The
'Secret' of a Successful Free Ezine
There are currently over 300,000 ezines on
the Internet. The number is growing every single day.
Most of these ezine publishers never earn
any real money (over $1,000 a month). They work their butts off week after week
to produce good content and then only receive a very minor income from selling
ads or linking to affiliate programs.
You may have found yourself in this very
same position.
The first thing you need to understand is
that a big ezine is not the goal you are reaching for. It is a means to the
goal. Your business goal probably isn't really to build a 100,000 person ezine
list. Your goal is to make money online. Building the list is just the vehicle
which will take you there.
This isn't just semantics. Having the right
focus and position for your ezine is all important online. If you don't
understand why you are running an ezine, then I guarantee you won't get maximum
value out of it.
I have been teaching home businesses about
the importance of email follow-up, multi-responders, and ezines for almost 3
years now...and I see many people have fallen into some major misconceptions on
this subject.
Say this out loud with me...
"The goal of
my ezine is to build relationships with prospects and turn them into
customers."
You probably didn't get it the first time,
so please say the sentence out loud once again...
"The goal of my ezine is to build
relationships with prospects and turn them into customers."
If you are building a large ezine list just
to sell advertising, then you are missing out on the primary income stream it
can provide you with. Your ezine is the gateway into selling more of your
products and services.
If you are the member of an affiliate
program, then your ezine is the gateway into selling more of their products and
earning higher commissions. Your ezine should become the source of multiple
streams of income from selling both your products and the products of those you
affiliate with.
One of the biggest mistakes I see being made
from ezine owners is not inserting your own personality into your ezine. Part of
the advantage to having a small business is you are a real person they can
contact, agree with, disagree with, etc.
Don't just publish other people's articles
and call that an ezine. Sure, you can use some articles from other people. Even
all of your articles could be from other people.
What you need to do is add in a few
paragraphs you wrote
yourself to the top of the ezine. Do an editorial section just like in
magazines.
Don't just run ad copy from an affiliate
program. Tell your readers how you feel about the product. What did you
gain from it? How did you learn from it? What don't you like about it?
You may be so afraid of making mistakes in
this area that you don't do anything. So, make some mistakes. We all do.
It is part of being human.
What you say may offend some people and they
may unsubscribe from your ezine. So what? They weren't planning on buying from
you anyway!
I'm not telling you to purposely offend
anyone...just letting you know it's going to happen. Use spell checkers and have
some one edit your writing for you, but guess what? There are still going to be
mistakes people will let you know about.
People always ask me how I have gotten my
name published all over the web. Here's the secret...
"Be a real
person."
It's not what you were expecting, is it?
It's not exciting or highly technical. It's just the truth. People online
are looking for people who are real, who have opinions, and who make mistakes,
people who sincerely want to help others.
If people don't like you expressing your
personality, you don't have to worry,
let them unsubscribe. The ones who stay on your list will buy more once they
know you.
"Personality" is one of the most
under used tools in the ezine publishers arsenal.
Right alongside personality is good content.
You need to balance the one with the other. You won't be able to produce a
growing ezine without good quality content.
If you don't feel you can write good content
for your newsletter, then use other people's articles. Just keep in mind your
primary goal - "to build relationships with prospects and turn them into
customers."
PS. Here's a great low cost software program that helps you too. This is an auto responder where you won't have to pay a fee every month. It's my secret weapon, which I will share with you. Our newsletter is powered by it. Click here now. Let Matt help you install a simple script and you will be able to send multiple messages even in html easily.
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and Ezine Publishers:Free professional content - pre-licensed to you...
You are invited to use this article in your publication or website. The only requirement is the inclusion of the following, after each article used...
* Article by Linda Overstreet. Linda's site has helped 1000's of regular folks profit online. Visit http://www.wealthhere.com for FREE "how-to" assistance, software, manuals, web services and more. *
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