OH, NO! EXCLUSIVE MAILINGS!
One of the complaints ezine publishers hear regularly concerns "exclusive mailings" - or "solo ads." These are emails sent to the ezine subscribers which usually contain an ad or other information. Frankly, I'm tired of hearing about it.
Let's think about this logically. I
subscribe to TIME MAGAZINE - and I pay for it. Yet, TIME makes their money
mainly from advertising. They routinely send me extra mailings with special
offers - in addition to the regular ads in each issue. Those are solo ads!
If I don't like it - they are not
going to give me my money back. In fact, I would be lucky if I could make them
stop sending the magazine before the subscription ran out.
Online ezines are published to
build a mailing list. This is no secret. Most publishers don't do all that
work out of the goodness of their hearts. They are in business! The subscriber
base is a controlled list of possible buyers for whatever product/service the
publisher is marketing.
For the most part, publishers try
to give good - and valuable - content. Very few charge for their ezines so
this information is FREE to the subscriber. Can you imagine what you would
have to pay for the information you receive in a free ezine if you purchased
it in training courses?
As a publisher, I have repeatedly
refused to accept "Solo" ads to send to my readers. I only send out extra
mailings if I believe it's something my readers really need to know about.
However, I have no problem at all with publishers who DO accept solo ads.
Advertisers want these ads because they are more likely to be read than a
small 5 line ad in the middle of an ezine.
A couple of minutes of my time to
read an extra ad sent by a publisher who is providing me with valuable
information and/or entertainment every week is a small price to pay for what
I'm getting without charge.
Putting out a good ezine every week
is a LOT of HARD work! Expecting an ezine publisher to teach us and/or
entertain us - then complaining about the occasional extra ad (or even "too
many" ads in an issue) is like the people who go to a free Happy Hour buffet -
eat $20 worth of free food - then complain because they have to serve
themselves.
Ezines were not designed for the
sole delight of the subscribers who receive this information for free - then
complain about it. They were not designed by publishers to have something to
fill up their time - make them crazy - and give them a lot of guff.
An electronic magazine - as with
any print magazine - is a vehicle for profit. The trade off with a free ezine
is MORE than fair to the subscriber! You get the free information - the
publisher gets the exposure for advertising. Extra ads are part of the deal
unless otherwise stated.
Is there anything you can do about
it? Yes - there is. Learn to live with it or stop taking the gift of the free
information the ezine offers you.
jl scott, ph.d., Author Copyright © 1999, All Rights Reserved
A copy of this article is available
at: mailings@i-Cop.org
This article may be reprinted with
permission by including the following resource box:
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dr. jl scott is the Founder of the International Council of Online Professionals (iCop™) - and also the publisher of the Internet Marketing Trade Journal™ - the ezine that keeps you up to date on Internet marketing coming of age. Click Here for your subscription.
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dr. jl scott is the Founder of the International Council of Online Professionals (iCop™) - and also the publisher of the Internet Marketing Trade Journal™ - the ezine that keeps you up to date on Internet marketing coming of age. Click Here for your subscription.
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