Comments on: How To Build a Successful Email Newsletter

By: John Felkins

John Felkins — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:10:28 +0000

My to do list today: Email Marketing Campaign.

I’m glad I saw this. Thanks!

How does Aweber differ from Campaigner? Thanks!

By: Shreejana Hickman

Shreejana Hickman — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 04:30:27 +0000

I just started my blog, and I’m planning to start the newsletter twice a month. I just like to get in the habit and be consistent from the beginning. I plan on putting my best posts of those 2 weeks and some great travel bargains that I find within that time period. I’ll see how it works. Thanks Darren for excellent tips.

By: Greg

Greg — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 13:54:38 +0000

Excellent tips! The double opt-in is a very important element. Better have fewer subscribers but ones which are seriously interested, than having thousands which didn’t even ask for it!

By: Sarah (Real Life)

Sarah (Real Life) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:48:37 +0000

I started using a newsletter for one of my blogs a while ago, and it has been great! I got some feedback that indicated many readers didn’t want an extra email in their box everyday, but wanted a weekly update so they could choose which content they were interested in. This is why I subscribe to Problogger newsletter.

My open and click rates have been declining slightly, so I may try the “insider tip angle” to get people to open.

One way I got lots of subscribers was when I had a booth at an event. I had a sign-up sheet, where they could add their address and I put them in the letter later. But of course this only works if you have personal contact, like a convention.

By: Julia

Julia — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 22:53:07 +0000

Thank you Darren for sharing some great ideas on newsletters. I’m not up to the state of sending them but appreciate these tips for when the time comes. Will include on my site for others to benefit as well. Have a great day.
http://www.smallbizinternetsolutions.com

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:33:58 +0000

Excellent pointers here Darren. Many Thanks.
I’m currently working on building a new e-mail opt in list for my site and picked up on a lot of things here I had failed to consider.
I am trying to get in early and build my list as best i can and your site is definitely helping me along.
I’ll be sure to keep referring back to these as I build my list
Thanks
Matt Galley
Urbantie.com

By: Dilip Shaw

Dilip Shaw — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:55:40 +0000

Darren what is the exact time to start a newsletter subscription? As it involves cost!

One of my websites gets around 50 unique visitors a day. Should I start the newsletter subscription now, or should I wait?

Dilip Shaw
http://www.dilipshaw.com/

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 05:02:29 +0000

great Info…but there is other tips for beginner???

By: bloggywog

bloggywog — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:46:58 +0000

I think these tips are great, and I’m amazed at how much this type of work is increasing right now. I found some trends for writing jobs, which I would imagine would include email newsletters, (http://www.odesk.com/trends/Tech%20Writer). I’m not sure how accurate the chart is, but it shows a steady increase, particularly over the past month. Pretty impressive given the state of the economy lately.

By: alwaysLovely

alwaysLovely — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 09:02:00 +0000

Hi Darren,

Thanks for the tips. Love them.
I’m looking into newsletters recently especially so when I recently received your copy.
I sent out blog broadcast weekly and I’m a little confused of the differences between newsletter and blog broadcast.
Would appreciate if you can highlight the differences.
I use aweber too :)

By: Pat with SPI

Pat with SPI — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 01:31:52 +0000

I totally agree with Mano above. If i had placed a newsletter subscription service on my blog in the beginning, I would of have thousands of more people to announce the launch of my Ebook to.

Big mistake on my part.

By: Mano Rame

Mano Rame — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 17:49:46 +0000

Another advantage of having a newsletter is that, once it is popular it can be used as a selling point. For instance ‘I’m the publisher of The most widely read newsletter on some subject’

By: Josh

Josh — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 17:33:42 +0000

I don’t know how long ago you used Zookoda to send your e-mails, but I have had very recent experience with them, and very little of it was good. DON’T USE ZOOKODA.

Besides the fact that you’re stuck with an awful Zookoda logo on the bottom of each e-mail, the e-mail service is terribly unreliable and the reply time on customer service is shoddy. I guess you shouldn’t expect much for a free service, but when they either don’t send your e-mails correctly or they send it on the wrong day (isn’t this stuff automated??) you have to wonder if the “free” part is actually worth it.

In the end I’ve decided that the newsletter service is not a good idea for me and my blog…yet. Why not just let people subscribe to my feed via e-mail for now? It costs me nothing and most people now-a-days are using RSS readers anyway.

By: Income Hitter

Income Hitter — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 05:12:11 +0000

Email list is an asset for you if you want to make money online. It’s so important and that’s why you should gain value from your subscribers by giving quality content. Most of the time I focus on sending quality content and not overdoing the promotion of product.

By: Surender

Surender — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:45:33 +0000

Really helpful advice.

By: Jim Schroeder

Jim Schroeder — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:31:57 +0000

Great post. I use Constant Contact but I can see the advantages of Aweber. I have added a link on my site. My readers will find what you have to say about starting an online newsletter very helpful and hopefully will push a few past the tipping point to get started!

By: John Hoff - eVentureBiz

John Hoff - eVentureBiz — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 01:58:20 +0000

One thing I hate is when you purchase something online, like an eBook, and you’re automatically signed up for their newsletter.

By: Saving Money

Saving Money — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 21:48:42 +0000

Very interesting article.

Though I find the biggest problems with email newsletters is the amount of people joining that do not fit into your demographic.

Eg; I have 150 + newsletter subscribers, which is great don’t get me wrong as I can use it to further get traffic to my site, but for most advertising solutions that are delivered through email, such as Commission Monster or DGM – they require further information about the email receivers, such as demographics and background.

This means I have 2 options, either emailing them all and requesting that information for a prize of some sorts, or instead just changing my sign up form to include some questions.

Thanks for the post.

Check out my Saving Money blog at http://www.savingsguide.com.au and tell me what you think of the newsletter sign up on the right hand side. Simple yet effective!

By: Sam McArthur

Sam McArthur — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:44:47 +0000

Great tips Darren. One thing that is important is to build rapport with your readers, make your newsletter a bit fun so your subscribers look forward to getting it, perhaps include a bit about your personal life, children or pets. Some of the newsletters I’ve been subscribing to for years add in a bit about their personal life so you get to know more about the person writing it – one of those newsletters is Jill Whalen’s High Rankings Advisor – for years she’s been telling us all about her family!

By: amirulcyber

amirulcyber — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:26:55 +0000

I still study the how email newsletter can give huge impact on my blog.