11
Reasons to Put Your Newsletter Online
by Daniel Williams
If you currently have a
newsletter or are in the planning stages of publishing one, weigh the pros and
cons of an online newsletter versus the costly and labor intensive paper one.
When you begin to analyze the differences between the two, I am sure that in
most instances, you will choose the electronic one.
1) Bulk mail is inconvenient. Worrying about compliance with postal regulations
for length, width and thickness of newsletters, zip code sorting, or bundling
specifications can be exhausting. You are free from the hassle or cost of
stamps, postal meters and postal permits. Even when you consider the savings of
bulk or nonprofit rates, your savings by going electronic can be phenomenal.
Make life easy for yourself. Save time by avoiding the chore of lugging heavy
loads of newsletters to the post office.
2) Processing and supplies. Eliminate time allotted for the drudgery of folding,
sorting, arranging, collating, stapling, taping, labeling and inserting into
envelopes. Forget having to buy ink or recycle ink cartridges. Imagine the steps
that will be eradicated. You don't need people to order, pick up, stock or use
supplies. People become more efficient and effective without having had to
participate in a training program by making this one managerial decision.
3) Quick updating. Templates let you plug in the new information and you're
through. It doesn't get easier than that. Accomplish this by adding, deleting,
modifying or correcting within seconds or minutes. Why punish yourself by doing
busy work. Wouldn't you rather be golfing or gardening?
4) Add graphics, charts and tables easily. Be more persuasive by displaying
large amounts of data in a consolidated form readers find easy and fast to
comprehend.
5) Add audio. Think of your readers being able to hear you by simply clicking on
a link to an mp3 audio or podcast. Then they can hear the enthusiasm in your
voice. By the way, some people over the years have been programmed to learn
better by reading and others by listening. Sometimes when you combine reading
and listening, you get a synergistic effect with respect to learning the
material.
6) Faster distribution. Do away with the lag period from the time of publishing
until it reaches the reader. Furthermore, although the U.S. Postal Service does
a superb job especially when you consider the huge volume of mail and
newsletters it handles, sometimes pieces are lost or delayed. I am sure you can
remember when that happened to you once or twice in the past. Once the
electronic newsletter is posted online your readers can be alerted of that with
a reminder email. There no need for them to wait. If the total word count is not
excessive, the newsletter can be sent directly to the email inbox. Be sure to
ask that your email address be added to their address list to prevent your email
from getting tossed accidentally into a spam folder.
7) Option to print. The newsletter can be printed on the reader's printer for
those who need a hardcopy for reference or to share. You have overcome the
objection of those readers who whimper that they want a paper copy because it is
easier to read. This is why it is important to format the newsletter for
printing if needed. Incidentally, there is a preliminary study that suggests
that there may be a slight risk of developing glaucoma for those who read
extensively online.
8) Preserve trees. An aggressive approach of cutting down trees to provide paper
impacts deleteriously on the environment. With the removal of trees so does a
barrier to winds. Trees add oxygen to the air while they remove both carbon
dioxide and pollutants from the air. When smart conservation practices are
followed, trees impede the flow of runoff from rapid, torrential rainfalls. Thus
the risk from flooding is reduced. Trees reduce soil erosion so landslides are
less likely to damage edifices or cause loss of life or medical emergencies.
Excessive removal of trees creates imbalances of the harmony between animals and
vegetation.
9) Nothing to discard. The reader of a paper newsletter will eventually have to
discard it. This is important because landfills are closing. There may not be
enough sites in the future to dispose adequately of all the paper generated. The
alternative electronic newsletter doesn't contribute to the ongoing concern of
the scarcity of landfills. Although some may advocate recycling paper, why
invest in the cost of doing this when it may unnecessary? Doesn't it sound
better to go to the heart of the problem?
10) Energy wastage. When paper usage is lowered, so are energy demands and costs
for both producing and discarding paper. Does it make sense to hire more
sanitation workers, buy more garbage trucks and use more gasoline and motor oil?
Well, you get the picture, it all adds up.
11) Water wastage. To produce paper requires that large amounts of water be
used. After it is produced, the polluted water may find its way into ponds and
rivers. Thus, this affects adversely aquatic life. Eventually, after the aquatic
life is harmed, the toxic substances used for bleaching, such as chlorine, can
pose a health threat to humans.
The time has arrived that publishers of newsletters need to reassess the costs
to them and the environment if they continue to opt for paper rather than the
paperless method. The readers of such publications also have a responsibility to
decide whether they are to remain as part of the problem or are willing to
change their behavior and start reading a little more online.
About the Author:
Author: Daniel Williams has been
an online entrepreneur since 1998. He is webmaster of SarasotaFreeAds.com and
lives in Sarasota, Florida 34237. You are permitted to reprint this article
provided it is done so in its entirety including this signature box and remains
unchanged except for formatting Source of this article:
www.goarticles.com
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