Email is, without question, the most popular and powerful
marketing tool available to entrepreneurs today. Website are
great, but without an effective email, your marketing efforts
will be anemic.
So how do you take advantage of email marketing? The best method
is to begin your own opt-in periodic ezineor an electronic
magazine. There are over ten thousand ezines on the internet
addressing hundreds of subjects.
What is the real power behind ezine marketing? It is
RELATIONSHIPS. Those who have learned the art of editing an
ezine are developing relationships with readers that will (in
many cases) be transformed into customers and business
partnerships.
There are several skills that must be learned to become a
effective ezine editor. Here they are:
FIND A FOCUS
In his best-selling marketing manual "Make
Your Site Sell," Ken Evoy points out that any effective marketing
strategy must remember that "if you try to sell to everybody
you'll end up selling to nobody." That's why he points out haw
important it is "target your audience" (learn more about Ken's
book at http://allaboutsuccess.sitesell.com/).
This strategy is also important for newsletter editing and
promotion. Think about it. The next time you pass the magazine
rack in your local grocery store look at each publication. Each
has a theme that is specifically focused toward a particular
segment of society. Your ezine should also be focused in that
manner.
What should your focus be? That depends on you! What are your
interests? What are your areas of expertise? With what segment
of the internet community do you hold a particular affinity? I've
seen ezines that address e-commerce, web site development, comic
book collecting, cat lovers (ugh),etc.
What's your niche? If you don't find it you'll only develop a
nice safe-listyou won't be the editor of an ezine! Do you know
the difference between the two? It's relationships. An ezine
helps you develop meaningful personal and professional
relationships.
Got your focus. Great! Now you need to...
DEVELOP A FORMAT
Many editors overlook this aspects of their
ezine development. Without a effective format, however, your
ezine appears disorganized and frustrating to read.
Here are some things to consider as you develop your format.
1) When you open the ezine email, does the first page grab the
readers attention and make them want to keep reading? Items such
as a "quote of the week," a personal greeting, or a attractive
table of contents will help keep subscribers reading.
2) Is you format geared toward advertisements or content? You've
read those ezines that look like the the classified ad section of
your local newspaper, haven't you? Neither have I! They are
annoying! Focus on content, not ads. Both your advertisers and
subscribers will appreicate it. Your subscribers will appreciate
your focus on content. Your advertisers will appreciate the fact
that their ad will probably be read.
3) Don't forget to provide clear and easy to follow subscription
and unsubscription instructions.
Now that you've got your focus and format, what's next? Oh yes,
you need to...
GET SUBSCRIBERS
How do you get subscribers? You ask them to subscribe!
Sure, that's common sense. But how many times have you found
yourself subscribed to a list you've never heard about? I have
made it a policy to NEVER manually add names to my list. To get
on my list people must do one of two things: 1) send an email
request, or 2) complete a subscription form on my
website at http://allaboutsuccess.com or http://ezinesuccess.com
How do you get folks to do that? Here are five powerful methods
for building your subscription base...
1) Write articles and submit them to other ezines. In the
author's tag include instructions for subscribing to your ezine.
2) Exchange ads with other ezine editors. Ezine editors tend to
be some of the nicest people on the internet ;-) Most will go
out of their way to help a comrade succeed.
3) Give away FREE stuff to those who subscribe. Special
articles, software programs, discounts, and ebooks are all
popular gifts to give your subscribers.
4) Join in strategic partnerships with companies that market
services specifically geared toward increasing my ezine
subscription base. Examples include the following...
...The Directory Of Ezines
http://www.lifestylespub.com/cgi-bin/ezines.cgi?10282
...The Ezine Advertisers Network
http://www.guerrillamlm.com/members/7969BN.html
5) Announce your ezine in the databases on these websites...
http://www.liszt.com/ http://www.escribe.com/internet/-aannounce/
http://www.neosoft.com/internet/paml/ http://www.promotefree.com
http://www.reference.com/ http://www.virtualpromote.com
http://www.newsletteraccess.com/
http://catalog.com/vivian/interest-group-search.html
http://www.goodstuff.prodigy.com/Lists/main.htm
http://bizx.com/newsletter.html
In addition, make sure you have your ezine listed in the powerful
new ezine search engine, available on my site at:
http://www.ezinesuccess.com emp/
Now you've got a focus, a format, and subscribers. What's next?
You need...
A DELIVERY SYSTEM
While your list is small you can probably get by using your
current email program. But you always run the risk of raising
the ire of your ISP. That's why I have chosen to use the
services of a listserver. Several companies on the internet
offer such services for freebut most are unreliable.
The benefit of a listserver. You compose your email, paste it to
a online form, hit "send," and your done. The listserver does
all the mailing for you.
What do you want your listserver to do? Here are the basics!
It must send to at least 10,000 people.
It must allow unlimited mailings.
It must have automatic subscribe and remove functions.
It must refuse multiple subscriptions of the same email address.
It must reject non valid email addresses in your list.
It must generate subscription URL code for your webpage.
It must be VERY SECUREonly accessed with appropriate passwords.
It must operate from a safe administration areanot via email.
That's right, use your List Server as often as you like, every
hour, every day, once a week, as often as you like! Several
companies offer such services. Contact me at
mailto: webmaster@ezinesuccess.com for a referral to one of these
providers.
Having your own ezine is one of the most powerful and popular
ways to build relationship online that will serve your business
ventures. I encourage you to get started today.
About the Author
Dr. Bill Nieporte is editor of "The Success in Life Newsletter."
Published twice a week, you will find numerous articles aimed at
helping entrepreneurs and small business leader to enjoy greater
success in all apsects of their lives.