Marketing & SEO Discussion List - LED Digest

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                 The LED Digest
             Moderated Discussion List
     "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997"

      Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom

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List Moderator:                     Published by:
Adam Audette                           LED Digest
adam, led-digest.com     http://www.led-digest.com
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August 13, 2008                     Issue no. 2691
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            .....IN THIS DIGEST.....


====== NEW ======================

    <Moderator Comment>

        ~ Time for a New LED
"Once per week I'll send the LED as a
newsletter with discussion..."

    --== Email Marketing on a Shoestring ==--

        ~ Bill Pavone
"I would like to know your opinions on
buying targeted email lists..."


==== CONTINUING =================

    --== Browser Size and Resolution ==--

        ~ Nick Gassman
"I'd be interested to know how people specify
font sizes at higher resolutions."


========= NEW =====================================

<Moderator Comment>

We've traveled so far... but are nearing the end (of sorts).

You may have noticed a lack of the LED Digest for the past couple of
weeks. Over the past couple of months, it's gotten harder and harder to
produce the LED 5 days a week. A combination of low list activity, the
summer slow-down, and being stretched too thin with my growing company
have contributed to the decline here. As AudetteMedia continues to build
momentum and take on more and better clients, it's becoming mandatory
for me to focus more of my energy on them. Something has to give, and it
looks like it has to be the LED.

But it's more than that. Email discussion lists are a dying breed,
especially for internet and search marketing. Forums, social sites and
blogs fit the bill for 90% of the interested parties out there. For the
rest, most prefer to lurk and listen rather than contribute. That's
fine, but it doesn't keep a list afloat.

Rather than spend time constantly trying to spur activity on the LED,
I'm going to focus my efforts on continuing to create high-quality
content on our blog. My latest effort is related to the LED, actually:

Moderating Discussion Lists: A Quick and Dirty Guide
http://www.audettemedia.com/blog/moderating-discussion-lists

SO WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN?

There won't be a significant change by any means, and I'm going to keep
the LED going. It's a fantastic list and resource, and has a
tremendously strong subscriber base of some 40,000. Rather than just end
what we're doing here, I'm going to change the format. Once per week
I'll send the LED as a newsletter with discussion where and when it's
warranted. At any time you can send in a post and it'll be published, it
just won't *depend* on your posts. As an internet marketing newsletter,
my goal is to keep it lightweight, useful, and relevant.

WHAT'S IT GOING TO LOOK LIKE?

It's going to look the same. In the weekly LED (which will be published
each Thursday), I'm going to recap the week's most interesting forum
threads, blog posts and comments, and news. Where relevant, I'll include
some comments of my own. I'll also ask for your feedback.

Some issues will have a lot of posts by you. Others will have very
little.

I'm open to featuring specific authors as columnists. If you're
interested, shoot me an email and let's set you up with a column in an
LED soon.

IS IT GOING TO WORK?

I think it will. It'll still take a lot of work on my part, but only
once per week instead of five times per week. But I can handle it... I'm
a sucker for punishment :)

Look for the first brand new LED on Thursday.

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Best wishes,
Adam

-------------------

From: Bill Pavone
Subject: Inexpensive Email Marketing

I have pretty much been a "listener" for years, just learning from all
the opinions and posts here. I am finally ready to begin spending a bit
of money to test some marketing. I have a site that sells primarily
Marine Electronics for sailboats, and fishing.

I would like to know your opinions on buying targeted email lists and if
using a service like Constant Contact or one of the others is good
beginner move on my part. Also, how does one sort through all the
companies out there and even all the choices for pay per click
marketing? Thank you in advance.

Bill Pavone


======== CONTINUING ===============================

From: Nick Gassman
Subject: Resolution

A couple of people have suggested measuring browser size rather than
screen resolution. Does anyone know of a public source of such figures?
Yes I know you need to measure it for your own site, but it would be
useful to have a starting point.

I'd also be interested to know how people specify font sizes at higher
resolutions. Do you compensate for higher resolutions by specify a
larger font size?

Nick Gassman


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