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Be a Source of Knowledge, not a Spammer
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Introduction
To get visitors to your website, you have to depend on them to type an address or click a link. That is “pull” technology – they have to do an action. When someone visits your website, you have no guarantee that they will remember your site or ever return.
There is a way for you to “push” your message to people electronically – emailed newsletters. With an emailed newsletter, you are consistently reminding people about your business and that your organization is the source of expert knowledge. With your email newsletter, you could be reminding them of how great you are, or you could just be annoying them. Here are some things you can do to make your newsletter a welcome source of knowledge, instead of another spam.
Content
The differences between being a welcome expert and a spammer are 1) the value of the content in your newsletter, and 2) how you build your list of recipients. One example of a newsletter that is welcome content for me is the WebProWorld newsletter, which contains links to the most recent topics of discussion on their website. The discussion participants are generally other web professionals, but new web developers are also encouraged to join the discussion. These topics help me build my own knowledge of web development and bring up interesting topics to discuss in my classes.
However, those newsletters might not be of interest to a chef or a clothing designer. So, whether the newsletter is of value depends on whether the content is of value to the recipient. One thing is for sure, if the content is purely ads, it is more likely to annoy everyone!
Another example of a good newsletter is the Smallwood News weekly newsletter, which provides links to recent news stories posted on the TimberBuySell.com website. These news stories come from many sources, but the benefit to the subscribers is that each newsletter categorizes stories into various timber or wood products topics, such as biomass energy, industry news or job openings.
Certainly, there are advertisements in the newsletters; but the offers for products and services are accompanied by “expert” information. In fact, the ads in your newsletter should contain a specific call to action by the reader, not just a generic comment about your business. Besides containing articles and advertisements, emailed newsletters often start with a message or comment from someone representing the newsletter. Many of these messages contain their own valuable insights or information.
Getting More from your Newsletter Content
You will get more results from your newsletter content, if you also post the newsletter content on your website. One reason is that your site will benefit from the additional content for search engine optimization. Second, not everyone who would enjoy reading your newsletter necessarily receives your newsletter. Third, even if a subscriber deletes your newsletter from their email, it was still a reminder that you exist, and the reader may decide to go to your website to read it later.
Building a List
How you build your list of email addresses to receive your newsletter can also set you apart from spammers. The most ethical and up-front system you can use is opt in/opt-out or double opt-in. With “opt-in”, a website viewer or customer directly asks you for the newsletter. There are many services which will provide you with an online system to allow your website visitors to enter their email address into a form to receive the newsletter. You can go online and learn about services, such as MailerMailer, VerticalResponse, MailMan or others. If you would like an example of the subscriber experience, try signing up for the AdventureLife.com newsletter.
While online newsletter systems are the best solution over the long run, don’t forget that you have other sources of newsletter subscribers. Sign up sheets at your business or at meeting, or even direct emails, are another way to let people specifically “opt-in.”
The “opt-out” part is having a link in each newsletter where your readers can unsubscribe. The unfortunate thing is that spammers have learned to use an unsubscribe link to find out if an email is valid. However, when your subscribers find out that you really don’t intend to send them emails they don’t want, it sets a theme of trust for potential relations down the road.
Double opt-in means that there is a welcome email sent to the address entered in a form that allows the person to confirm that they really do want the newsletter. Otherwise, there is nothing to prevent someone else from entering other people’s email addresses, in your form. Or, someone might actually type an error in the address that results in the newsletter being sent to someone else.
Opt-in/opt-out is a slow way to build an email list. One thing that you can do is train yourself and your employees to ask people who call, visit or email, if they would like to receive the newsletter. It is not considered spam if you send people you have contact with a sample and an invitation to subscribe to your newsletter.
Consistency
Finally, be consistent in your newsletters. Plan ahead about how much time it will take to write articles or compile materials for your newsletter, then decide whether your organization can afford to devote that amount of resources to your newsletter and how often. Keeping a list of topics that you can feature in your newsletter will help with consistency. Phone calls and email questions are good leads for topics.
This article is based on a discussion topic from the Social Networking for Business course
at Dickinson Lifelong Learning Center in Missoula, Montana
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© 2009, Nora McDougall