Ezine or Blog? Which & Why

An interesting article comes from Dr. Ralph Wilson who writes an excellent ezine called Web Marketing Today:

Where Blogs and E-zines Overlap

"Could you give me an example of when it is appropriate to implement a corporate blog (with RSS feed) in addition to an opt-in email list?? It seems like these two functions are redundant." -- Ryan DeShazer, NOEINK, LLC

Traditionally, e-zines would include well thought out, comprehensive articles, while blogs tended to feature shorter, more focused thoughts. While e-mail newsletters and blogs with RSS feeds do seem somewhat redundant, redundant communication is probably more realistic these days than expecting everyone to prefer and read the same communication channels.

One way to combine these might be to use a blog for frequent ideas and responses to industry news during the month. Some people will follow your blog because it is up-to-date and stimulating. But for those who don't follow your blog, send out a monthly newsletter made up of the most important or enduring blog entries, carefully edited, with URLs to other important entries in your blog. For news junkies, a blog provides frequent information. For less intense customers with whom you still want to retain top-of-mind status, send your e-mail newsletter.

I agree with Ralph Wilson, especially where it comes to sending out an email notice to your list updating them on blog posts. Most readers don't yet have a system for getting blog updates through a free service like Bloglet or Feedblitz, and don't use RSS news aggregators.

So you have to tell them through email to go over to your blog if they want to read about your current topics, current postings.