Eventually, both. Each is different, each has advantages over the other. So, when you have more time or staff, or a bigger list, use them both.
I do. But I make things as simple as possible by posting my newsletter on my blog and sending my blog posts to my newsletter list.
If you’re new to online marketing, or looking to up your game, but you’re not ready to do both, decide what’s more important to you.
If your primary interest is getting more traffic, start with a blog. Optimize it for search terms that pertain to your field and prospective clients will find you, see what you know and do, and if they like what they see, contact you to ask a question or make an appointment.
If you’re primarily interested in enhancing your relationships with existing and former clients and business contacts, leading to repeat business and referrals, start with a newsletter.
I just listened to an expert who said the purpose of a blog is to “inform and create more direct calls to action leading to sales,” while the purpose of a newsletter is to “entertain and build authority”.
Maybe.
I see a blog as a mechanism for informing, building authority, and generating leads. I see a newsletter as a mechanism for building a relationship with people who have already found you, via a blog or other means. A newsletter is usually more personal. A blog is more formal.
Here’s an important point to consider:
A newsletter is a much better way to get people who have found your website or blog to return, something you can’t count on a blog to do because you can’t count on people who found you through search conducting that same search again, even if they’re still looking. Yes, people can subscribe to your blog and be notified when you post a new one, but I wouldn’t count on that either.
In short, use your blog to attract new people and your newsletter to get those people to call you and to return to your blog to see what else you say.
Of course, you should also use your blog to generate sign-ups for your newsletter.
They work together nicely.
You know what else works nicely with a blog and newsletter combo? Social media. I found the aforementioned expert who talked about the differences between a blog and a newsletter through a video.
I wasn’t searching, but YouTube thought I might be interested.
