Some ideas for ebid - no 6 - revamp the newsletter

[Juliebabe25]

First of all let me congratulate Mark on the ebid blog he is doing, its full of some very good articles and seller stories etc.

But I would like to suggest that they take a look at the newsletter.

Every time I get one the first thing I see is "Upgrade to Seller plus" for only $xx.

Well I already am a Seller+ and have been since soon after I joined ebid.

It sort of puts me off.

My suggestion is to produce 4 newsletters.

The one million or so ebid membership can be divided into 4 groups

Seller+
Seller
Buyer
And non active members (those with no listings)

So divided the membership database into those 4 categories and send a different newsletter to each group.

Seller+ could get articles by Deanosaur and Kreative on how to improve their listings
Sellers could get the same and half way down the newsletter an offer to upgrade to Seller+
Buyers could get a newsletter aimed at asking if they have thought about selling on ebid and what to do.

Non active members could be advised how ebid has added more features over the years and emphasize the low fee structure and suggest that they try listing again.

[sidthelamp]

First of all let me congratulate Mark on the ebid blog he is doing, its full of some very good articles and seller stories etc.

But I would like to suggest that they take a look at the newsletter.

Every time I get one the first thing I see is "Upgrade to Seller plus" for only $xx.

Well I already am a Seller+ and have been since soon after I joined ebid.

It sort of puts me off.

My suggestion is to produce 4 newsletters.

The one million or so ebid membership can be divided into 4 groups

Seller+
Seller
Buyer
And non active members (those with no listings)

So divided the membership database into those 4 categories and send a different newsletter to each group.

Seller+ could get articles by Deanosaur and Kreative on how to improve their listings
Sellers could get the same and half way down the newsletter an offer to upgrade to Seller+
Buyers could get a newsletter aimed at asking if they have thought about selling on ebid and what to do.

Non active members could be advised how ebid has added more features over the years and emphasize the low fee structure and suggest that they try listing again.

4 news letters aimed at 4 different types of users, 4times the work,, identifying 4 types of users certain information only available to one type of user , and so on, which may be relevant EG to a seller upgrading to a seller + but would not have the seller + information in there news letter

cant see this working at all

[FBNeNotes]

Glad ebid has an ignore list for the forums. Now that is eBid Smart !

[burgyeb]

G&M work very hard as it is; I would like to see the focus remain on refining the AP's, the API, the launch of the blog/social networking, and SEO strategies for sellers. Providing a clear, comprehensive message to all levels of membership is best accomplished in one newsletter. The Blog could be utilized to reach the different levels of membership. Can't imagine sending out 4 separate newsletters; might result in a divide and conquer environment.

[burgyeb]

Every time I get one the first thing I see is "Upgrade to Seller plus" for only $xx.

Well I already am a Seller+ and have been since soon after I joined ebid.

It sort of puts me off.

My suggestion would be to stick with one newsletter, and maybe reposition the opening line. Then a small section of the existing newsletter could be dedicated to the variation of membership levels. Either as a focused article on all of the membership levels; or as a focused article on one or more of the the membership levels each month. The message for upgrading could be included further down the page with the featured articles on membership levels. This keeps the communication to all members unified and consistent. It also does not put any additional work load on the management team.

[Pink_Panther]

Dividing the newsletters would be ;
a) Hard work.
B) Confusing.
C) Divisive.
<That's in MHO. >

[cornishmaid1961]

First of all let me congratulate Mark on the ebid blog he is doing, its full of some very good articles and seller stories etc.

But I would like to suggest that they take a look at the newsletter.

Every time I get one the first thing I see is "Upgrade to Seller plus" for only $xx.

Well I already am a Seller+ and have been since soon after I joined ebid.

It sort of puts me off.

My suggestion is to produce 4 newsletters.

The one million or so ebid membership can be divided into 4 groups

Seller+
Seller
Buyer
And non active members (those with no listings)

So divided the membership database into those 4 categories and send a different newsletter to each group.

Seller+ could get articles by Deanosaur and Kreative on how to improve their listings
Sellers could get the same and half way down the newsletter an offer to upgrade to Seller+
Buyers could get a newsletter aimed at asking if they have thought about selling on ebid and what to do.

Non active members could be advised how ebid has added more features over the years and emphasize the low fee structure and suggest that they try listing again.

First of all isn't it Dean and Debbie that produce most of the articles for the eBid blog so shouldn't the congratulations go to them ?

Secondly how on earth would you split the newsletter like that and think about all the work involved ?! All it needs is a tweak to the wording to say 'for those of you that are buyers and ordinary sellers then think about the benefits of becoming a seller+'.

Thirdly why do you presume that Deano and Kreative would want to produce articles for the newsletters, they are not paid members of the eBid staff and I'm sure they are far too busy selling ?! Out of the kindness of their hearts they already give up their valuable time to help newbies here on the forums.

[suesjools]

Dividing the newsletters would be ;
a) Hard work.
B) Confusing.
C) Divisive.
<That's in MHO. >

Ditto this.

Best wishes for many sales to all,

[Gill]

First of all let me congratulate Mark on the ebid blog he is doing, its full of some very good articles and seller stories etc.

But I would like to suggest that they take a look at the newsletter.

Every time I get one the first thing I see is "Upgrade to Seller plus" for only $xx.

Well I already am a Seller+ and have been since soon after I joined ebid.

It sort of puts me off.

My suggestion is to produce 4 newsletters.

The one million or so ebid membership can be divided into 4 groups

Seller+
Seller
Buyer
And non active members (those with no listings)

So divided the membership database into those 4 categories and send a different newsletter to each group.

Seller+ could get articles by Deanosaur and Kreative on how to improve their listings
Sellers could get the same and half way down the newsletter an offer to upgrade to Seller+
Buyers could get a newsletter aimed at asking if they have thought about selling on ebid and what to do.

Non active members could be advised how ebid has added more features over the years and emphasize the low fee structure and suggest that they try listing again.

Not every member opts to receive the newsletter. Or do they? Until you know that information Julie I don't see how you can suggest that the membership needs splitting into 4 groups. Only by having this info could one decide on the overall content of the newsletter and whether it would be worthwhile spending time on the membership database.

Also, any information written by deanosaur, kreative or any other helpful eBid members can be found in the archives rather than asking those members to repeat themselves. Hopefully, if admin did want to use any information written by members' they would first get permission to use it in the newsletter.

I honestly think the eBid team have enough to do without adding more work on something that probably won't have a huge impact on listings or seller+ membership.

[squern]

Well, everybody's panned it again, Julie, but it certainly has some merits.

It's depressing when the first reactions to an idea are lists of reasons why it can't be done, or conclusions that it wouldn't work, or wouldn't make any difference. Enough to put anyone off making suggestions.

Firstly, with modern software, it is very easy to target individuals or groups - that's how mailshot companies work.
Secondly, it wouldn't be confusing as each category of seller/ buyer would only receive a particular newsletter, tailored to them.
Would it be hard work? Probably, but what isn't?

A really clever newsletter would have a general section, then subsections for each type of activity, selling and buying, collecting, starting an online business, de-cluttering, and so on. This would have the effect of reaching individual types of users, and cross-fertilising to broaden the activities of users.

It would also be nice to have a suggestions page, and news of up-coming developments on the site, and generally.

There are lots of ways of achieving an effective newsletter, and probably lots of opinions about how that could be done.
But someone has to start the ball rolling, and despite previous criticism, Julie has done it again!