RSS vs Email

Define relations between Blogs, E-zines, RSS and Email
Copyright 2005 Rok Hrastnik

Although RSS and blogs are slowly reaching mainstream, they are still missuderstood by most marketers in relation to gamers and in relation to their relatives, e-zines and e-mail. How these four really relate and what this means for your internet marketing strategy?The most common missconception is comparing blogs and email, with many bloggers actually argue blogs as a replacement for email. The truth is that there's no comparison at all, like comparing apples and oranges. The second missconception is believing that RSS and blogs are somehow strongly connected, or even that RSS is good only to provide blog content. The result of this, on the one hand, marketers who don't see RSS as a full-powered channel, communicational and bloggers on the other side as refusal to see email as a viable content delivery vehicle. Easy s set the record straight RSS and e-mail content delivery channels; the tools that makes it possible for us to deliver our content to end users, and in the case of RSS, to other sites. Blogs and e-zines are two different internet content media formats, differences in how/what the content is delivered and presented through them explained in even simper conditions: Blogs and e-zines or newsletters is "what"---what you publish online ... the content page. RSS and email is "how"---how to get to the content or information to the reader ... the output page. RSS/email and blogs/e-zines can not be compared directly. Blog content and e-zine content can both be delivered via RSS and email, and there is no direct business/logical relationship between, for example, blogs and RSS. To say that "blogs have some attributes and features, e-mail is missing" actually compare the two entirely different things (an internet media content format, with a content delivery channel) which are not directly related. What makes sense, for example, compare e-zines and blogs ... Blogs are "personal" conversations, opinions and news, delivered in a linear structure, usually written in a more personal style, and is restricted to a limited number of content types. E-zines, on the other hand, are more like magazines or newspapers, transporting content presented in a complex non-linear structure, content, and have the ability to make many different content types that do not mix well together if delivered through a linear content structure. A typical e-zine may include:--> an editorial;
--> Article a leader who represents the predominant topic of a specific e-zine issues;
--> support articles, clearly structured to show they are secondary to the main article;
--> links to "best of" blog posts in the specified time frame;
--> links to the most relevant forum topics and posts;
--> a news section;
--> a featured client case study;
--> different ads (banner ads, textual ads, advertorials, etc.);
--> Featured consultant;
--> a Q&A section;
--> a featured whitepaper;
-->, etc. Delivers all of this content requires a complex content structure and a strong and experienced editor. Format blog simply does not provide the level of the structure necessary to effectively present a complex content mix. But this is not to say that blogs are in no way inferior to e-zines, they are just different. And companies need both, and they need to deliver both via RSS and email. What is worrying, however, is that some apparently believe that e-zines and e-mail is "backward". It is a dangerous line of tr?de, that come close to shooting yourself in the foot. Personal preference against content delivery channels and internet content media formats have no place in business. What matters is what our audiences and how they want it to. our objective must be to meet as many of the "our people" as possible, the implementation of all the tools and technologies necessary to achieve this goal. Let our personal preferences get in the way is dangerous at best. And even if 90% of our customers/prospects/partners (etc.) preferred RSS to email to receive our content, it would still be good business practice to offer both.

About the author:
Immediately Find out how you can power your online business with RSS and integrate it in all your marketing. Request the free 28-page Business Case for RSS report, with easy to follow instructions, examples and advice on how to get the most out of RSS in the shortest possible time. Get the free download here:es.net http://rssdiary.marketingstudi/case/index.html

View the original article here