If you’re on my free email newsletter, here’s what you’re getting this week:
About 60,000 people are members. In exchange for trusting me with their email address, they also get a lot of cool stuff I never, ever mention on this blog.
Here’s the link if you want in:
Previous post: Student loans and financial aid: How to save $23,000
Next post: Who uses a freaking coupon for DEL TACO?
Previous post: Student loans and financial aid: How to save $23,000
Next post: Who uses a freaking coupon for DEL TACO?
I'm the New York Times bestselling author of I Will Teach You To Be Rich. I co-founded PBwiki and graduated from Stanford.
"Smart, bold, and practical. I Will Teach You to Be Rich is packed with tips that actually work."
—J.D. Roth, Get Rich Slowly
43 comments
Leave a commentI never registered for your email-list, as I figured that the RSS feed had the same info in it (and I already receive tons of mails on a daily basis, so everything that i can defer to RSS is great).
Seeing that the email gives additional stuff is enough reason for me to join!
Thanks, Thijs. I don’t think I’ve been clear enough about all the stuff I release on my email list that I don’t release anywhere else.
Glad this helped!
I just signed up. Is it possible to get past issues of the newsletter?
Nope, sorry.
I like to check the website at my leisure, as opposed to being bombarded with tons of websites’ newsletters in my inbox. Is there a reason why there would be content in the newsletter that’s not on the site, as I can think of a couple of disadvantages.
Pretty much that my email subscribers are highly engaged with me and trust me in their inbox, so I give them information that others don’t get. I also test lots of fun stuff with emails since it’s easier to get results quickly.
Thanks for answering Mitch’s question. I was wondering the same thing after I subscribed to you newsletter.
Enjoy reading your blog posts via RSS (Go Google!). Look forward to receiving further newsletters. I’m off to read Chapter 1 of your book that I got in the subscription confirmation email.
Will I get the current newsletter or do I have to wait for the next one?
Just sit tight — I send stuff out regularly.
The way you have this setup, I am now getting 5 e-mails of the same content spread over 3 e-mail addys.
Ugh, I’m sorry about that. Just click unsubscribe at the bottom and remove yourself from whichever lists are duplicates.
It’s an issue with the email service I use. I’ll look into it, but I’m really sorry about the inconvenience.
Ramit.. I’m already using FreeCycle group.. hope you are sharing some new information.
Thanks!
i’m already part of ur email list, should i still enter it?
I haven’t received the newsletter but I’ve already subscribed months ago…
Nevermind with another newsletter…whats next ? you would say that paid subscribers are even more engaging and take you more seriously and so you would be charging for the newsletter?
I follow all the blogs/sites I am interested via google reader, its simple and easier that way.I would say this multiple streams is a bad idea.
My friends and I do a quarterly clothing exchange. We’re not all the same size but you’d be surprised how much stuff we each leave with. We constantly add new people to the event (word spread quickly about what us 3 girls were doing and now the invite list has grown to 10+) so we keep getting new clothes into the mix instead of just the 3 of us always dressing like each other. We recently started adding shoes & purses to the events too. Always a good time! Anyway, that’s my fun tip for getting some nice free clothes!!
i hate it when i recognize that you got in my head, but love it when you help me make money.
I’d been on the list for close to a year now, Ramit only sends out cool stuffs. Enter your email away!
Looking forward to the new stuffs.
when did this website turn into a marketing scheme? i miss the old personal-finance blog it used to be. oh well- i’ll just reread the book… at least the book doesn’t try and upsell me at every chapter.
had feeds, just did the newsletter at 11:15am PST, is it too late for the above topics?
Agree with CC. Missing the blog/content from 2-3 years ago.
Unsubscribed from the newsletter a while back due to the number of emails, duplicate content and upsells. Found myself deleting them without reading them much more often than opening them.
Ridiculous to have a blog post indicating what you “missed” because you weren’t on the email list. Wouldn’t a better technique to say “Look what you missed!” AND give the content to encourage people to subscribe? You don’t have to post the content EVERY time (just like you don’t post “hey, you missed this because you aren’t a member” every time), because I realize nobody would subscribe if all the content was in a subsequent blog post. However, trying to attract users by telling them they missed something without telling them what that something is seems absurd.
But I guess if it gives you another subscriber to add to your 60,000, who cares?
I don’t mind you unsubscribing. If it’s not right for you, that’s cool. And if there’s something specific you’d like me to cover, you can always email me or write a guest post.
And thanks for the marketing thoughts, but that’s not really very effective for a variety of reasons.
Thanks again.
I think the newsletter is great! Been getting it for about 6 months now and I’m very happy with the amount of content that get’s e-mailed out. Not too much, but enough to keep me engaged!
I think it’s funny reading that some people don’t like Ramit’s style. If Ramit changed his style to cater to the complainers in the comments, only the complainers would keep reading his blog…
I love the newsletter Ramit! Love your style! And most of all, I love that you’re not just giving us info that we think we need, you’re giving us info that we can actually use!
Thanks, JayR. I really appreciate that. I hope others find it useful, too.
My actual question has not been addressed unfortunately. What’s the actual advantage to putting the content in a newsletter, besides reaching “your dedicated readers”, whatever that means (and directly targeting them for advertisements apparently). Imagine if every website you went to required you to sign up for a newsletter to get content. If the content was just on the website, it would be archived for historical viewing, all accessible in one location (a huge advantage and time saver). This move just confuses me.
There are a lot of advantages to using email in addition to a blog.
TECHNICAL REASONS
* I can split-test various elements to see what’s most interesting in email (you can’t easily do this on a blog)
* I can measure responses rates, open rates, CTRs, and many other things extremely carefully
* I can segment people based on interests, behaviors, purchases, and a bunch of other stuff and give them personalized content. For example, the people who signed up for Earn1k.com are clearly interested in earning more money and entrepreneurship. Not so for the people who signed up for my “saving money” list…”)
MOST IMPORTANT
Forget all that. If you come to this site on any given day, you might not be sure if it’s right for you. Am I talking about taxes today? Tipping? Making fun of a friend? Money Diaries? What if you just want to learn about automation?
In email, I can systematically take people through the most relevant stuff so they get quickly caught up on stuff I’ve been writing for the last 5 years.
I DON’T WANT TO SIGN UP WAAA RAMIT IS MAKING $$$$$ OFF HIS NEWSLETTER WAAA
That’s cool if you don’t want to sign up. Nobody is requiring you to, so if you don’t want to subscribe via email, don’t! (You’ll be missing out on new content that I release to subscribers as a thank-you for taking the extra step and signing up, but if you’re not willing to try out my email list….then, ok.) You can still keep getting the blog, via web or full RSS, however you’d like.
Note: Mitch, I wasn’t specifically making fun of you, but a lot of whiny commenters complain that it’s somehow evil for me to make money from all my work with iwillteachyoutoberich. They are wrong and I want to make sure they know I am mocking them.
Ramit,
I love your emails. Been subscribed for a year now. Keep em coming!
Also replied to your email today re: my tax return. I would imagine you will be measuring responses/rates of response for further posts/products?
Fair enough. I have no complaints with you making money or anything like that (bought the book!). It’s just that newsletters have many many drawbacks for users. There are many ways to get statistics from websites – polls, google stats, subdomains, and so forth. As shown in the list of comments of users missing out on content because of later signup and no archive, there are many more drawbacks to the newsletter format. But I guess the point has already been made.
I’m sad because I just signed up for the news letter, but dont get the article about the clothes
There are surely advantages and disadvantages in everything a blogger does on the blog. But ultimately the decision would rest in his hand, and I believe Ramit’s made a very good decision both for his business and the readers.
If unfortunately you miss out on the good stuffs in the newsletter, just look around the blog and find other stuffs. There are plenty of great information in here! If you haven’t finished looking on the blog, don’t bother to get the stuffs in the newsletter.
@Alisha – From the email:
* Today: Why I hate what “experts” say about tax returns
* Thursday: How I got $10,000 of free clothes last year
yep
I do have to say that there are plenty of benefits to the newsletter. It may not be the best solution for everyone, but Ramit still posts a lot of good information on his blog. The newsletter content is just like a little “gift” for those who sign up. It is not much different than when stores have special offers for those that sign up for a specific promotion or loyalty card.
I do agree that throughout the last year (or maybe more) the content of the blog has changed, but Ramit is now at a point where his readership is allowing him to branch out and offer more (and different) content to serve the variety of interests of the people reading this site.
Keep doing what you’re doing. You can’t please everyone and you obviously are doing what works for the majority of your audience..
Hey Ramit, where are my free clothes at…false promises :p
I like that you have exclusive content on the email list.
It puts me into your “future customer” category.
Considering do the same thing for one of my lists.
Only for USA, what a shame
Ramit – your invite to Gilt made my freaking day.
I think everything you do is awesome. Screw tha h8terz.
Whoa, the audio confirmation message caught me off-guard.
Looks like Gilt opened up this week. No more invite only.
Thanks oldergod for answering my question before I asked. Ramit, do you have an email list that is more ‘universal’? I love getting your stuff, and would happily sign to your other email lists (I’m on at least one!) I know even the stuff that isn’t directly relevant to me often has useful information in it. Is oldergod right? Is this for US only?
forgive the double post. Never mind with an answer for this. It seems I’m on the list already! Well worthwhile, as I said already, even if the specific details need tweaking for my location. Thanks for all your useful information Ramit.
Looks good. I might subscribe. But, do you make money by selling the email list? Do you share the email newsletter list?
EJ
No. I don’t sell your info to others.
I can’t subscribe b/c the confirmation link you sent doesn’t work. bummer.
Comments on this entry are closed.