I have a confession to make …
Forgive me readers but it has been nearly 2 years since my last newsletter was written and sent out to subscribers. This fact has been weighing heavily on me for some time! The last newsletter dispatched from WOTM HQ was Newsletter No. 22 sent on Friday 30 December 2016.
I’ve been a terribly slack blogger, and really there is no excuse, but there have been some reasons why this all came to be. Life threw some extra balls at me to juggle and so it’s no surprise that the ‘newsletter’ ball got dropped.
2017 was a tough year but more-so right at the very end of it. I had surgery. I had complications following surgery. I travelled to Canberra & Perth. I lost my Dad.
2018 has been a tough year learning to live with grief, bracing ourselves for a year of firsts, making sure Mum is ok, ongoing stuff to organise/deal with following the loss of Dad, and more.
Then there is the wondering if the newsletters are really of any value to anyone?
I started doing the newsletters because that’s what bloggers are told they should do and I wanted to be a good blogger. It has always been my plan to create an eBook or something of value that is a FREE GIFT to those that subscribe but I haven’t yet done that and that needs to be rectified if I’m to continue to send out newsletters to subscribers because I want them to feel special because they ARE special to me (though my recent lack of newsletters might not show it)!
Considering my points above, I have some questions and I would very much appreciate your opinion and thoughts to help me with moving forward.
Do you think there is any value in Newsletters to subscribers from Blogs?
Yes/No?
What kind of frequency do you think is most appropriate for sending out Newsletters?
My newsletters were monthly but had decreased to two-monthly. Any more frequently than that is too hard for me to sustain.
What would you like to see in a Newsletter?
Mine contained the following:
- Introductory words/paragraphs with a personal update and info from me
- A wrap up of blog posts (including links) published over the last month or so (depending on when last newsletter was)
- SHOUT OUT – a section where I would post info and a link to a blog post by another blogger that I’d enjoyed over the last month or so
- Thought for the day: generally a quote
- Latest Instagram posts
See some samples of the last three of my newsletters HERE and HERE and HERE.
As a free gift for subscribers, which of the following appeals more, and if neither – what do you suggest?
- Create an eBook out of one of my blog series?
- A favourite photograph/s taken by me to use as a screensaver or to print and frame?
All thoughts and opinions are most welcome to help me make some decisions moving forward. Thank you!
To my subscribers, particularly any of you who actually enjoyed receiving and reading my newsletters, my sincere apologies that it has been so long. I am on my way to rectifying things. Watch this space!
Ciao for now,
Link up here at WOTM or with another of us in the Lovin’ Life Linky team:
Leanne of Deep Fried Fruit | Kathy of 50 Shades of Age |
Deborah of Debbish | Jo of The Hungry Writer – Joanne Tracey.
It doesn’t matter where you link up as it will magically appear on all five blogs.
18 Comments
Hi Min – Please be kind to yourself and not feel guilty about the newsletter. Maintaining a blog alone takes efforts. I prefer to read from blogs and not from newsletters as blog posts seem more ‘real time’ than newsletters. I think it would be really cool that you create an e-book, and perhaps you can use one or some of your beautiful photos for it. #TeamLovinLife
Thanks Natalie. I’m not being too hard on myself. Something had to give and the newsletter was what did. I’m happy that I managed to keep the blog going! That’s a good idea to incorporate my photography into an e-book. Lots to think about! 🙂
I’ve never understood the newsletter thing – I don’t subscribe to other blogs because I don’t want my inbox full of emails with newsletters or notifications. I bookmark my favourite bloggers and check in when I have the time to read and comment. I don’t think it’s worth burdening yourself with the whole newsletter thing unless it is something that you’re keen to take up again – like Natalie said – be kind to yourself and don’t sweat the small stuff xx
I had a similar viewpoint as yourself Leanne and avoided the newsletter thing for many years. I decided eventually though to give it a go, and actually did enjoy producing it. It does require extra effort and time though and I do wonder if it really adds any value to anyone, hence my post today. It’s good to get opinions and input from others to help me decide the way forward. I’m not being too harsh to myself over it though. Sometimes life can give us a few too many things to handle and something has to give. The newsletter had to be put aside in order for me to keep the other balls in the air! xo
Don’t beat yourself up about this Min. Life sometimes gets in the way and that is more important than a silly newsletter! I do my newsletter monthly mainly to drive more traffic to my blogs that I have written during the month, but also to show off some lovely travel pics. I like you idea of also sharing another blog and I must start doing this. I like the personal touch a newsletter gives to my readers and I like to share some personal stuff in here too. Sometimes I get asked questions from the newsletter, so this means people are reading it, which is awesome. But at the end of the day you can only do what you have the time to do.
I feel bad that it’s been so long but I’m not beating myself up about it. If something had to give, that is the right choice of what did! I send out a newsletter for the same reasons as you do but I rarely get any feedback on them so I’ve been ‘flying blind’ all this time which is why I thought asking a few opinions might be beneficial. I think I will try to start them back up again once monthly but I’d like them to come back fresh and new and a little bit different. Same, same gets a bit boring! lol
I’m going through the same stuff at the moment. I haven’t sent one out since November & yet I need an email list to sell books. Heavy sighs. I’m creating a mini ebook of the recipes I’ve used in Happy Ever After as a lead magnet, but who knows how successful that will be.
I think your mini ebook of the recipes used in your Happy Ever After book sounds fantastic! It will kinda bring the book to life via the taste buds … and scent … and vision … and texture … and so on! At least Nov 17 isn’t quite as bad as Dec 16. I couldn’t believe it when I checked and the last one was back then. I thought it’d only been around 12 months. Onwards and upwards! 😉
I have had a sign up thing for a newsletter since the beginning of this year but haven’t gotten around to creating one. Don’t be too hard on yourself! I’m sure your readers still love reading your blog with or without the newsletter.
Good luck with your newsletter Sanch! Hopefully I’ll be back on track soon. It’s great to get the thoughts and opinions of others with regards to newsletters before I start back though, because I’ve been flying blindly with very little feedback for quite some time. It helps! 🙂
Personally, I like an email to tell when the next post is live. It’s hard for me to remember who posts on what day, so that helps me the best!!
And since i don’t talk about my personal life too much in my blog posts (at least the fashion blog posts because there’s too many other things to talk about with the 3 different outfits), it’s my chance to include a little life too!
XOXO
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
That’s very interesting to know Jodie. Maybe I can incorporate something like that in my newsletters. I do like a little personal chat within my newsletters too. I share some personal stuff (within reason) on my blog now and then but like to give subscribers a little bit more of myself. Thanks for your thoughts! 🙂 xo
Confession time here, I never subscribe to newsletters. I love reading blog posts and followin on Instagram and twitter instead.
SSG xxx
I rarely subscribe to newsletters either SSG I have to admit! Instagram is my favourite social media! 🙂 xo
I must admit I’m not a big newsletter reader. But when I did receive more I guess I liked a list of posts from that week or month, so I could go back and read something interesting.
I guess if I was subscribing to a newsletter about a topic that interested me I might want something… recipes or exercises or pointers or something…
I’m not a big newsletter reader either Deb, so why do we do them and maybe we should be doing it differently? It’s interesting! The ones I have subscribed to, I rarely read which is why I don’t subscribe anymore. I get quite a bit of inbox overwhelm because I have 3 different email inboxes to try and keep up with. Crazy!
I’ve been debated the same thing Min and by the responses in your comments I’m not sure Newsletters are really valid anymore. I’ve been very consistent with mine since I started blogging but I just don’t feel they are of value and what is the point of clogging up readers’ inboxes with emails they don’t really want to read. xx
Yes Sue – I’m not sure what to do from here either. I personally don’t subscribe to newsletters anymore as I just don’t have time to read them. It seems, others feel the same. So do I proceed? Still thinking on it. xo