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Replacing newsletter with social followers or other ideas?

by freesfx
5 replies
Hi

I run a website that is getting busier by the day as we give away free content currently with the view to expand it to a monetised model later.

I have 150,000 opt-in subscribers to an newsletter we actually can't afford to mailout to because of the costs in doing so being high.

I am considering replacing our subscribe modules to the newsletter around the site to social plugin prompts to follow us (via Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus etc).

I would love to know thoughts on this.... good idea? bad idea? any other ideas?

Thanks
#followers #ideas #newsletter #replacing #social
  • Profile picture of the author Diice
    Originally Posted by freesfx View Post

    Hi

    I run a website that is getting busier by the day as we give away free content currently with the view to expand it to a monetised model later.

    I have 150,000 opt-in subscribers to an newsletter we actually can't afford to mailout to because of the costs in doing so being high.

    I am considering replacing our subscribe modules to the newsletter around the site to social plugin prompts to follow us (via Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus etc).

    I would love to know thoughts on this.... good idea? bad idea? any other ideas?

    Thanks
    Hi FreeSFX,

    this is a great idea, especially Facebook and Twitter, practically everyone has an account on either one of those. It is also free!

    Whats to lose, you can always switch back to the mailouts once you decide to monetize the list.

    Thanks,
    -Michael
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Sandquist
    My first impression is that you're using the wrong email service if the cost of mailing 150,000 outweighs the benefits (read: income) from doing so..

    Consider moving your list to a more economical service.

    Mark.


    Originally Posted by freesfx View Post

    Hi

    I run a website that is getting busier by the day as we give away free content currently with the view to expand it to a monetised model later.

    I have 150,000 opt-in subscribers to an newsletter we actually can't afford to mailout to because of the costs in doing so being high.

    I am considering replacing our subscribe modules to the newsletter around the site to social plugin prompts to follow us (via Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus etc).

    I would love to know thoughts on this.... good idea? bad idea? any other ideas?

    Thanks
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    • Profile picture of the author freesfx
      Hi Mark, thanks for your comment - I am looking at about $1000 a month via the commercial services. I have seen one as low as $199 pm but the list is growing and I worry the cost will spiral. Literally, we have a small budget of a hundred pounds right now until the site is monetised properly!

      A dilema
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Sandquist
    Oh.. ok.. I missunderstood your OP.. I thought you were referring to the cost of each mailout (rather than a monthly list hosting cost).

    Even the least expensive services will run in the hundreds of dollars per month to host a list of 150,000+

    I would advise against "replacing" email with a social medium.. there's still nothing more economical and as effective as email to communicate with your prospects and customers.. and social mediums should be used "with" email marketing.

    In my opinion (based on the little bit of information in this thread).. your problem appears to be in "monetising" your site and email list.. and not in the cost of hosting your email list.

    Rather than trying to find a way to reduce/eliminate the cost of maintaining your email list.. you should be focusing on "monetising" the list and site.

    You'd be hard pressed to find anyone here on the forum, or anywhere else, with a list 150,000 opt-in subscribers, who isn't making far more from their list, than the cost of hosting that list.

    Mark.
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    • Profile picture of the author David Neale
      I agree with Mark. "Replacing" your email list with "Social Media" is a very bad idea.

      For very large lists I use ezinedirector.com (no aff). Each mailout would cost about $125 I believe.
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      David Neale

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