DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING MKT 675: MARKETING APPLICATIONS IN eBUSINESS                           Syllabus    Schedule   Library

Email Discussion Lists and Newsletters

RATIONALE

Discussion lists are quick, efficient media for communication among users with a common interest. They allow participants to exchange information, discuss topics of interest, and present ideas for immediate feedback from list participants. Specifically, discussion lists allow marketers to participate in group discussions and projects within their organizations as well as ongoing, worldwide discussions of current issues in the field.

Email newsletters offer different communication potential, the opportunity for an organization to reach a large number of interested people with detailed communication on a regular basis.  The organization has access to all subscribers, but  subscribers have no access to each other.  Thus the organization has greater control over the flow of information and can maintain a more individualized relationship with each subscriber.

OBJECTIVES

At the conclusion of this exercise, you will be able to;

1. discuss the advantages and disadvantages of discussion lists and newsletters as a medium for professional communication,
2. find and evaluate available discussion lists,
3. subscribe to and participate in discussion lists of your choice, and
4. subscribe to newsletters relevant to this course.

READINGS

Using your WWW browser, locate and read the following materials. Prepare notes for the assignment below.

• Finding Email Discussion Lists - tools to find online discussion lists
• Kim Bayne's List of Marketing Lists - an extensive collection of marketing discussion lists
• Tile.net - resource for finding lists on various topics
• Liszt - a directory of online discussion lists
• eBay Community - threaded discussion boards and chat rooms on eBay topics
• BizLand.com - a hosting and eBusiness support firm for small business, lists and newsletter

Using your WWW browser, locate and review the following sites, all of which provide periodic newsletters to subscribers. 

ACTIVITIES

1. Read the materials above and search the Liszt WWW or Tile.Net site for discussion lists relevant to marketing. Review the descriptions of five of these lists.
2. Following the instructions for subscribers, subscribe to one of the lists you have evaluated. 
3. Subscribe to at least one newsletter from the list above.
4. Working with your team, prepare and post a message to the appropriate thread of the Exercise Questions Forum in the Discussion Board area of the course.  In this message, you should describe one way in which an organization might use; a) an electronic discussion list and b) an electronic newsletter, to facilitate internal or external communication. Include in the message brief descriptions of one of the discussion lists and and one of the newsletters to which your team members have subscribed.

Last updated 09 February, 2001 . İFred Miller, 2001
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