Got a comment the other day from Anne, who asks if I am suggesting blogging instead of an email newsletter, given the decreasing statistics on open rates (25-40% average emails opened).

While I responded to the comment, I was inspired and thought this merited sharing as a separate post for all to see:

Good question, Anne. But no, I don’t recommend foregoing emailing a newsletter in favor of blogging. Maybe eventually, at some point in the next five years, this might become a good idea. It depends on how easy it is for readers to access your communications. RSS feeds enable interested readers to sign up for updates on your blog and get them regularly without going through an email inbox. This technology exists already, for example, when you use it to put blog updates on your My Yahoo page.

But for now, people aren’t using RSS delivery tools in numbers yet (12% maybe at most).

We (Denise and I, the Blog Squad) have always recommended doing both. They can be different, or the same. An ezine can simply alert people of all your articles on your blog. Or, it can provide information you don’t put on your blog.

The point is, without much additional cost and very little additional effort, you can increase the number of ways your written word is "findable" on the internet through website copy, ezines, and blogs.

And that’s what it is all about: making it easier for potential clients to find you. And when they do, they discover you are a credible expert in your field, and gain access to your services and products.

Hope this helps. New technology is always slow to be adopted by the general public. Early adopters are already blogging, but most of the public are still asking what a blog is, or how is it different from a web site.

As someone who makes her living doing email newsletters for other people, I have a vested interest in what’s new that will effect email delivery. In more general terms, my passion is for helping professionals communicate effectively with potential clients, whether it be through an ezine, a blog, or a web site or an ebook. If RSS (whatever that is – who cares as long as it works) can help a professional get their message out to a potential client better than an email, then I will recommend it.

The other thing I’ve learned about these new tech tools: you don’t have to be a techie to learn to use them. I am no longer scared or insecure because I don’t have a tech background or education. I’ve come to realize that techies have no priveleged entry into the land of magical results.

Software has become user-friendly and is constantly evolving. There is no reason many of us non-techies can’t learn as we go, ask questions, make mistakes, and correct them. No need to understand how these things work, just know that they do, and there are always plenty of people willing to explain and train.

How are you changing your email marketing messages for 2006? Are you going to be sending out your newsletter as usual, shrugging your shoulders when you get a 25-40% open rate?

What new technologies and plans are you learning to stay ahead of the pack? Here’s an interesting read over on Rick Brook’s Flyte blog about email marketing trends for 2006, based on the ExactTarget report. 

I’m curious, just how many of you readers out there are starting to use blogs and RSS delivery tools to get your messages out to your people? Don’t be shy, I know there’s at least two readers out there, so click on the comment link and speak up.