Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Newsletters role in the blogosphere. Poindexterish?

Ever popular as a marketing tool, newsletters have migrated to blogging. Personally I'm lukewarm on all this – my inbox is clogged enough. The only time I enthusiastically welcome any sort of newsletter is a listserv digest, which compresses a day's worth of posts into one, quickly scannable block.

But some folks here have businesses and charities, which benefit from a monthly or seasonal communiqué. In that case, I recommend this subscription widget. And tips by my travel- and new-media colleague Karen Kefauver, who explores good newsletter craftsmanship, including the KISS rule (Keep it Short, Simple). She also has savvy advice about Facebook and Twitter protocol for companies. Kefauver mainly teaches in California's Bay Area and via teleseminar: I recommend her highly (see her social-media class offerings).

Finally, consider cross-posting your content, noting the newsletter's release and key topics on sites like Twitter, Facebook and Linked-In.