First Newsletter Issue (Blog)

[Savage]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

First Newsletter Issue

[JJP]

Wooooooooooo!

[Calculusaurus]

hooray for exclusive advice!

[emf]

Has anyone else not received a confirmation email after signing up?

[wadoo]

When the second issue will be sent?

[Wanderer]

Hahaha I know things that people that didn't sign up don't about... no wait Im not going to tell you
Your regretting not signing up now arent you hahaha

Ace idea's steve

[Markus74]

Originally Posted by Wanderer

Hahaha I know things that people that didn't sign up don't about... no wait Im not going to tell you
Your regretting not signing up now arent you hahaha

Ace idea's steve

Do you work in marketing?

[Savage]

Since the newsletter is monthly, the next issue will be sent in January.

[Akashic_Librarian]

Finally. I have been signed up for like a year lol.

[tparikka]

Originally Posted by emf

Has anyone else not received a confirmation email after signing up?

I tried once a long time ago before the advent of the forums, and then again after Steve announced that he'd be sending them out, and never got a confirmation request. Going to try again... lol

[Savage]

If you've been signed up a long time, you haven't missed anything. What would have gone into the newsletter just went into the blog instead.

[Theobinomy]

Could someone please post the newsletter for those of us not signed up?

[Wanderer]

Markus74 I sell shoes
Do you want any?
Theobinomy I think the idea was you sign up to get the benifit. Maybe if you ask steve nicely he will send you a copy...

[Theobinomy]

I signed up here. Is that enough?

[Savage]

Originally Posted by Theobinomy

Could someone please post the newsletter for those of us not signed up?

The newsletter is an exclusive benefit for subscribers -- free content in exchange for the privilege of direct communication via email. On occasion the newsletters may also include special offers for subscribers only, so they shouldn't be posted anywhere else online. The newsletters are copyrighted too, so it wouldn't be legal to repost or reprint them w/o permission.

I gave people abundant opportunity to sign up and to verify their subscriptions well in advance of sending out the first issue. If anyone misses an issue though, it's not the end of the world.

Down the road I may archive the old newsletters and put them online, or I might turn them into a downloadable ebook. David Allen used his old email newsletters to create his book Ready for Anything.

[Keith]

I don't really understand the point behind having a 'private channel' (ie. a mailing list).

I don't understand what value it adds that your blog is not already providing (in terms of delivery channel - I realise the newsletters contain unique content). I also don't understand the benefit to providing offers to subscribers only.

I'm not trying to be facetious here - I just don't understand what you're trying to achieve with this.

[Frans]

Originally Posted by Keith

I don't really understand the point behind having a 'private channel' (ie. a mailing list).

I don't understand what value it adds that your blog is not already providing (in terms of delivery channel - I realise the newsletters contain unique content). I also don't understand the benefit to providing offers to subscribers only.

I'm not trying to be facetious here - I just don't understand what you're trying to achieve with this.

The first issue of the "Personal Development InsightsTM" Newsletter contains 1 article, 5 links to articles on the site and 2 product discounts.
So it's obvious that promoting stevepavlina.com is the main purpose (though there's nothing wrong with that, of course).
If a newsletter wouldn't generate additional income, nobody would take the time to create one.

[ignat]

I signed up for the newsletter ages ago, and confirmed when the update link was sent, but didn't receive the newsletter. It's not in my spam folder, either. Can someone help me ensure I'm actually on the list?

Thanks! :-)

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by Keith

I don't really understand the point behind having a 'private channel' (ie. a mailing list).

I don't understand what value it adds that your blog is not already providing (in terms of delivery channel - I realise the newsletters contain unique content). I also don't understand the benefit to providing offers to subscribers only.

I'm not trying to be facetious here - I just don't understand what you're trying to achieve with this.

Steve would provide the best answer here, but I believe the newsletter offers Steve different opportunities for reaching and communicating with a different audience. I definitely understand what you are saying (you won't find many who value equality and fairness as much as I do), and if the newsletter wasn’t available to everyone I’d probably be up in arms along side you, but since it is, I think there are different ways to look at this. Let me propose two scenarios to help you understand how I see it:

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Scenario #1

For example, when an individual grants Steve the “privilege” of direct communication via email each month (something that is a privilege in its own right, and a privilege to Steve in that it may assist him with promoting his website and various efforts), that individual is rewarded in kind with content in the form a monthly newsletter. If the individual has been signed up to the mailing list for say, 12 months (and thus, has been granting Steve the “privilege” for a long time period), the “reward” offered (in the form of newsletter content) will be greater then the what is offered to someone who has only been granting Steve the “privilege” of direct email communication for only 1 month. Think of it as a trade of value that is prearranged when you subscribe and continued as you offer email contact privileges.

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Scenario #2

Additionally, Steve may be able to provide special offers that are more suited to his newsletter audience, either because of the type of content that the audience is interested in, or because certain offers may only be feasible to offer to an audience that is smaller then his website/blog audience.

For example, Steve may want arrange a discount on a useful product from a company of some sort, but finds that the company are only willing to offer the discount to a limited amount of people for profitability purposes (just humour me here). This is where the newsletter audience can become a unique opportunity for Steve to help some people receive a discount on a product he's found to be effective. The discount may not be available to his entire website audience, but being able to help out some people is better then being able to help out none at all just because you didn't have the appropriate means to communicated to a more limited audience in a manner that can be considered “fair”.

And after all, the product can also be recommended to those who aren’t subscribed to the newsletter via the blog even if they don’t have access to a discount. The value lies in what the product provides, not the discount itself, although it could be quite possible that after the company is able to make some profit and see the success they had with offering a discount to the more limited subscriber audience, they may decide to offer such a discount to the larger non-subscriber audience as well, and the situation turns out to be win-win.

----------------------------------

I see the newsletter and the content offered in it as a sort of reward for the more loyal, dedicated visitors and those who are willing to take the necessary effort to sign up. While it's quite possible there could be loyal, dedicated visitors within the website/blog audience (and I’m sure there are), such things are not as easy to measure when compared to a newsletter subscription. The more months you are subscribed (something that is very measurable) = the larger your "reward" is. Simple, measurable, and “fair” (depending on your definition of fairness).

I also think it’s useful to look at it this way: Back in February 2005 Steve first announced his newsletter via his blog in the blog post, Personal Development Insights Newsletter, and also had a sign up form on his website. Later in November 2006, Steve announced that the newsletter would be starting soon in the post, Newsletter Update, giving visitors of his website a chance to sign up for the website and ensure that they were able to receive it without any issues. Shortly after that in December 2006, Steve made another blog post, First Newsletter Issue, announcing in more detail when he would be sending the newsletter and reminded his visitors that this would be the time to sign up if you wanted to receive the first issue.

Now I think it is reasonable to say that Steve gave ample opportunity for his visitors to sign up. If for some reason you were unaware of the announcements, or were aware of the newsletter but did nothing about it, you either consciously, subconsciously, or being completely oblivious to the announcements as a natural result of taking unrelated action, decided that you were going to put your focus on other things. The word “decide” is derived from the Latin word “dēcīdere”, which means “to cut off”. In other words, you decided to “cut off” the option of signing up to the newsletter in order to focus on other things. This isn’t something to be resisted -– it is merely something to be accepted. When you make a decision to focus on one thing, other opportunities will be “cut off” from you because of that decision.

Anyway, perhaps what Steve could do is make a newsletter archive available to those who are signed up to the newsletter. This kind of defeats the purpose of the scenarios I proposed, but if that option ends up being able to help more people, I’m sure Steve won’t reserve the newsletter content to the limited subscriber base unless he has good reason to do so.

I’m sure it looks like I’m one big Steve defender by saying what I have, but I merely think of Steve in a positive light based on the actions I see him take. If I had reason to think otherwise maybe I would, but presently, based on what Steve is doing with his website and the value he has provided me with (for free of charge, no less), I see no reason to. So feel free to label me as a "Steve Pavlina defender" if you wish -- I won't hold it against you.

[stephencp]

Steve,
What's the best way to ask for a newsletter to be resent? I got the first one (assuming that the article on checklists that I can't find anywhere was in it....) but somehow deleted it.

Stephen

Power-Book Library: Free personal development, success, inspiration and motivational classics
Personality and Growth Bookshelf

[Savage]

My plan for the newsletter was to create an outlet for keeping in touch with casual visitors who just want monthly updates and some useful PD tips they can apply, especially people who don't want to invest hours reading the longer articles on the site. Many people don't understand RSS feeds or blogs, but they do understand email. Given the ratio of blog traffic to newsletter subscribers, it doesn't make sense to turn the newsletter into something that would compete with the blog. It's more likely that the newsletter will remain a very casual communication outlet.

For good measure there will also be some unique content in each issue, so long-term visitors can still benefit from the newsletter as well.

The newsletter is just an email, so if you delete it, it's gone. If your ISP blocks or filters it, you don't receive it. For good or ill, that's the nature of email communication.

[stephencp]

"The newsletter is just an email, so if you delete it, it's gone. If your ISP blocks or filters it, you don't receive it. For good or ill, that's the nature of email communication."

I know. Another nature is that since it wasn't a physical letter, it should be relatively easy for the sender to resend the email, which is what I"m asking.

Yet another nature is that others may have saved it and can easily forward it to me. If anyone has saved it (the first newsletter containing the checklist article), I would appreciate it greatly if you would send it to me at stephencp@aol.com. Thanks.

Stephen
Power-Book Library: Free personal development, success, inspiration and motivational classics
Personality and Growth Bookshelf

[stephencp]

and someone has now already replied. I thank them and anyone else who considered replying to me.

Stephen
Power-Book Library: Free personal development, success, inspiration and motivational classics
Personality and Growth Bookshelf

[ignat]

Similar to Stephen, I would really appreciate it if someone would send me the newsletter. My e-mail address is josh@joshkaufman.net. Thanks!