I think it is important that the news you elect to tie in with your
marketing message adds credibility to your over all message.

My members may read the National Enquirer but I doubt they would admit to it.

Using newsy material in our marketing message is just a matter of changing our habits to see good copy opportunity right in front of us.
We should be asking ourselves- "This is good- how can I use it?"

I agree that adding a story with some passion to it, along with our
marketing message gives our copy impact, and relivance.

I was about to ask if you sell any health related information on your site — but then I visited your site! You have nearly everything there! I did not look at anything except one idea that caught my eye.

Your company offers to sponsor nursing home "Clothing Shows" as I’ve copied here: "We would be happy to accommodate the needs of your residents by having a Clothing Show at your healthcare facility. If your facility is located within a 100 mile radius of our warehouse (which is in Rockland County, NY) we would set up a clothing show for your residents’ convenience on a day specified and scheduled in advance by you…"

My first suggestion is to use some type of video. It’s really easy to use video on the internet now and while it’s still free. Google and You Tube are the easy ones that I know of and have used. You do not need a live video for either. You can take photos and show those in a slide show using Picasa. I like Picasa because you can use it to download your photos and send photos by email; you can show those photos as slides; and you can "make a movie" of your photos with Picasa.

Doing online videos will save you much time, gasoline, and money! This can be your company’s contribution to helping to GO GREEN - the environment as well as your pocketbook when those sales start coming in.

Oh, yes. Try placing your sales of clothing and much more on your own company blog. Put your videos there too! I hope this helps! Please let me know. By the way, I will be one of your customers.

I need an idea how I can get additional opt-ins.

We see a lot of people using articles and blog posts to drive opt-ins, yes.

Depending on which of those methods you’re working with, your exact tactic will vary (for example, people can opt-in for email updates on any page of our blog). If you’re submitting articles, check with the site/directory owner to see what advice they may have on how you can best drive opt-ins from your articles.

Recently I saw the DUI charges on lots of celebrities, and I sent out
a promo email saying, Does Your Website Need Rehab?

I then went on to explain how the celebs didn’t take care of themselves
and your site is hurting like they are, take action now, etc.

The bond you create between your newsletter and the news will vary based on whether you’re:

* Using a story directly related to your campaign
* Using a story to introduce a topic by analogy

If it’s directly related to your campaign (e.g. interest rates drop for a realtor’s campaign), then you should need to just give your take on the news and how it affects your readers.

If you’re using a story like the one about the coyote I wrote about above, you’ll need to be a little more creative about how you bond it.

You’ll need to select something you think will hit home with your subscribers. Maybe you’re a life coach, and you see a story on a site like Gimundo that’s inspirational to your readers. You could give a summary of the story and explain how it relates to your clients and their own achievements.

Ultimately, you’ll just need to find relevant news for your campaign that you think your subscribers will relate with, and take it from there.

Hope that helps.