The Wheat From the Chaff

Last Sunday morning began like every other Sunday morning. I fired up the computer and strolled through my four email addresses. Then I did something I had promised myself weeks earlier I’d do: unsubscribed from every email that didn’t directly benefit me.

There were some tempting offers, but I was brutal. I took myself off more than 100 email newsletters, business roundtables, and forums I once thought I couldn’t live without. Plus, when you belong to this many of anything, you’re going to get spammed. I wish the marketing gurus would get together and send ONE email that would take care of it once and for all. I’d love to be the copywriter to incorporate it all into one message: “Increase your penis size while enjoying a 0% Visa so you can gamble in an online casino and send a six-pack of steaks to your loved ones as the perfect Hanukkah gift.”

What I was left with were my core email newsletters. The ones that matter. If you don’t receive enough email (yeah, right) and are looking for newsletters that teach you something and connect you with others in the industry, give these a try.

…got Copy? Stevie Ann Rinehart is an Arizona-based copywriter and one of the world’s true good people. She started a newsletter for copywriters. You can check it out by emailing her.

I-Copywriting. Fellow ClickZ columnist Nick Usborne has a winner. Every Monday morning, his newsletter gives me a chance to get aggravated. Free-flowing discussions from writers all over the world make it a must-read for copywriters. For a summary of what you’ll find, look here. You can subscribe by sending an email.

All the news, quickly. Corante is one of my all-time favorites. Every morning at 9:30, I get headlines from the following industries: venture capital, e-business, Internet, communications, personal technology, law and policy, and biotech. Sign up at the site to receive a daily update. Even if you’re not interested in all the topics, you’ll learn something just by scanning the headlines.

MarketingProfs.com. Every week (I think) I receive the MarketingProfs.com newsletter and really enjoy it. The current lineup includes pieces such as “Top 5 Tips for Writing Great Email Newsletters,” “The Essential Basics of Branding,” and “The 10 Commandments of E-Service.” A great way to keep up with marketing trends. Get more information here.

World Advertising and Marketing News. A terrific resource for worldwide advertising news. Check out the site or subscribe to the newsletter.

SalesDog.com. The salespeople in our company love this newsletter. Tips, suggestions, and commentary from some of the world’s best sales people. That’s what advertising is all about, isn’t it? The link to the newsletter is in the upper right-hand corner.

World Wide Words. If you love the esoteric, this is the newsletter for you. I’m a recent convert. It’s one I forward to people each week. Here’s an example: Two weeks ago, Chester Graham’s asked: “Is anyone familiar with the expression ‘sleeping her head into train oil’ for someone who is sleeping longer than usual? I have only one family as a source for it, as a Scots use in Australia”.

Jill Williams commented that she knew the saying, either in that form or as “Sleeping your brains into train oil”. She commented: “Not one family’s expression, but certainly a Scottish one in my experience. I’ve heard it from my Scots husband and others here in the Glasgow area to mean sleeping for so long that one is really dopey and lethargic as a result”.

To subscribe, send an email and type in the body of the message: SUBSCRIBE WORLDWIDEWORDS (your first name) and (your last name).

Because all work and no play make Jack and Jane dull, here’s a site that makes me smile.

Chupa Chups. They’re lollipops, for gosh sakes. But do they do a terrific job selling them. Sign up for the newsletter — you won’t regret it.

Do you have a newsletter (aside from ClickZ, of course) you can’t live without? Let me know, and we’ll share it with the world.