Email Marketing and You

Major kudos to New York Times David Carr whose latest Media Equation column on email marketing,  “For Email Newsletters, A Death Greatly Exaggerated,” is immensely valuable to all of us who promote our ideas and services and a fascinating case study in how we use information as users of the Internet.    Carr spoke to the editors of popular newsletters about why they are gaining in popularity despite being the “cockroaches of the Internet,” a supposedly outmoded form of digital communication.

What a great reminder to nonfiction authors and other thought leaders that you should collect email addresses and offer newsletters targeted to your most valued audience.  A food history author can send a historic recipe each month; a personal finance guru can curate saving and retirement tips; a yoga author could send meditations and mindfulness reminders.  As Carr notes, all you need technically are services such as Mail Chimp or Constant Contact that are popular and easy to use.  Remember to be clear up front what potential signer-uppers are getting for their subscription, and make it clear that you won’t share their names or send them other stuff they don’t want.

I know how hard it is.  My own newsletter is running late.