Using Newsletters For Web Business Promotion

Q:I have been considering the idea of sponsoring either a newsletter or web site to help promote my business. Does anyone know of resources where I can find assistance doing this? I would like info on cost issues, the do's & don'ts and what to look for, etc.

A:A list of companies which provide networks of web sites for you to sponsor can be found at: http://www.ca-probate.com/comm_net.htm#_brokers As always, the key is going to be targeting your market as specifically as possible. In honesty, I have found that newsletter sponsorships are incredibly effective, because a) you have an pin-point targeted audience, and b) with a newsletter you can stimulate the prospect to vist with 100-200 (usually) characters of text. The catch is that there is not a centralized list of newletters that accept sponsorships. I am currently working on creating a newsletter sponsorship network similar to the banner networks...it is a glaring need and a distinct opportunity. For a shameless plug...my company provides an advertising buying program (both banners and newsletters) that helps to target and capture your market. If you are interested, feel free to contact me personally. Will somebody please explain to me why a small business/entrepreneur, who's presumably a lot more interested in making sales than in burnishing their image or establishing a brand, would want people to keep revisiting their site? I don't know about you, but I'd much rather have a web page that functioned as one element in a coordinated marketing plan: a stop along the way to a sale. I'm not in the entertainment business. I want to present a clear and concise sales message that will compel someone to 'take action'. Encouraging someone to come back again and again but not move to the next step in the sales cycle is ludicrous. Yes, I know somebody'll bring up the "educate people with your newsletter and they'll regard you as an authority and eventually do business with you" argument, and there's truth to that. But -- there's so much information on the net and so many other places to visit. Moreover, the "freeware" or "free info" net culture makes it hard to craft a high value information resource that will truly have an impact on someone, and get them to *part with their money*. It's very difficult to achieve the same perceived value of a quality printed communication piece mailed to a person's home or office. Thus, I'd much rather drive someone to give me their name and address and establish a personal written relationship. So, accuse me of being "traditional" and "not taking advantage of the cost savings and efficiency of electronic distribution" and all that -- but I'm been making some very serious money for myself and my clients/partners, for a long time now. I haven't heard about too many free-standing, self-supporting net ventures; I'd be surprised if there were more than a few dozen. Yes, I know about Amazon.com and CDNow and the banner ad supported sites, but most are still figuring out how to make the net work. If you have a real net success story, I'd love to hear it.