[jasonlynes]

who the hell signs up for newsletters? interesting how your other business was created because newsletters are lame.

these problems don't seem like ones normal people deal with. they're just problems for people trying to add something to their domain squatting businesses. spam my inbox with lame content, and then spam the newsletter with ads? ugh.

how about, people want really good content through email (huge assumption), but great content publishers aren't publishing content due to low advertiser involvement. the service could hook writers up with relevant advertisers who could add something to the conversation, giving the user something other than a text ad or banners. if it's a small market, the service could be very specialized and deal with people/advertisers individually.

but honestly, there's probably more money in viagra ads than there is in email newsletters.

[eli]

Many people sign up for email newsletters -- in fact lots of people spend their whole day in Outlook or on their Blackberry, so it's far more convenient than configuring an RSS reader. More people send/receive email in a given day than run a Google search or check Facebook.

Ads in an email newsletter that you intentionally signed up for is no more "spam" than ads on a website you routinely visit is "spam."

[rcavezza]

I'd also like to add that well targeted magazine ads can even ad value. Who is to see this can't translate to email newsletters?

[jasonlynes]

sending email in a day isn't the same thing as reading newsletters. and ads on websites are spam. they usually don't engage, add value, or do anything worthwhile.

[bmelton]

Debunking the 'who signs up for newsletters':

- woot.com members (I would HATE to miss a Woot Off)

- Groupon.com members

- Calacanis' newsletter subscribers

- Dan Lewis' "Now I Know" newsletter (best ever)

Eh, there are many others, but those were the top 4 in my gmail (minus Woot, which I just thought of first).