Dear Subscriber:
The Washington Post's Ombudsman had a long piece last Sunday (11/29) about how the Post is making it hard for its web readers to offer feedback to a top editor. "Most merely want to ask a question, make a suggestion or relay a story tip. It shouldn't be so complicated. With the Post struggling financially, the bond between readers and the newsroom should be strengthened, not strained," wrote Andrew Alexander.
The print edition has taken steps to correct that, Alexander says, providing e-mail addresses and phone numbers for news departments on Page A-2, and providing e-mail addresses of reporters at the bottom of their stories.
So what's the problem? The Post's website. One reader spent more than 20 minutes on the site looking in vain for the names of the editors of the books and food pages, Alexander wrote. Eventually the reader found "contact us" in tiny type at the bottom of the main page. She clicked and found a directory of 700 names, in alphabetical order. "You can click on a name, but it only gives you their e-mail," the reader wrote. "It doesn't tell you what they do or what their specialty is.'
Metro newspapers like the Post have bigger problems than newsletter publishers, but this week it might be worthwhile to take a look at each of our websites to see how easy we make it for readers to reach editors, reporters, marketers, customer service people and publishers.
Check Physical Addresses, Too
While we're checking, we might want to take a look at any thing we're sending out--especially those being sent by autoresponders, to make sure they have correct physical, mail and e-mail addresses. Bob Bly, the copywriter, bribed readers of his e-letter to complete a survey with a special report: "How to Make $100,000+ a Year Selling Simple Information Online in Your Spare Time."
There's only one problem: Bob has moved recently, but the report still has his old address. Not good when you hope the report will bring you additional business.
And Dates
And while we're at it, your humble servant has his own weaknesses, and one cropped up in this newsletter last week: I often forget to change dates, especially on inside pages. It may be that someone in your shop has the same weakness. Do you have a procedure in place to check dates on inside pages?
Why Foundations Can't Be the 'Savior of Journalism'
There was a certain delicious irony that even as a panel of witnesses were touting foundations as a way to preserve newspapers, Howard Kurtz, the Washington Post's media critic was writing a Page One story recounting how the across-town competitor, The Washington Times, was going to cut staff 40%, restrict paid circulation by charging "premium prices" and focus on what it considers its core strengths--national and political coverage--while virtually dropping local coverage and many features.
You could practically hear whoops of joy from Don Graham, chairman of The Washington Post Co. and others at the Post as they realized The Washington Times apparently has decided to commit suicide, not quickly with a gunshot to the head, but slowly, drip by drip.
I know this is a newsletter about newsletters, not about newspapers, but occasionally it's worthwhile talking about other media, if for no other reason than to see what if anything we might learn.
What made the Times announcement so ironic was the belief among some--including all on the FTC panel--that the public broadcasting model was a way to save newspapers. You know: take a little taxpayer money, add foundation grants, donations, sponsorships and memberships.
The Washington Times has been there, done that. And it doesn't work. The Times is owned by the Unification Church which has poured hundreds of millions into the paper as a way to buy influence in Washington. And now, apparently, the Unification Church is facing its own financial crisis and can't afford to keep the subsidies coming. The result, as last Wednesday's (12/2) announcement made clear, is a paper that can't pay its bills.
Newspapers aren't newsletters, of course. Foundations and other not-for-profits can and do publish newsletters successfully. When they do, it is always for just one of two reasons:
--Either to advance their mission. This is the purpose behind Harvard Health Letter, for instance. It's a way to bring the knowledge of the Harvard Medical School faculty to the general public. And, along the way, further burnish the image of Harvard.
--Or they do it to raise money, either through donations or, in the case of your local hospital, building traffic.
But what about public broadcasting? Foundation funding is almost always to advance their mission (a foundation set up to promote classical music, for instance, doesn't fund production of cooking shows). Most membership money is raised through "beg-a-thons" where the pitch is "keep our music coming by donating now." Public broadcasting doesn't carry ads, it has commercial sponsors whose objective is always to promote their own products.
We think there is absolutely no difference between foundation funding or sponsorships on public broadcasting and advertising in a newspaper or commercial tv station. And membership money is exactly the same as subscriptions.
Fred Goss: What's Changed in e-Mail, Internet Marketing
The internet may have made life more challenging for newsletter editors--after all, it may be a great boon for reporters and editors looking for info, but "everything" that happens in your business is on the net in 20 minutes making it more difficult to publish the niche NL that has the news you can't get anywhere else--but how much has changed in marketing?
I first came online in August or September of 1994. In the intervening nearly 15 years I think I can sum up in a fairly brief piece what conventional wisdom has become regarding newsletter marketing both via e-mail and on your website.
E-Mail Marketing Guidelines
1. Don't send blast e-mails at 2am Sunday morning. It may be economical but first thing in the morning, especially Monday AM is when prospect's in boxes are full of crap and lead to a great deal of delete without reading.
2. Avoid the words that you have learned can be most effective in print NL marketing. Words such as "exclusive," "free,", "sale," and half-off and their ilk tend to trigger SPAM filters at the recipients end and block your selling message from being received.
3. Resist the temptation to use colors or illustrations, "because you can." Many machines can't receive those.
4. Direct selling e-mail offers can be effective to current subscribers, special reports, conference registrations, even advance renewals.
5. For prospects getting a direct order from an e-mail is much less likely. More effective the offer of a link to the website or a sample issue or requested trial (usually in combination with a direct mail follow-up effort.)
6. Build your in-house prospect lists with double permission techniques (and remember, permission doesn't necessarily last forever.)
7. Rental e-mail lists are pretty much crap.
8. By this time there may just be too many free e-letters and e-zines being offered and, in the end, just cluttering recipients in-boxes and largely unread.
Website Marketing Guidelines
1. Think about search engine optimization (SEO). do what you can to insure that your site comes up when a prospect searches for the key terms in your subject area.
2. Have a unique landing page for the (or each) newsletter. Don't make the prospect wade through your entire website complete with company history, bios of key execs, other products, etc.
3. The same features that work in a direct mail offer, premiums, discounts, testimonials, guarantees are also effective online and should be included in your online marketing offers.
4. Medium copy sells. It may be true that people won't read long copy on screen but "some" selling copy helps. Not, "The price is $347, press subscribe now below to order."
5. There is room for innovation. Last year's NL/NL marketing winner, The Cheap Investor, showed the prospect a short, humorous video which then linked the prospect so the selling website.
6. Pay per click advertising has worked for many publishers. The response rate is similar to direct mail but it is much cheaper.
Fred Goss is a marketing consultant and former executive director of the Newsletter Publishers Association, a predecessor of SIPA. He can be reached at fgoss@twcny.rr.com.
Who, What, When & Where ...
John Novack, a board member of the Specialized Information Publishers Foundation (SIPF) and longtime medical publishing professional, has joined medical software company Quantros, Inc., as Director of Marketing Communications and Strategy. Quantros (www.quantros.com), based in Milpitas, CA, is a leading healthcare safety and risk management software and services provider. Novack will be responsible for increasing brand recognition of Quantros, and developing partnerships and a sales pipeline to Quantros' new online medical community sites. Most recently, Novack was Medical Market Development Director at EBSCO Publishing, and previously held business development and editorial management roles at HCPro. Novack will be based in Quantros' new Boston-area office.
Cordially,
Joel Whitaker
Editor and Publisher
Making it easy on readers: check e-mail and physical addresses, dates.Dear Subscriber:
The Washington Post's Ombudsman had a long piece last Sunday (11/29) about how the Post is making it hard for its web readers to offer feedback to a top editor. "Most merely want to ask a question, make a suggestion or relay a story tip. It shouldn't be so complicated. With the Post struggling financially, the bond between readers and the newsroom should be strengthened, not strained," wrote Andrew Alexander.
The print edition has taken steps to correct that, Alexander says, providing e-mail addresses and phone numbers for news departments on Page A-2, and providing e-mail addresses of reporters at the bottom of their stories.
So what's the problem? The Post's website. One reader spent more than 20 minutes on the site looking in vain for the names of the editors of the books and food pages, Alexander wrote. Eventually the reader found "contact us" in tiny type at the bottom of the main page. She clicked and found a directory of 700 names, in alphabetical order. "You can click on a name, but it only gives you their e-mail," the reader wrote. "It doesn't tell you what they do or what their specialty is.'
Metro newspapers like the Post have bigger problems than newsletter publishers, but this week it might be worthwhile to take a look at each of our websites to see how easy we make it for readers to reach editors, reporters, marketers, customer service people and publishers.
Check Physical Addresses, Too
While we're checking, we might want to take a look at any thing we're sending out--especially those being sent by autoresponders, to make sure they have correct physical, mail and e-mail addresses. Bob Bly, the copywriter, bribed readers of his e-letter to complete a survey with a special report: "How to Make $100,000+ a Year Selling Simple Information Online in Your Spare Time."
There's only one problem: Bob has moved recently, but the report still has his old address. Not good when you hope the report will bring you additional business.
And Dates
And while we're at it, your humble servant has his own weaknesses, and one cropped up in this newsletter last week: I often forget to change dates, especially on inside pages. It may be that someone in your shop has the same weakness. Do you have a procedure in place to check dates on inside pages?
Why Foundations Can't Be the 'Savior of Journalism'
There was a certain delicious irony that even as a panel of witnesses were touting foundations as a way to preserve newspapers, Howard Kurtz, the Washington Post's media critic was writing a Page One story recounting how the across-town competitor, The Washington Times, was going to cut staff 40%, restrict paid circulation by charging "premium prices" and focus on what it considers its core strengths--national and political coverage--while virtually dropping local coverage and many features.
You could practically hear whoops of joy from Don Graham, chairman of The Washington Post Co. and others at the Post as they realized The Washington Times apparently has decided to commit suicide, not quickly with a gunshot to the head, but slowly, drip by drip.
I know this is a newsletter about newsletters, not about newspapers, but occasionally it's worthwhile talking about other media, if for no other reason than to see what if anything we might learn.
What made the Times announcement so ironic was the belief among some--including all on the FTC panel--that the public broadcasting model was a way to save newspapers. You know: take a little taxpayer money, add foundation grants, donations, sponsorships and memberships.
The Washington Times has been there, done that. And it doesn't work. The Times is owned by the Unification Church which has poured hundreds of millions into the paper as a way to buy influence in Washington. And now, apparently, the Unification Church is facing its own financial crisis and can't afford to keep the subsidies coming. The result, as last Wednesday's (12/2) announcement made clear, is a paper that can't pay its bills.
Newspapers aren't newsletters, of course. Foundations and other not-for-profits can and do publish newsletters successfully. When they do, it is always for just one of two reasons:
--Either to advance their mission. This is the purpose behind Harvard Health Letter, for instance. It's a way to bring the knowledge of the Harvard Medical School faculty to the general public. And, along the way, further burnish the image of Harvard.
--Or they do it to raise money, either through donations or, in the case of your local hospital, building traffic.
But what about public broadcasting? Foundation funding is almost always to advance their mission (a foundation set up to promote classical music, for instance, doesn't fund production of cooking shows). Most membership money is raised through "beg-a-thons" where the pitch is "keep our music coming by donating now." Public broadcasting doesn't carry ads, it has commercial sponsors whose objective is always to promote their own products.
We think there is absolutely no difference between foundation funding or sponsorships on public broadcasting and advertising in a newspaper or commercial tv station. And membership money is exactly the same as subscriptions.
Fred Goss: What's Changed in e-Mail, Internet Marketing
The internet may have made life more challenging for newsletter editors--after all, it may be a great boon for reporters and editors looking for info, but "everything" that happens in your business is on the net in 20 minutes making it more difficult to publish the niche NL that has the news you can't get anywhere else--but how much has changed in marketing?
I first came online in August or September of 1994. In the intervening nearly 15 years I think I can sum up in a fairly brief piece what conventional wisdom has become regarding newsletter marketing both via e-mail and on your website.
E-Mail Marketing Guidelines
1. Don't send blast e-mails at 2am Sunday morning. It may be economical but first thing in the morning, especially Monday AM is when prospect's in boxes are full of crap and lead to a great deal of delete without reading.
2. Avoid the words that you have learned can be most effective in print NL marketing. Words such as "exclusive," "free,", "sale," and half-off and their ilk tend to trigger SPAM filters at the recipients end and block your selling message from being received.
3. Resist the temptation to use colors or illustrations, "because you can." Many machines can't receive those.
4. Direct selling e-mail offers can be effective to current subscribers, special reports, conference registrations, even advance renewals.
5. For prospects getting a direct order from an e-mail is much less likely. More effective the offer of a link to the website or a sample issue or requested trial (usually in combination with a direct mail follow-up effort.)
6. Build your in-house prospect lists with double permission techniques (and remember, permission doesn't necessarily last forever.)
7. Rental e-mail lists are pretty much crap.
8. By this time there may just be too many free e-letters and e-zines being offered and, in the end, just cluttering recipients in-boxes and largely unread.
Website Marketing Guidelines
1. Think about search engine optimization (SEO). do what you can to insure that your site comes up when a prospect searches for the key terms in your subject area.
2. Have a unique landing page for the (or each) newsletter. Don't make the prospect wade through your entire website complete with company history, bios of key execs, other products, etc.
3. The same features that work in a direct mail offer, premiums, discounts, testimonials, guarantees are also effective online and should be included in your online marketing offers.
4. Medium copy sells. It may be true that people won't read long copy on screen but "some" selling copy helps. Not, "The price is $347, press subscribe now below to order."
5. There is room for innovation. Last year's NL/NL marketing winner, The Cheap Investor, showed the prospect a short, humorous video which then linked the prospect so the selling website.
6. Pay per click advertising has worked for many publishers. The response rate is similar to direct mail but it is much cheaper.
Fred Goss is a marketing consultant and former executive director of the Newsletter Publishers Association, a predecessor of SIPA. He can be reached at fgoss@twcny.rr.com.
Who, What, When & Where ...
John Novack, a board member of the Specialized Information Publishers Foundation (SIPF) and longtime medical publishing professional, has joined medical software company Quantros, Inc., as Director of Marketing Communications and Strategy. Quantros (www.quantros.com), based in Milpitas, CA, is a leading healthcare safety and risk management software and services provider. Novack will be responsible for increasing brand recognition of Quantros, and developing partnerships and a sales pipeline to Quantros' new online medical community sites. Most recently, Novack was Medical Market Development Director at EBSCO Publishing, and previously held business development and editorial management roles at HCPro. Novack will be based in Quantros' new Boston-area office.
Cordially,
Joel Whitaker
Editor and Publisher
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