March 14, 2008
Should your online business switch to RSS instead of email?
If you have an online business and you use email publishing to connect with your subscriber list, raise your hand…
So…that includes me.
Here’s a great question for you: Is email publishing dead?
Many online companies are now preferring the ease of RSS subscriptions rather than newsletter marketing. If you don’t know what RSS is, take a look at this post to find out more.
Welcome to the new way of cutting edge client relationship management. I’m so convinced about this method of content delivery that I’ve decided to switch over.
I’ve decided to transition my email subscriptions over to RSS.
Keep reading to find out why…
So before I go any further…let me just offer you the opportunity to subscribe to this blog’s feed so that you can keep up with our syndicated content via RSS!
In actuality, email was created to be a 2-way communications channel, whereas RSS subscriptions were meant to be a one-way mode of communication between content provider and interested person.
A couple of highly techie people at noosphere believe that email will soon die out as RSS takes its place.
I’m not so sure I’d completely agree with a looming death certificate for email based subscriber management, so don’t go making hasty decisions to halt your current email marketing program.
However, I’d encourage to take a look at what RSS can do for your business. Here are a few reasons switching to (or at least adding an RSS option) to your business may help your long term profitability:
- RSS is always on time. Your subscribers don’t have to continually plug in their email address with each new piece of breaking news your company disseminates. They’re already plugged in to the source content (your feed) and each time you add an update to your feed (your blog), your subscribers automatically receive an update on their end and are able to download your new data. So your “newsletter” is never late. Very nice indeed.
- RSS subscription is typically free. I don’t know of an rss delivery service that charges an arm and a leg…and if you go with basic services it’s at no cost to your business. That means no more paying monthly fees to mailing list provider services, nor do you have to format your layout for text versus graphics. Think about it –this just means less headache for you!
- RSS can be used with an email program or without. It’s fully independent of an email client (all your subscriber would need to do is check their feed aggregator for new content you’ve uploaded to your blog!) It’s also easy to integrate with email. For example services such as FeedBlitz and Feedburner now allow your subscriber to receive your RSS feed updates via email.
- RSS means privacy for your subscribers. It’s quite possible that many potential subscribers never get on board because they are afraid They never have to offer their email address to your company, which may make them feel safer about receiving your content. They simply subscribe to your RSS feed via their feed aggregator (such as NewsGator and FeedReader) and have automatic access to your content without having to worry about their email address.
So, you see, switching over to RSS is a great way to continue connecting with your audience without some of the hassles that email based services can bring.
I’ll have more for you about RSS transitioning and how it can help your business on next week…
For now, I hope you’ll follow me on over to my RSS feed and get plugged in for automatic updates at this blog. In the months and weeks to come, I plan to eventually phase out my paid mailing list service…so if you’re not subscribed via RSS you won’t be receiving my updates.
To stay plugged in:
Filed under Blogging, Newsletter Marketing, WAHMU Newsletter, Web 2.0 by Demetria Zinga, M.S.
(Not to mention there’s a WORLD of juicy info out there on the web, and if you’re interested in staying on top of your online business and working from home, what better way to get plugged in.)
- Your 
