, very personal, really gritty, incredibly human and messy… a Newsletter that short, that’s all new… that might work.
What’s your view?
Do you have a Newsletter you love? One you’d love to share in a comment here ? Let’s see if we can gather a few examples of superb Newsletters that are not sophisticated tricks?
PS After publishing this post, I found this excellent stream of discussion about Newsletters (led by@whatswhat_sian, thanks to @irishsmiley.) This gives you different views to consider.
4 Comments
Hi there,
Every form of online marketing has an element of manipulation. A newsletter is a means of selling, informing and keeping the biz or idea in your mind. Its a constant and usually consistant contact.
BUT its also for you, and you are in power.
YOU choose when to sign up and when to leave.
YOU choose what to read and when.
YOU choose to interact, purchase, respond etc.
By remembering that you are the key, you are the one to gain from this relationship.
The best newsletters are ones that offer a win-win; a benefit to both parties, ones that are targeted and market-driven, ones that offer something that the reader wants to read about.
Ads and hard sells are just a distraction and dilute the message that a newsletter is making, but they are there to catch your interest.
I like the idea of the shorter newsletter ; 0 )
A powerful snappy message is sure to have a higher read and if a single click thru URL and call to action is included, then this might just be perfect!
Hope the comments are useful.
Tina
Thanks for the mention and glad we started this conversation
There are so many things that are coming to my mind as I read your post, that I am (almost!) not sure where to start!
From a communication point of view, all newsletters should be aiming at fulfilling the goals and objectives of the communication strategy of the business who is publishing the newsletters. So, what I mean, is different businesses will have different strategies and therefore, will use communication media, such as newsletters in different ways.
Since, you mentioned mine, although, you have not seen it, I will talk about mine. My newsletters are published on a weekly basis for individuals who want to take their life and their business to a whole new level! I believe that a strong mindset gives you the power to move mountains and, I share my tips and teach exactly how to do that in my newsletters.
The people who sign up get a lot more than reading my blog, since they get an insight into my business life (and often personal!), plus extra things that I provide them every week to help them step up and achieve more (I get results, and it is my passion to spread the word and help them get the same results and this is my work).
The reason why I am making the distinctions on my blog is to give a choice to the reader; exactly like you say “The fact that I have this difficulty with Newsletters is not a reason to stop producing your Newsletter. I am only one voice, one consumer – I am no authority. The fact that I don’t like Newsletters should not stop me publishing one: the Newsletter is for others, not for me.” In that case, you might like the blog; on the blog, I still share my genuine thoughts, but it stops there, it is one post per week and that’s it.
For me, I am having a relationship with the people who have signed up and receive my weekly news and here is my next point. Those people are interested in what I am doing (by the way, what I am doing is empowering them to step up and achieve more), and I see it as my duty to share with them whatever I feel is resourceful. So, yes, I do have a resource section, which is the section at the bottom, and they might or might not read it and take advantage of it. It is their choice and I have no problem with offering these opportunities to them. My 2 most recent posts were on selling and you can read these if you want more info, but as far as I am concerned, selling is offering and key to every business success.
I am sure that conversation will continue, as you said it, one person, one voice, one opinion.
Frederique,
Thank you. What a generous piece of writing, a sharing of ideas and inspiration. It’s taken me a while to thank you because I got sucked into other issues. The beauty of blogging is that we can return to the issue – when the time is right. What I’ll do now is re-read all the conversation and engage with what you’ve shared.
Christina,
Thank you too. Your comments and suggestions are indeed useful to me: you’ve helped me think deeper into the issue. Like I said to Frederique, I’ll now re-read and get back to you.