Are Newsletters Better Than Blogs?

Why a Nifty Newsletter Might Beat Out a Blah Blog.

1. 1. A blog is in a fixed location on the internet. You have to write pieces and upload them regularly in order to keep it fresh and interesting enough so that people will visit it frequently.
   
2. 2. A newsletter generally goes out once or twice a month ('major' and 'minor' issues). It 'goes out' as in - it is mailed out to your mailing list (friends, associates, clients, prospects). They get it in their inbox, hopefully it's attractive enough that they look at it, it is compelling enough that they read some or all of it, and if it's really good, they click on a link that takes them to a place on your website where they can buy or sign up for your products or services.
   
3. 3. With a newsletter you get to be proactive and reach out to your customers rather than waiting for them to stumble across your blog. Like the old-time 'paper' newsletters, people expect to get them in their mailbox (sing with me: "You've got mail!").
   
4. 4. With a blog you kind of have to sit and wait and hope and wish for people to remember to visit your blog, or somehow accidentally find it. (kind of like preparing a party but not being able to send out any invitations).
   
5. 5. A newsletter is informative, offers valuable tips and advice on a specific subject, and it's pretty (especially if it's nicely designed by professionals who know what they're doing. Did you get our newsletter, by the way?)
   
6. 6. Blogs can be pretty and informative too, but they are a new 'thing' - no previous type of 'object' to compare them to as far as some of your prospects are concerned. Blogs seem confusing to some people. But who hasn't heard of a newsletter?
   
7. 7. A stylish online newsletter can contain links that direct people to go to other places you want them to go (like to your blog).
   
8. 8. When a blog is perceived as something other than "musings" on a particular subject, it can lose its interest value and the audience may drift away, never to return (sob).
   
9. 9. With an online newsletter you can sell attractive advertising in it to cover costs. You could do that with a blog too, but it takes away from the "I'm not advertising, I'm simply expressing my innermost thoughts and opinions" image that blogs typically need to have to be successful.
   
10. 10. People can sign up for your newsletter right on your website. This is something they are very familiar with doing. Familiarity is good.
    
11. 11. Your friends and associates can forward your entire newsletter to their friends, thereby really maximizing the "eyeballs" factor and possibly attracting new prospects. I have been tooling around on the 'net since 1994, and in that time, a number of my friends have forwarded newsletters to me on subjects they know interest me (adoption, organic gardening, etc). If a friend forwards something to me I usually read it cover to cover. I don't think anyone has ever forwarded a blog to me. Not one that I can recall, anyway.
    
12. 12. Done right, newsletters have a nostalgia value that blogs won't have for another 50 years, if ever.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a blog-hater. I have a blog or two - you've seen them, right? But it is not an either/or thing. It is a 'both' thing. And if you don't feel that you're going to have the time or attention to do both, then it's a newsletter, baby, all the way. Hey, put us on your mailing list, would you? Mandy Wildman, Mandy@TwoCupsConnect.com and Wayne Porter, Wayne@TwoCupsConnect.com.

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