|
|
|
|
|
June 2004 In this issue: >> Intro: I
hear you, but...
Greetings, Many thanks to everyone who responded to the last issue's survey. I asked whether you would prefer this newsletter to continue in a text-only format, or in HTML. Here are the results. Text Only - 53% One thing surprised me, and that was the number of people who said they would prefer HTML. The way I see it, publishers move to HTML principally for their own benefit. More click throughs etc. So it was interesting to see that a third of those who responsed would prefer HTML - from a reader's point of view. And yes, I know that over 50% want the newsletter to remain text only. However, I'm going to give HTML a try. And I'm going to follow my own advice to others. That is to say, I'll be using HTML with a light touch. I'll use it to format the text, and to keep promotional elements separate. Nothing too heavy handed. We'll see how it goes. : ) In this issue's survey, let's leave work for a moment. What do you like to do when you're not working? What are your hobbies? My hobbies? Flower photography, reading really good fiction, watching good movies and tearing bad ones to shreds. Until next time. Nick >> Feedback: mailto:nick@excessvoice.com =============================================== REVIEW: Lifetips.com - Organic Search On Steroids Lifetips comprises thousands of pages which are written by 'gurus' in hundreds of different subject areas. (Lifetips attracts about 2 million visitors a month.) Become a Lifetips Guru in your own subject area, and use your Lifetips site to refer large volumes of qualified traffic to your existing, revenue-generating site. It's like creating hundreds of organic-search-optimized entry pages. Read my full review
here:
- MarketingSherpa: - Site Build It!: - WordTracker: =============================================== ARTICLE: Write a Real Newsletter A strange thing has been happening to newsletters online. They have been turning into either a) promotional emails or b) web pages delivered by email. I’m sure you know what I mean. Go back a couple of years and you could look forward to receiving your favorite newsletter in the knowledge that the newsletter itself would contain some great content...something you could read and enjoy, or learn from. You could open the newsletter in your email and read it, from beginning to end. There were articles, reviews or just personal rant...well written and interesting. In short, there was real value, right there in the newsletter. These newsletters, where significant value lies in the body of the newsletter itself, are becoming harder and harder to find. Instead, more and more companies and organizations are using their ‘newsletters’ as a promotional ploy to drive you to pages on their sites. In one way, it’s understandable. As anyone with a newsletter knows, if you have one or two links to your site in the newsletter, your site traffic really spikes on the days you send out the newsletter. When you see that, it’s tempting to optimize the entire newsletter – its format and content – as a means to drive additional traffic and generate more sales. As a result, you now see numerous newsletters where an article is not included in its entirety. You simply get a teaser and a link to a page on their site. Or else you get a ‘newsletter’ that looks just like the site interface, with all the various navigation links and promotional messages included. This may be great if you want to maximize the traffic to your site each time you send out a newsletter. But there is a catch. The catch is, if there is less value in your newsletter itself, your subscribers will quickly begin to become bored with it. After all, with a zillion other promotional emails cluttering our inboxes – why pay special attention to a ‘newsletter’ that is simply another sales pitch? The real value of a newsletter that contains valuable content is long-term. You’ll get more word-of-mouth, you’ll get higher open-rates, and you’ll get long-term readers who look forward to your newsletter, for years ahead. Is there a compromise? Sure there is. A valuable newsletter doesn’t need to be text-only without a single link, or devoid of any promotional elements. Just make sure that every newsletter contains some valuable content, in its entirety. Give people a real reason to look forward to receiving it, opening it and reading it.
** The archives of
all previous ExcessVoice articles can be found here: >> Feedback: mailto:nick@excessvoice.com =============================================== READERS WRITE BACK: Text-Only or HTML? "Although text and HTML both have their advantages, I selected "Leave it text-only" because while text may not allow for high-end formatting, this particular email is very easy to read; and I like the fact that a newsletter about words has its focus on just that: words, and nothing else. HTML is lovely from a layout and graphics point of view, but for some reason I equate most HTML emails with direct marketing and sales-orientated material - always expect to see a "Special Offer" ad in them somewhere!! But, then again, it depends on how you treat it. If it had to be HTML, I'd prefer less emphasis on graphics and fancy magazine layouts, and more on using its abilities to create an even cleaner frame for the content." Sarah Van Ginkel -- "In your case there's probably not a lot of images that you need in your publication. Still, you'd be able to link your table of contents to anchors within the appropriate articles to help get to what readers want to key in on. Also, with a two column layout, you can keep the ads/commercial related material largely off to one side so you can still have a "smooth-reading" publication." Robert Cooper Any thoughts or comments to share? Send them in now... >> Feedback: mailto:nick@excessvoice.com =============================================== SURVEY: When You're not Working When you step away from your desk, what are your hobbies? List them here: ====================================================== Don't miss out on future issues of the Excess Voice newsletter for copywriters. Sign up now: (Your email address will be used only for the purpose of sending you this newsletter, and you'll be free to unsubscribe at any time.) |
Web Tools, Reports and Services I recommend. My reviews here...MarketingSherpa
Report: WordTracker: Site Build It!:
Most Popular eBook
Gourmet Coffee Beans and Numi Teas at Wholesale Prices
|
|
|
© 2003 Nick Usborne. All rights reserved. |
