Revolution #243, August 21, 2011
Letter from a reader...
For the campuses—we should make part of our plans for the first two weeks to be setting goals for e-subs, like 500 at key schools. I realize this is a big number—actually not that huge overall, but a big leap and it will be a reach/fight to reach—but I think our attitude and approach towards e-subs has been significantly off.
We should sign up almost everyone we talk to—and make clear to them they can e-sub as their main choice and be on our e-list for campus events, etc., as a secondary/additional list. We generally have had this reversed. And we've had numbers way low!
Further, everyone who signs up with one of our organizers should get an email from them right away thanking them for stopping to talk, etc. and letting them know they've been added to the e-subs for free and that we strongly urge them to stay on for at least a month, look over the titles of the articles and click when they are interested in reading. It is very easy to unsubscribe, but we recommend you wait at least a month and explore the articles/coverage before deciding.
Our approach has been way too selective—and we have found (both with our paper and with World Can't Wait efforts) that a lot of people "lurk" on the e-lists and when things shift in their lives or the world they will check back in. We—I believe—have overall reversed this relationship. Having them e-subbing can be a step to a more consistent relationship; it's not like only something someone should be doing after they get involved.
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