Newsletters | A Regularly Distributed Publication

A newsletter is a regularly distributed publication generally about one main topic that is of interest to it's subscribers. Many newsletters are published by clubs and or business, especially companies, to provide information of interest to its members or employees.

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eNewsletters, especially when originating from companies, is often thinly veiled spam, which is the unsolicited electronic distribution of advertising directly to consumers.

Various websites that require registration often have an option to subscribe to various eNewsletters. These options are usually selected by default, which results in many users opting into the newsletter because they did not read the form carefully enough.

If you would ask this question, “Which one is more important – the mailing list or the product?” any savvy marketer would answer you, “The mailing list”.

Principally, any wise business person puts the importance of hungry demand (and not just any demand) in front of the product. In other words, there is no product if there is no demand! And a mailing list represents the demand or your business if you would like to call it.

If you frequent the Joint Venture forums and membership sites of any kind, you will find that product and service owners need mailing list owners more than the other way round. This is because the mailing list owners have the prospects that the other type of partner is looking for to sell to.

And if you are a mailing list owner, you do not have to necessarily make money from selling your own product. You can sell advertising space or craft a Joint Venture with product owners in return of commissions, recurring or not.Most of the biggest success web businesses on the Internet today often establish the mailing list (or subscribers) first before the product. One fine example is Friendster.com.

Friendster.com, in the nutshell, is a website that connects friends and potential friends from around the world through a free membership access.

While Friendster.com does not make money from the number of members who join the site, the business makes money from selling advertising space and partnering with other big time merchants and businesses, owing to the established number of members Friendster.com has recruited.

This business is perfect example that demonstrates why every business should establish a need or demand before the product itself, and why you should do the same, whether you run a friends site or not.

Electronic mailing lists are similar to eNewsletters, except that they are usually less commercial in nature, and can often be posted to by any member of the email list. In that case they can also be used for group discussion.

Mailing lists, ezines, members' updates, and newsletters can be an invaluable tool for a variety of reasons. They are essential for your website to have a method of contacting your interested visitors.

Even if subscribers have never bought a single item from you, once they give you permission to contact them, they provide you with a resource which is useful in several ways.

The first aspect is obvious: Instead of being a random person who stumbles onto your site and bounces away again, someone who joins your update letter gives you the opportunity to increase your brand recognition and market your products and services to them, letting them know when the hottest and newest items appear.

Having your name in mind makes them more likely to return to your site or brick-and-mortar store.

Besides simply being another sales ad, the interactive nature of mailing lists can be used to your benefit for research purposes. Your list of subscribers becomes a free, targeted focus group you can use to determine your customer demographic, what your customers want and need, suggestions from users about how to improve your business, and much more important information.

There are a number of free mailing list services available which you can use to maintain your subscribers with ease. One that I've used to good effect is offered by Bravenet. It has a small ad at the bottom of each mailing, but the list system works quite well, providing an easy way for visitors to join or leave and a simple newsletter creation template.

They also have a number of other services, from guestbooks to counters and more, most at no cost whatsoever.

Use your mailing list wisely, always include content your readers will find interesting -- not just what you want them to buy -- and respect the fact that they've trusted you with their personal information. Don't break that trust. Done correctly, your newsletter can be a great contribution to your site's success.

Some newsletters are created as a money-making venture and sold directly to subscribers. Other newsletters can be distributed by family members as a cheaper, more personal subsitute for greeting cards.

These often focus on specific topic of a timely nature such as politics (usually of a partisan slant) or business or investing advice.

Online Newsletters:

Many popular websites and businesses have online newsletters, known as eNewsletters, which are sent to their subscribers electronically, usually via email. Their purpose is to inform readers of updates to the site and/or provide information relating to the site's topic.

Newsletters are also a factor in building and maintaining a relationship with the subscribers by reminding them of the site, urging them to return.