Keeping Perspective: Blog Versus Newsletter

Volume IIEntry 54 of 67 in 20132 min read2 comments ↓

Written by Gloria Metrick on October 3, 2013. Published as written. It may not reflect how these systems work today.

As some of you know, I both write this blog AND have a freem monthly newsletter. Sometimes, I do think having both is more work than I want, but it is not an easy choice to get rid of one.

Recently, I received notice that the bill for my newsletter hosting would be coming due and I decided it would be a good time to review whether or not to keep both the newsletter and the blog going. After all, I don't think I should make more work for myself if I don't need both. So, I decided to send out a survey to find out what people thought of my blog and of my newsletter. I won't claim to be an expert in writing surveys, but I put together a rudimentary survey that addressed the basic points.

For the most part, I have found that there are quite a number of people who like the format and content of the blog, better, quite a number who like the format and content of the newsletter better. But there are also a variety of people who like both, because the blog and the newsletter are each meant for different purposes, and there are people who find both useful.

I definitely would not have just come to my desk one day and announced I was giving up on one or the other without great thought and probably some amount of notice. At this point, though, there are too many good reasons to keep both and they both seem to be working well for their intended purposes.

Generally
The main purpose of both, of course, is to drive business for my company and to inform people about what is going on in the industry. However, the way they accomplish this, and their focus are much different. Today, I expected I would be writing to say I would be phasing one or the other out within some types of schedule, and trying to convert people from the one going away to the one that is staying. But I am glad I asked for details on how people view these and use these because, instead, I am sitting here telling you that I plan that they with both remain around for the near future, at the least.

One More Thing
For those of you who are interested in the newsletter but who do not receive it, here is the link to the sign-up for it:
http://www.geometrick.com/newsltr_signup.htm

Gloria Metrick
GeoMetrick Enterprises
http://www.GeoMetrick.com/

The conversation

2 comments from 1 person, October 3 to October 4, 2013. Gloria replied once.

October 3, 2013
LiMS Journal (@LIMSjournal)
My personal recommendation is the blog. I would like to see all content and writings in one place. I don't like emails and newsletters. I delete most of that stuff. I have my favorite places that I go to to keep up on news and such and your blog is one of my pit stops. It does not take up my time because the number of postings are reasonable and limited.

I would like to see more technical discussions and articles on the blog and less industry editorials even though I will admit that they are entertaining and also will help to break up technical stuff.
1. October 4, 2013
  Gloria MetrickAuthor
  While I appreciate that you have a personal opinion for your own preferences, your recommendation isn't a practical one from a business perspective. The newsletter has a much higher readership than the blog. If I decided to absolutely cut one based on sheer numbers and also based on where I get business leads, I would cut the blog. However, and as I already explained, it is best just to keep both.
  
  As for the technical items, I will consider that and thank you for that suggestion. While I think I've been honest with readers of both that neither the blog nor the newsletter are meant to be places to find technical information, the occasional bit of technical information would probably make an interesting change.

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The conversation

Working on the same problem in your lab?