Here’s a really good question we get quite often from business owners. This one’s from a small business owner who’s wondering whether she should combine her ezine with her business blog, and if so — how to do it.

The answer below will help you optimize your marketing with your business blog(s).

Business Blogging Question:

Coach JP,

I took your first business blogging class early last year. With your encouragement I started blogging and have been getting great results with my search engine rankings. But I stopped my e-zine and now I am not sure if I made a mistake. What’s your opinion? And if I did both, how should I position the ezine?

Thanks for your comments and coaching!

Cynthia

Business Blog Coaching Answer:

Aloha Cynthia,

It’s terrific to hear that you’ve been putting business blogging to work and getting great results. The short answer to your question is that you definitely want to combine your newsletter/e-zine with your blog.

Here’s why …

The most recent online studies show that less than 10% of people on the web regularly use RSS feeds. The number is growing, but it’s still not anywhere near a critical mass that would justify going with RSS only updates to your list.

“Professional” bloggers (who write for a living or make money off ads on their blogs) may do fine with RSS only subscriptions because their readers are part of a primarily incestuous visitor base (i.e.: regular bloggers reading the blogs of other bloggers.)

The business blogging goals of small business owners is dramatically different from people who blog for a living. You know those main goals that you need to keep your focus on. You also know exactly what your personal goals are, and how your business blog integrates with your overall marketing plan because you’ve completed your Business Blogging Strategy Playbook in the multi media coaching course. So stay focused on those things and don’t be sucked in by blogging evangelists who try to sell you on blogging being the answer to your every marketing challenge.

Here’s a simple way to restart your ezine and integrate it with your business blog

Since your list has grown “cold” I’d start with a short series (three or four emails over one week) to announce the relaunch of your ezine/email updates. Then start a weekly ezine or newsletter update via email that would include headlines and the introductory paragraph of an article/post on your blog. After each headline and intro paragraph you would then provide the direct link to that article on your business blog.

Create and save a basic email template (plain text or HTML) that you or your assistant can simply copy and paste new posts from your blog into each week. Then send that update in a broadcast email to your subscriber list. That regular frequency will allow you to send invites to teleconferences, special offers on your products, or hold contests to generate more sales.

Handling your ezine this way will combine the best of both worlds. The ease of personalized contact via e-mail plus the search engine benefits, positioning, education, and easy categorized access to information on your business blog.

One way NOT to update subscribers via email from your business blog

There are a number of services out there that allow you to easily add an email subscription option to your blog. Unfortunately, most of these services don’t give you any formatting options for your outbound emails. And more importantly, they update your “email subscribers” every time you publish a new post to your business blog.

There’s now faster way to turn off subscribers causing them to unsubscribe, or tune out. Email updates fed by your business blog (whether you call them an ezine or newsletter,) must be delivered on a set schedule. Without a dependable delivery schedule, your updates will just become an annoyance.

Let me know if you have any other questions that I can help with.Copyright © RPM Success Group Inc. 2002-2006. Other bloggers and journalists are allowed to excerpt and link to posts (as is common with bloggers,) as full credit/attribution is given to AdvancedBusinessBlogging.com and RPM Success Group Inc.

Learn how to unleash the maximum marketing power of business blogs, podcasts, and RSS (in any industry, profession, or niche) with Marketing With Business Blogs™.

John-Paul Micek is a published author and weekly columnist for the Honolulu Star Bulletin. As a Click-and-Mortar Business Coach he helps small business owners integrate offline and online marketing strategies for rapid, reliable business growth. You can reach J.P. directly via [communicationcommando@gmail.com].