Blogging Tips Newsletter #1 Feedback

[Kevin]

This post is for feedback on the first Blogging Tips Newsletter (http://www.bloggingtips.com/newsletter/).

Please let me know if you have any suggestions on how to improve the newsletter

* Let me know if there are any subjects you would like covered in next weeks letter
* Was the newsletter length ok? I am concious of the fact that too long would some people might not read it however I wanted the newsletter to have some substance too.
* Would you prefer if the newsletter was sent in an HTML format as well as plain text?


Also, I would love to hear what you think about the newsletters main topic, Alexa. Do you think it's a reliable ranking source?

Thanks,
Kevin

[lightning]

I only see the sign up page, but it looks GREAT! :)

[pinakighosh]

Kevin, my advice would be to rethink about the frequency of your newsletters. Newsletters should not be sent out too frequently, or they run into the risk of displeasure for some members, who may opt out after some weeks. I send newsletters for my site www.writer4me.com twice a month; on 1st, announcing the new schemes, new services and new discounts; and again on the 16th of the month, reminding people once again that some of the schemes will be withdrawn on the 30th. Some sites send monthly, some trimonthly (digitalpoint) newsletters. The reason why people don't like spam is that they jam/clutter the mailbox; this is why newsletters should be sent out sparingly, not more frequently than once a week.
This is my personal suggestion, your opinion may vary.

Suggestion 2 is you can carry ads (of others) in your newsletters.

Otherwise your newsletters have been fine.

[Kevin]

lightning - thanks

pinakighosh - Rethink the frequency of my newsletter? There has only been 1 and it was sent yesterday :) Ads is something I will consider in the future but not until the list has grown.

Thanks for the feedback :)

[pinakighosh]

I received 3 different newsletters between 11 & 12 Aug from Bloggingtips. 1st one starting with the blog post 'Blogger Buster Launches Forums' (11 Aug); 2nd one starting with 'Add Subscriber-Only Content in Blogger' (11 Aug) and the 3rd about Alexa (12 Aug).

I do hope your newsletter account has not been hacked by someone!

[pinakighosh]

Regarding the newsletter about Alexa:

This is my addition about Alexa rank change mystery.

A couple of months ago, all website owners noticed with disappointment that their Alexa rank has worsened. Alexa had put up a notice in their site (I had seen that notice) that they are now using the data of a wider range of net users, and are including the statistics of even the users who are not using the Alexa toolbar/Alexa Sparky. Alexa had been criticized for a long time for using the data of Alexa toolbar users only, which form a small percentage of all net users, thus giving data which do not reflect the reality. Alexa tried to improve this, and are now probably sharing the data of Google Analytics (Alexa and Google have always been friends, and Alexa directory is nothing but Google directory/Dmoz). A couple of weeks before this change Google Analytics had asked permission of its users to share the data with other net users. The two incidents tally.

The changed ranking is a result of inclusion of the data of more users who are not using Alexa toolbar. Alexa says they are doing this to give a more genuine picture

[Kevin]

I received 3 different newsletters between 11 & 12 Aug from Bloggingtips. 1st one starting with the blog post 'Blogger Buster Launches Forums' (11 Aug); 2nd one starting with 'Add Subscriber-Only Content in Blogger' (11 Aug) and the 3rd about Alexa (12 Aug).

I do hope your newsletter account has not been hacked by someone!

oh right, I get you now. The first two were summaries. I changed the sending time of the weekly summary and it ended up sending another post. That summary will be sent every monday. :)

[sarahG]

I think the length is okay but at the same time a couple more short notes/points may just add to it. Obviously that depends on the amount of news that's out for the week.

I think the newsletter in HTML format was nicer (going by the first couple of newsletters/tests/roundups), and easier to read.

As for content. I think latest major news points. Even a short list of news points with links to further on the story. Plus a couple of slightly longer writeups, similar to how you wrote about Alexa.

[Kevin]

Thanks Sarah
I think you could be right. A few more news items would improve it. :)