| Blog
vs. E-newsletter Content Tips
See
list of resources below
By
Debbie Weil
Read
debbie's blog at www.debbieweil.com
The
first thing you should know is that a blog does not have to be "cool."
The second thing is that a blog, or Weblog, can be the perfect complement to your
e-mail and e-newsletter marketing. Blog
content is often short Content
that works best in a blog is short and links to other resources. In fact, you
can use a blog to quickly summarize and point to other articles you find on the
Web that are relevant to your audience. How
blog content can work with your e-newsletter You
might also offer a quick synopsis and link to a full-length article in the previous
or current issue of your e-newsletter. (This is one way a blog and an e-newsletter
can work together.) Blogging
can sidestep "e-newsletter procrastination" A
blog post can be as short as one sentence or as long as several Web pages. But
a short paragraph with one or more links works best; it's easier and quicker to
write and will help you sidestep the procrastination that often accompanies publishing
an e-newsletter. It's also easier to read and digest. Litmus
test for "what to blog"
The litmus test for "what to
blog" is that it be useful in some way to your readers. It can be a snippet
of news from a trade publication, a link to a blog post on a related topic, a
pointer to a free downloadable white paper or a quick observation about an industry
trend. You get the idea. Your
blogging "voice" doesn't need to be edgy As
for writing style, your blog doesn't have to be informal or edgy if that doesn't
mesh with your company's culture. A business blog doesn't need to be clever. Concentrate
instead on being authentic and avoiding corporate-speak. Your voice will develop
over time. In
summary, be succinct and follow blog etiquette by always linking to the sources
of your information. Blogs
& e-newsletters have overlapping objectives Remember,
the objective of a business blog is similar to that of an e-newsletter: to build
credibility and an ongoing relationship with your customers and prospects so that
your product or service is top of mind when they're ready to buy. A blog filled
with short, useful pointers will do just that. Useful
Resources Good
explanations of RSS
Using RSS
Feeds to Promote Your Website by Ralph Wilson
Chris Pirillo's RSS
3-Step Quickstart Guide (includes list of RSS newsreaders)
Quick
explanation of RSS (from my article "5 key questions about business
blogs")
Yahoo explains its
RSS feeds EEVL's
RSS Primer (a little techie but very complete)
RSS
Tutorial for Content Publishers by Mark Nottingham
Thanks to Mark
Brownlow for a pointer to this resource.
Great
FAQ on history of blogs by techie author Andreas Ramos
Popular Blogging Tools
Blogger
(free tool; now owned by Google)
Movable
Type (software you install; it powers many professional-looking blogs)
TypePad
(hosted version of Movable Type; easier to set up)
LiveJournal
pMachine
WordPress The
article above was first published in Crain's BtoB
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