Shoutout to entrepreneur and reader Chris Inman for sharing his take on digital business cards after reading The Hotline in the last issue. This week, let’s also talk social vs. email, and take on an easy Marketing Minute.

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If I’m already posting on social media, do I really need a newsletter — or is that enough?

It’s a good question with a straightforward answer: Start a newsletter as soon as you have the capacity to publish consistently. 

Collecting email addresses is typically better for business than posting on social media. And a newsletter allows you to offer something of value in exchange for prospects giving you their email addresses.

On social media, you don’t control access to the audience, even those who follow or subscribe to your content. That’s up to the platform, and its goal isn’t to ensure all posts get seen by your opt-in audience. However, when you have email addresses, you can access your audience directly.

Newsletters allow you to build an ongoing relationship with an audience who invite you into their inboxes. If you plan to send newsletters primarily, consider all-in-one platforms like Beehiiv (where I publish Marketing By One) and Substack.

However, if you plan to send newsletters, product news, and promotional emails, consider platforms like Mailchimp, Salesforce, or ActiveCampaign. You can also use collection forms through website platforms, such as WordPress and Squarespace.

BTW, this advice doesn’t mean you shouldn’t post on social media. Just recognize its limitations when deciding how much time to invest in it.

Got a question you’d like me to answer in a future edition of The Hotline? Call or text Marketing By One Hotline: +1.440.661.3984.

Chris Inman, president of I.D.E.A. Cleveland, helps businesses with their video content. He shares a helpful take on last week’s question in The Hotline about digital business cards:

As an avid networker,  digital cards are horrible. The ability to sit down at my desk the next morning to go through the cards I collected is a process that is unmatched with those digital cards or ‘connect on LinkedIn’ QR codes. 

Many forget that a huge population of business owners don't use LinkedIn regularly or at all. Then with the digital cards, I need to remember who I met to find them in my contacts. And I don't want everyone in my phone contacts to begin with. The traditional business card — if designed right — is a great piece of marketing material that is being undervalued in this digital age.

This week: Set up an email collection form on your website. It’s OK to capture visitor emails even if your newsletter isn’t ready. Just give them an ETA, even if it’s a few months from now.

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I didn’t do this with AI this week, but something I worked on related to AI was published this week. It’s a new e-book for the Content Marketing Institute: The New Recipe for Standout Content and Marketing Writing (free, but registration required).

It includes helpful prompts for AI to assist in multiple facets of the writing process. The biggest trick isn’t AI-related. It’s recognizing that the real work starts before a word ever hits the page (or screen).

Have any AI tricks of your own? Hit reply, call, or text the Marketing By One Hotline: +1.440.661.3984.

Ask your readers one question at the end of your next social media post, blog article, or video to spark replies.

🎤 Throw better pitches. Asking the media to cover you or your business requires thinking like an editor. Business Insider’s Paige DiFiore shares pitch tips for freelancers, but they work for entrepreneurs, too.

🔍 Get a better AI presence. LinkedIn is offering help to maximize your presence in AI search.

🚀 Start building. Dan Koe reveals how to build a personal brand better than 99% of people.

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Got a question you’d like me to answer in The Hotline? Email me or DM me on LinkedIn. Even better: Text or leave a message on the Marketing By One Hotline: +1.440.661.3984.