Distribution vs. Promotion and The Rise of the Email List

by Nathaniel Whittemore

category: Trends

Published November 03, 2009 @ 05:05PM PT

• 4268 Views

Nonprofits are increasingly a fan of Facebook and a flutter with Twitter. Yet there is a new old medium that is poised to make a comeback as a key vehicle for interpersonal communication: the e-mail list. The launch of the new All Day Buffet project TBD provides an interesting occasion to examine the power and problems of the medium.

For many of us, e-newsletters have always been a part of the online experience, for better or worse. I find myself hunting for the 'unsubscribe' button at least once a week. Nonprofits I've worked with, companies I've accidentally signed up for information from, or worse, who have purchased my information from third party sellers - it all becomes a little much. So why proclaim (and acclaim) the medium?

The difference between a good email list and an annoying newsletter is, often I think, the difference between treating the list as a distribution channel for great content versus as a promotion channel for your brand.

The reason most business or even nonprofit newsletters don't matter that much to us is that even if we support their mission, we're just not invested in them. Occasionally it may be interesting to read a profile of one of their staff members, but honestly, we've got limited time and a lot of things to read (not to mention do).

Compare this to something like Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis' email list, started about a year ago with 600 subscribers and which is now up to 25,000. Every couple weeks, Jason emails out the equivalent of a set of blog posts on some specific topic he finds particularly relevant or compelling at the time. I don't know the guy, but he writes great, compelling stuff that is always interesting to read, and even when I decide I don't have time, I wish I had.

This site is actually another example of a "newsletter" that is really just a delivery mechanism for top weekly content and actions. At the end of each week, I get a burst of traffic that comes from people who may not be regular visitors to the site but who have had their interest piqued by the overview of the story in the newsletter.

Ever the experimenters, All Day Buffet has launched a new weekly email list for good called TBD (standing for "to be determined"). Each week the newsletter features some interesting world changing organization and then provides an idea for how readers can take action. It's focused in it's scope and accordingly, is high value with limited commitment. The bet they're making is that people will come to see it as an opportunity to check into a particular social change focused side of their lives once a week and reconnect with some larger collective action. It's only been a couple weeks but the first editions have been great and I won't be unsubscribing any time soon.

These examples demonstrate the interesting blend between personal and company brands. Jason's list is obviously about his personal brand, but he both acquires new readers and, on the flip side, drives new traffic to his company through it. TBD is working to establish a voice and trust with people as a brand in it's own right, but a lot of that success will be based on how people resonate with Jerri Chou and other ADB staffers voices.

But I think it's an interesting communications experiment that fills an important niche. I've started a bi-monthly email list to share interesting and relevant content about social entrepreneurship, the web startup world and more. You can sign up here, and as I see how it evolves over the next few months, I'll keep readers posted.

(Photo: Manchester Library)