raleighnet.org

ClickZ is running an article with basic (but worth thinking about) information about what to put on a subscribe page. It also covers setting goals, and finding sources for content. [link]

I’ve been wanting to find a list like this:
EmailSherpa’s List of Words That Will Get You Filtered

Some of these seem amazingly random.

The horribly named, Why Your E-Newsletter Doesn’t Deliver Like You Hoped actually offers a pretty good checklist of things your e-newsletter should include.

I think we’re just about ready to launch a couple of new newsletters (our first venture into the realm of e-mail). If you are an employer/hiring manager, or if you have a job - particularly a clerical or accounting job, then you should think about Subscribing (depending on when you click by, it may still need a few coats of paint, so please don’t mind the mess - it works even if it looks like crap).

There’s a nice, sort of generic Article on E-mail Newsletters over on ClickZ today. The emphasis is lightly on B-to-B.

It’s interesting to see a ClickZ columnist apologizing for recommending double opt-in. Generally the tone is you absolutely, positively have to do it. Here it’s more like: I know almost nobody does it anymore, but you should maybe sort of consider it. It’s also interesting that she claims double opt-in only culls about 20% of subscribers. I would have expected that to be higher.

Interesting … I need to give this story some deep thought:

E-mail marketing works differently. People tend to read e-mail messages — even those formatted in HTML — from top to bottom in a linear fashion. This linearity actually works to an advertiser’s advantage because it provides more control over recipient behavior. However, cramming the material from a traditional direct marketing campaign into one e-mail message (as advertisers often do) results in an overly long message more likely to confuse rather than persuade.

From Serial Storytelling: Email Marketing’s Missing Link

Sherpa has a cute little Torture a Spammer Game. The game play won’t hold up to more than 2 or 3 plays, but it’s OK the first time round. I particularly like that they are trying to use it to boost the reputation of opt-in mailers (or at least disassociate them from the more nefarious spammers). Oh, and it’s funny in a semi-ironic sort of way that they try to get you to sign up for their mail list.

Good Stuff - It’s almost psychic how these things come into my inbox right when I need to see them.

When I saw the story headline Give Away Giveaways, I thought yes. Let’s get rid of all that cheap crap. It’s not really effective is it? It can’t be. But, the story is just wrong on so many levels.

Not long ago, I was sitting in a cafe when I noticed the ring tone on another patron’s cell phone. The tone played a simple but well-known melody: “Always Coca-Cola.” […] Now that’s digital branding. Not only will the phone’s owner hear the Coke jingle several times a day, so will everyone around him. That brand’s signature tune is a highly effective piece of merchandising.

Well, sure, but how many millions of dollars did Coke have to spend to create so much brand affinity that somebody would consider (even just to be kitsch or ironic) putting Coke’s jingle on their phone? This isn’t something that Paul’s Print Palace down the street is going to be able to manage. The idea that you can drop giveaways, not because they suck, but because you can replace them with cheap digital products is insane.

Just in case I want to find this again.

Should I be concerned that, even after reading this 4 times:

STEP #3: OPT FOR TRUE RESPONSE LISTS WHEN YOU CAN
Just as traditional mailers know that response lists normally outpull compiled lists significantly, smart marketers use true response lists in their e-mail campaigns. That’s why the cost of the mass opt-in files has dropped precipitously — they are just not performing. In the b-t-b arena, controlled circ publication e-mail files (not just traditional files with e-mail appends) are working very well. Obviously, as a consumer marketer, if you can rent online respondents to magazine or catalog offers, or even to insurance and financial lead-generation offers, you’ll want to test them.

I still have absolutely know idea what a True Response List is. Time to hit google. link