I have a newsletter that goes out each month that tells people about cheap/ free music making. Great, however I have noticed something wrong with newsletters.
If you run a newsletter you may not see that many newsletter openings. I know that mine seems to jump around alot. Instead of thinking it is the seasons, timing or something else....do you know what it is?
Content.
Now I try to put out newsletters that have some information inside that will help, I even give out free synths etc, but ultimately is it what people want? I think so, but it must not be.
I have even been receiving Dr Ralf Wilsons free email, at the start it was really good, also I had free bonuses. But eventually and in the past 3 months, I haven't opened a single one.
I subscribed to a great affiliate package as well. They send emails now and then, at the start I read them, but now I don't.
Why?
I had to think about this for a while, and do you know what I have realised?
I just wanted the free stuff that they offered. I had a browse around and then, they are emailing me with information that I don't really want to know about.
For instance I subscribed to an newsletter dedicated to soft synths (software musical instruments), and I only subscribed because you had to to enter their "free downloads domain". Have I opened a single email from them after a couple of sends...no.
I have what I want, a drum machine, but that is all I wanted. I checked to see if there was any drum machine software bits from the emails, but there wasn't.
If i want more software synths, I actually Google them.
This is worrying, and I don't believe I am alone.
I am starting to think newsletters are actually dead or at least fading away. They are too general, and the worst of it they are still too distant to the readership.
Not once have I been asked to comment, not once have I been asked if the newsletter is ok. I have been left on the scrap heap and now being sent stuff that I don't really want to know about.
I have even stopped reading my subscribed magazine because they are sooo general and assume too much.
I believe this is why community sites are working well and will probably be the future of the web.
For the musician if they don't interact they are going to fail miserably. MySpace set the standard. You comment and leave feedback. Don't like the song...say! Then hopefully in the future the songs will be slightly different if the musician has any sense. People asked a question, they got an answer. this goes well with YouTube as well.
That is why there could never be a YouTube website that wasn't designed with the public in mind. You could be spending ages waiting for "friends bloopers" to appear.
Newsletters are too distant, they are not taking into consideration of the changing view of the subscribers. If you gave away a free ebook on marketing why on earth do they want a newsletter sent to them all about marketing? Wasn't the ebook any good?
If you are keeping uptodate then your site should have all the uptodate information on it or in a blog?
Some marketing types will tell you that the newsletter is the best form of keeping in contact with the public. It is, or it was. I believe that stance is changing. In one marketing newsletter, they stated that alot of their readers have 10 newsletters subscriptions or more!
I have about that...why?
Because I wanted the free things. What else could they offer me apart from countless ads for their products?
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3 comments:
While newsletters and email are still the easiest and widest used tool, podcasting is a great way to contact an audience.
You don't have to fight spam filters. You can now introduce tone of voice, and make things more personal.
The down side is as podcasts are delivered via RSS, your listner may only visit your website ONCE to sign up and never return again.
However, people are still making money and monetizing podcasting (because you have a much stonger bond ith your audience).
The best is to use both. You can use a service like aweber which produces an RSS feed, and every time you put out a podcast it can notify your email list reminding them to download the show
Dave Jackson
School of Podcasting
www.schoolofpodcasting.com
Hi Jammin :)
Thanks for the comment.
Yeah, I believe Podcasting and RSS are great ways to communicate with the audience. And it that communication that we all need to win the music game.
I am concerned that email has got to be completely relevent, uptodate and exactly what the audience wanted as soon as they signed up to be relevent.
RSS is only good, as well as blogging, if it is a continual chat so you are not forgotten.
Also are we assuming that people actually know what RSS is or Podcasting to that matter? Do we assume to much that because we know, then other people should know?
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