A Blog is Not a Newsletter and a Newsletter is Not a Blog

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I am amazed at how many people confuse my weekly newsletter First Word with my First Word blog. So, I thought I should give you a clear-cut definition of the two marketing pieces. First, though, I should tell you that THIS is my blog. This Web page is my blog. My newsletter you can sign up for by going to www.3LPublishing.com and signing up by clicking on the newsletter button on the homepage. So what is the difference between the two?

Blog -- a blog is a Web-based kind of "diary" if you will where you talk about things related to your business or life. It is always best to choose a topic or theme so your readers come to understand and know what to expect when they read it. I try to take a humorous or irreverent approach to both my blog and newsletter, and I discuss subjects, from publishing to writing, and from public relations to marketing, and from personal to self-help subjects. Once every now and then, you will find something completely random and unrelated just to keep readers on their toes.

Newsletter -- a weekly paper or electronic piece of writing that includes (in my case), news and announcements followed by a feature piece on a subject of interest related to my business. It comes out weekly and is emailed directly to subscribers. I could put it online, but I like to keep my mailing list private and use it as a special outreach to those who I have met and asked their permission to include them on the mailing list.

So, if you would like to receive my newsletter, go to www.3LPublishing.com and sign up. And I hope I have cleared up the confusion.

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