Blogging About Blogging

Do I need an e-zine?

Author: The Blogsultant
August 14, 2007
Category: Opinions and Reviews

E-zines…subscription email newsletters and online magazines….are they necessary? Should they be part of your marketing package?

I’ve been pondering the question for awhile and increasingly I find I lean towards, “oh, that sounds so old school”. Why? Because a well done blog totally replaces the need for one. It becomes a superfulous expenditure of time and sometimes money. It’s still dictatorial and one-way; in other words, very web 1.0.

For a time I considered they may be helpful in reaching out to non-web savvy customers and clients who have yet to delve into the wonderful world of blogs, subscription to RSS feeds, and social networking. And maybe they still are. I guess if one has maintained an e-zine for a while and have found it is still working for them, that perhaps it’s not yet time to give it a toss. But for the new user considering it? No…I think it would be much more profitable to funnel that time, energy, and money into a well-optimized blog. The content of a blog and e-zine is often the same but the format is so different in that it stimulates a two-way, interactive and connective conversation, traffic grows from constant and well-optimized content, and it reaches the audience where they are in the way that they want…rather than sending out some email that is likely to get hung up in my spam filter.

The shift from static web 1.0 to connective web 2.0 means out with the old and in with the new. It means learning a few new tricks and working smarter, not harder. And for many, it means skipping the e-zine and growing a dynamic blog instead.

Tia Graham, blogsultant, builds, manages, and empowers business blogs that can help you generate income, improve publicity, and interact with your audience. See bloggingwithflair.com for more information.

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