Re: [epub] The vexed solo mailings debate

[Elena Fawkner <elena@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 06:28 AM 5/24/00, David Carter wrote:

>One interesting comment Elena made was  that she does it "
>primarily as a service for the paid advertisers in my ezine
>itself" and that she wants "my subscribers to be buyers, not just
>passive readers" .  I wonder what  subscribers think of that.
>Don't they matter?
>
>I always thought that newsletters were written primarily for the
>subscribers, not the advertisers - I know that mine is. I seem to
>recall when I subscribed to Elena's ezine that there was some
>statement making it clear I would have to agree to receive the
>solo mailings, but I don't recall anything that said " by the way
>, don't subscribe if you aren't going to buy something" <g>

Of course subscribers matter.  That's why I spend on average 12
hours a week putting my ezine together.  But being an editor of an
ezine that accepts paid advertising means you have a responsibility
both to your subscribers AND your advertisers.  I try to discharge
my responsibility to my subscribers by providing quality content
in the form of original articles, original tutorial series and many
other regular weekly segments.  I try to discharge my responsibility
to my advertisers by giving them a reasonable return on their
advertising dollar.  I do this by keeping my list as clean as
possible and prequalifying my subscribers to the extent I can as a
potential customer for them.

No one has to be a buyer to be a subscriber to AHBBO.  But
if hitting the delete key once a week is too much to pay to
receive an ezine that I put a lot of time and effort into, then I'm
not sorry to lose those subscribers.

And I haven't been coy about this subject with my readers.  On a
number of occasions I have discussed exactly this issue and run
the debate as an open forum.  They know why I do it and from the
feedback I received during the forum, most appear to be in the
same camp as David, they don't particularly like solo mailings but
they accept them as a condition of receiving AHBBO.

I think that's a fair trade and fair balance between the interests
of subscribers and the interests of advertisers.  By the way, the
reason I accept paid advertising in my ezine at all is so I don't have
to charge for access to the databases and other materials at my
site.  I'd say that was in the interests of subscribers too.

As I said ... it's a vexed issue.

Elena

Elena Fawkner
Editor, A Home-Based Business Online
http://www.fawkner.com



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