Marketing Your eZine

by: Dirk Wagner

The internet marketing “Guru’s” have been saying for years that the “money is in the list”. In other words, having thousand’s of subscribers to your ezine or newsletter increases your chances of potential sales.

It is pretty hard to dispute that quote but how do you go about getting those thousand’s of subscribers to sign up for your ezine?

I use three primary ways to get interested subscribers to sign up for my ezine. Purchased leads and subscription services, ezine directories and article writing.

Purchased Leads/Subscription Services

Purchased leads and subscription services work with you to get subscribers to sign up for your ezine. You agree to purchase x amount of subscribers per month from a subscription service for a fee and they will advertise your ezine for you until they have filled the amount of subscribers you have purchased. Most companies will always give you more than the amount you purchased due to bad email addresses, removals, and undelivered emails. Subscription services are ideal for anyone that is first starting out as a way to get quite a few subscribers in a relatively short amount of time. You will also have a choice of single opt-in or double-in subscribers. Double opt-in subscribers actually have to reply to an email to validate that they are interested in your ezine, where single opt-in will get your ezine automatically. There are many subscription services to choose from and I advise trying different ones because every list is different.

EZine Directories

Ezine directories are websites that will allow you to submit your ezine to their website. There are free and paid directories. You submit your url for your ezine and a short ad about your ezine and that is it. Here are few examples of some ezine directories I use.

• http://www.bestezines.com/
• http://www.ezineadvertising.com/
• http://www.ezine-dir.com/
• http://www.ezinelocater.com/
• http://www.ezine-marketing.com/
• http://www.ezinesearch.com/
• http://www.ezine-swap.com/
• http://www.ezine-universe.com/
• http://www.ezinepublisher.org/

You may also do a search at http://www.google.com/ for more ezine directories.

Writing Articles

Writing articles is a great way of promoting your ezine, website, or products. Simply write a short article of 500-1000 words on the subject of your choice, preferably about your home business and submit them to article directories. At the end of each article you get to use a author resource box to tell the reader about yourself. This is where you promote your ezine, website or product. Use four to six lines to give your name and details. Then submit your article to article directories that are always looking for quality content. Here are some of the article directories I use.

• http://www.authorconnection.com/
• http://www.addme.com/nlsubmit.htm
• http://www.allnetarticles.com/
• http://www.articlecentral.com/
• http://www.articlecity.com/
• http://www.articles911.com/
• http://www.bestparentingresources.com/Article.html
• http://www.boconline.com/sub-art.htm
• http://www.business-dynamics.com/resource_library/index.html
• http://www.businesstoolchest.com/articles/submit.shtml
• http://www.bytesworth.com/articles/
• http://cerebuswebmaster.com/onsite/articles.html
• http://www.certificate.net/wwio/ideas.shtml
• http://www.clickforcontent.com/
• http://www.connectionteam.com/
• http://www.digital-women.com/submitarticle.htm

Tools

There are some tools you will need in order to deliver your ezine to your subscribers. A good autoresponder is a must if you hope to have thousands of subscribers to your ezine. Autoresponders house your ezine and subscribers on one system and automatically send your ezine to your subscribers. The autoresponder takes care of when to send the subscriber the next addition of your ezine based on the intervals you set.

Another good tool to use is a pop-up or pop-over ad on your website for those that are visiting your website. The pop-up/over ad will capture the prospects name and email address and send it directly to your autoreponder. Once you have them in your autoresponder you start to develop a trust relationship with your subscribers, this is important because once your subscriber feels like they can trust you they are more likely to buy what you are selling. Good luck with your ezine marketing!

Copyright 2004 Dirk Wagner

About The Author

Dirk Wagner is CEO and owner of http://team4success.biz/ and the free, easy to install #1 home business toolbar with automated updates.A website dedicated to helping the home-based business entrepreneur start and succeed with there very own home-based business by publishing his free online course for successful Home Business.

My name is Dirk Wagner. I started my internet business in the past with the helping hands of TOP Internet Marketers like Stone Evans. My goal is helping others who are just starting their business and so I have created the #1 Home Business Toolbar.

Ezine Tips

by: Richard Lowe, Jr.

If you are anything like me, you work extremely hard to get people to come to your web site. This eats up a significant portion of very single day - well over half my "web site" time is spent getting people to visit. Most of the remainder of the time is spent adding new content, since I write anywhere from one to four articles per day.

So it seems like a shame that someone could visit, like what he sees, and then leave, never to return. All that time, and so little gain. After all, my purpose is to educate, and education must be a constant part of someone's life to be truly valuable.

One very important way to get people to return again and again is by publishing an ezine. This is by far the best way to get those visitors back for a number of reasons. First, by publishing an ezine and gaining readers you have a direct communication path to your audience. You can tell them whatever you want, whenever you want (within reason), and they have actually volunteered to receive it.

Second, by committing to a publishing schedule you are committing to adding new content to your site (hopefully) at least on that schedule. New content is really the key to getting people to return, and your ezine is a way to inform them that you have new stuff for them to look at.

Finally, it adds a bit of professionalism to your site to publish an ezine. It makes you appear like you are going to be around for a while. In addition, you are telling your visitors that not only do you have something to say, but you will continue to say it.

Okay, so you've decided to create an ezine. Congratulations. Now what? Spend some time thinking about what you want to accomplish with your ezine. What is your primary goal? Is it to inform people of changes to your site or to sell them a product? Perhaps you want to make them laugh? Ask yourself questions to be sure you understand your purpose.

Once you've got the goal understood, think about what you are going to be doing for content. Are you going to include your own original articles or reprint articles from other sources? Writing your own articles is ideal (since presumably people want to read your ezine because they want your opinions and information, not some other persons), but failing that you can easily find other sources for free content (article_announce@egroups.com is a very good place to start).

Another thing you will want to decide is how the content will be presented. You can (a) include all of the articles completely in your ezine, (b) only include a few paragraphs, then a "continued" link, or (c) just include a brief description followed by a link. Personally, I prefer options (a) and (c). I strongly dislike reading a few paragraphs only to find I have to click a link to finish up.

Always be sure your ezine is "opt-in". This means your subscribers choose to receive your newsletter and can stop at any time. Never, ever even think about sending your newsletter unsolicited ... you will get slammed for spamming very fast if you do this.

I always include a link at the bottom of the page which, when clicked, causes the person to be unsubscribed. It is always a good idea to make this link very obvious. Be absolutely sure that it is simple and straightforward to stop receiving the newsletter - this is your best way to prevent anyone from saying you are spamming.

You will need to promote your ezine vigorously. You should put the subscription address everywhere you include your web site address. This includes your email signature, web site, classifieds, FFA listings, business cards ... everywhere. In fact, you should have a subscription link on every single page on your web site. Remember, everyone who gets your ezine almost certainly will visit your website, but the reverse is not true. What I mean by this is someone who subscribes is far more valuable (by an order of magnitude) than someone who merely visits your site.

You need to choose a format. You can publish in plain text or HTML, and each method has it's advantages and disadvantages. HTML tends to look better and more professional, while plain text can be read by any email client.

Publishing your ezine is simple. Some people use tools to publish through their web provider - personally I would recommend strongly against this method. The reason is simple: web providers are not mass emailers, and they tend to have problems sending to more than a few hundred addresses. They are also far more sensitive to spam reports than mass emailing companies. Mass emailers tend to get this kind of report all of the time and know how to deal with them. Thus, you will not have your emailing privileges suspended for false accusations.

When you begin publishing your ezine, a service such as Bravenet makes sense. You can send your newsletter to as many as 500 subscribers, and it supports both plain text and HTML. Once you have more than 500 subscribers you can find a different service which supports more addresses.

One fact you had better understand from the beginning - creating and maintaining an ezine can be a heck of a lot of work. In fact, depending upon your publishing schedule it can be far more work than maintaining your web site. So before you begin, be sure you are willing to put in the time.

If you have the time and do it right, an ezine can not only be an effective way to build traffic and keep your visitors, it can be extremely fulfilling. Personally, I enjoy writing articles for my ezines as much or more than those intended for my web site.

About The Author

Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets. This website includes over 1,000 free articles to improve your internet profits, enjoyment and knowledge.

Web Site Address: http://www.internet-tips.net/

Weekly newsletter: http://www.internet-tips.net/joinlist.htm

Claudia Arevalo-Lowe is the webmistress of Internet Tips And Secrets and Surviving Asthma. Visit her site at http://survivingasthma.com/

How To Increase Your Sales From Your Newsletter

by: Ron Pioneer

The first and most important thing you should know when thinking of your own newsletter is that YOU can do it. Yes, you can write your own newsletter. There is nothing much to it if you are ready to do it.

If you can write a letter or a note to someone, then you can write your own newsletter. Better still, if you can talk to someone convincingly then you can write your own newsletter. Knowing and believing in the truism of this statement is the first way to go about writing your own newsletter.

There is however a difference between writing a newsletter and making sales and profit from your newsletter. My intention in this article is to show you how you can increase sales from your newsletter. If done properly, your newsletter can turn out to be a big money spinner for you every time you publish an issue.

But you should be ready to put in some effort. Making money with your newsletter depends on the time and effort you put into making your newsletter a success.

You have to make sure you are providing valuable content in your newsletter. This means you have to take the time to research for valuable content that your subscribers would love you for.

When you provide such contents in every issue of your newsletters, your subscribers will be able to develop the love for your newsletter... and that is the beginning of moneymaking with your newsletter.

These days there are a lot of newsletters on the Internet that are full of garbage. Most of the publishers write just for the sake of writing.

Many others write just to promote affiliate programs. This is not only wrong but it is akin to 'shooting yourself on the foot' because it will spell more doom for you.

Your subscribers subscribed for your newsletter to receive valuable content. It is therefore your responsibility to provide them such valuable content.

Also, they subscribe to your newsletters they believe you are an authority in that particular field. The onus now falls on you to live up to their belief by sourcing, researching and putting together valuable content that they will greatly benefit from.

If you do this all the time, they will gladly buy any product that you recommend to them.

You see, people want to help those who have helped them in the past. So, by helping them with valuable content every time, they won't mind helping you too by buying the products you are recommending for them.

Now, let me ask you. Will you prefer to buy something from a complete stranger or from someone who has been helping you in the past with valuable information? I bet you will buy from the latter. This is exactly how your subscribers too think.

Knowing this and taking advantage of it will result in increased sales for you as a newsletter publisher.

To be able to provide valuable content for your subscribers, you have to be enthusiastic about the topic of your newsletter. When you are writing about a topic that you love and are crazy about, it flows and anyone can see that. You give it your all such that anyone who reads the newsletter can feel that.

Have you ever heard the saying that, 'like attracts'? This means that things of similar attributes attract themselves.

If you are radiating enthusiasm, it will attract you to whoever reads your newsletter. But if you are writing your newsletter with disinterest, anyone who reads the newsletter will also be disinterested. And a disinterested subscriber will surely not buy anything from you or through you.

It is also very important for you to maintain a very steady contact with your subscribers. You should make it a constant habit to send out your newsletters at the exact time your subscribers would be expecting it.

It would be wrong of you to delay your newsletter and keep your subscribers waiting for it. Many of them would lose interest in the newsletter and even take you as being unserious. More so, you should occasionally send them personal messages to give them the impression that you care for them.

I use this technique during festive periods such as Christmas to send out goodwill messages to all my subscribers. This greatly creates a sense of care on your side and your subscribers will be quick to notice it.

This is true because the first battle you have to face in trying to sell anything to anyone is 'getting the person to feel comfortable with you'. As soon as you are able to get the person to feel comfortable with you, you will be able to sell to that person.

So, by creating such a feeling of care, you can get your subscribers to love you and feel comfortable with you.

There are even some newsletter publishers who ask all their subscribers to send their dates of birth to them. These newsletter publishers then send each of the subscribers' personal birthday cards and messages. Such newsletter publishers record increased sales from this gesture alone because it shows the subscribers that, 'hey, this guy cares'.

One of such newsletter publishers even got an email from one of the subscribers he sent such birthday card and message to. She was so filled with joy and gratitude for that simple gesture because she did not receive any birthday message from any other person.

So, such tiny personal gestures from you as a newsletter publisher can help to increase your sales by building credibility and trust between you and your subscribers.

There are software programs that can even help you to automatically send out personal goodwill or birthday messages to thousands of your subscribers. This will greatly ease the stress of sending each subscriber an individual message anytime it is his or her birthday.

With these few techniques you can be guaranteed of an amazing increase in sales using your newsletters.

About The Author

Ron Pioneer
Learn more about opt in list building and newsletter publishing from my website:
http://www.affila.com/
contact@affila.com

“How To Use Ezine Articles To Promote Any Product, Service, or Affiliate Program You Choose in 5 Easy Steps

by: Henri Schauffler

Do you have a great affiliate program or website all ready to go, waiting for the customers to come? Are your family and friends getting anxious, waiting for your new project to start breaking through? Then be sure to print out this article and follow the step by step plan perfectly...

For years, smart marketers have been using ezine articles to Rake in enormous traffic to any site of their choosing. But many of us have felt it impossible to get into this lucrative marketing area, for varied reasons such as lack of know how or a feeling of uncertainty as to writing ability.

At the end of this article, I'm going to offer you some resources to end the mystery and make this mega marketing strategy as simple as 1-2-3-4-5. But first, let's take a look at how ezine article marketing works.

Ill bet you can't tell me the best way to use ezine articles to promote your offer. Go ahead. Give it your best shot. Out loud. Say it. Whatever comes to mind, just blurt it out.

I'm listening.

You see, most folks don't really understand how to BEST use ezine articles to promote a product or service, or their favorite affiliate program.

They know they are supposed to write an article, include some kind of clever offer in the text or in their resource box, and convince editors to publish their article.

But, there is a *very* clever way to use your article to promote like you've never seen before.

There are five simple steps...

Step 1: Choose the product or service you want to promote. Now, we're not talking about your newsletter -- we're talking about an actual offer you want to present that you'll earn profits from when readers of your article make a purchase.

Step 2: Determine your "useful, but incomplete" approach. I love to use what I have coined as the "useful, but incomplete" approach when using freebies of any kind. (Ezine articles, free eBooks, reports, eCourses, etc.)

What I mean by that is simply this: You provide your reader with "useful" information (something they find of value and are able to actually apply) but make certain that it is "incomplete" in that they can better use the information by making a purchase.

That's "useful, but incomplete." And it works like a charm.

Let me give you an example:

I wanted to promote Getresponse.com in a free ezine article. This is a service that offers unlimited autoresponders, tracking and all kinds of other stuff for one low price.

How could I use an ezine article to promote the service?

By writing an article that explains how to benefit from using autoresponders or mailing lists, of course! My article explains different uses of autoresponders and how the reader can profit from implementing the ideas.

And, naturally, they will need an autoresponder service in order to put the ideas into practice, right?

And I just happen to know of a great service they can use. :o)

Step 3: Turn your approach into a tips list or tutorial. Let's use my example again. I decided that I would describe various uses of autoresponders and how the reader can actually profit from them. What kind of tips list or tutorial could I create?

"How to Generate More Subscribers, Sales and Profits With Automated Follow-Up Messages"

"7 Powerful And Profitable Ways To Use Autoresponders To Skyrocket Your Sales and Subscribers!

"Want to Increase Your Online Profits And Leads? Here are 7 Ways to Do It..."

I actually went with the middle title. I wrote my list of the 7 ideas that I wanted to share. And I had the makings of a perfect article to promote an offer.

That's all you need to do. Determine your end result. Decide how to get there with your "useful, but incomplete" approach. And then develop a list, or even a step-by-step tutorial for your article that leads the reader along.

Step 4: Expand on each point to build your content. Here's more of the easy part. Just "fill-in-the-blanks" to complete your article. Write 1-2 short paragraphs for each of your points. Make them good. Provide quality content. The offer you will soon make will see poor results if your information isn't useful.

Light a fire in your readers. Motivate them. Challenge them. Give them such nuggets of gold that they want to keep mining until they hit the mother lode!

Step 5: Put on the finishing touches with the "five pillars." There are five things that you should always do to finish up your ezine article. Don't skip any of them. They are all critical...

A. Polish. Re-read your article. Does it provide information that really is "useful" to the reader? And yet leaves them wanting even more? That's what you want.

B. Promote. Use your resource box to promote your offer. This is why we've written the article, right? Remember step one? It's time to put it into play. Give the reader what they (hopefully) are wanting...a way to maximize the information you gave them.

C. Proof. Don't do this yourself. Have a trusted friend, relative or co-worker check your article for grammatical and typographical errors.

D. Publish. Zip your new article out to your favorite list of publishers. Submit it to the announcement lists and the ezine directories.

E. Profit. If you've covered all the bases that I've mentioned, then profits are almost certain to start coming in when your ezine article is published. You deserve it. Be proud of your accomplishments.

Thats it. Start submitting your article to ezines and article directories and wait for the profits to roll in!

RESOURCES:

If you would like to automate the lions share of the ezine writing and formatting task, you ought to consider Jimmy Browns fantastic new software release, Ezine Article Creator 2.0

Jimmy collected all the rules, tricks, tactics and strategies that the top ezine article writers in the world use and programmed them into this new software; it will have you writing your own articles in record time... ...even if you think you're not a writer. All you do is answer a series of questions, and click a button and you're done! Its really is that simple...

Heres the link: http://www.familybizbuilder.com/eac/index.html

For A *fantastic* piece of software that will blast your article out automatically to over 500 ezines and article directories, you must take a look at Ezine Announcer.

Here's the link: http://wetrack.it/eza/af.cgi?2065

About The Author

Henri Schauffler publishes Family Home Business Tips, a fresh and informative newsletter dedicated to supporting people like YOU! If you're looking for family-friendly *best rated* home business opportunities, the latest free and low-cost tools and helpful support from an honest friend in the business, come by and grab a F-R-E-E subscription today at: http://www.familybizbuilder.com/
promote321@aol.com

7 Steps To Writing Articles That People Just Have To Read

by: Charles Kangethe

This may come as a surprise... to you, but writing articles that get published is an art anyone can learn.

For many Internet Marketers getting publicity and the traffic it brings is second only in importance to making sales.

Writing articles, press releases, and advertising copy is a sure fire way to get publicity, but for many people, writing is a chore best avoided if possible.

Learning how to write is as simple as putting this seven step repeatable method into action.

Step #1 - Define Your Topic and Set Goals.

Good writers start by clearly defining what they want to write about.

Start by focussing your mind on the topic and broad message you want to communicate.

The topic can be one you are an expert on, something you have an interest in, or even something about which you intend to do some research.

The important thing is, be clear on the topic you intend to write about.

Next, with topic and subject firmly in mind, define your goals.

Decide on the writing format you want to put together.

For instance, writing these types of articles results in different output even though you may be writing about the same content.

• A report
• A "How To" style article
• A Press release
• Ad copy (display v classified)
• An e-Book

Setting goals focuses your mind on how best to present your written material. It forces you to set standards by which you can measure the quality of your work.

Step #2 - Research and Order Your Material

Depending on your knowledge about your topic, research can be a completely new study of the subject matter or it can be an organisation of your knowledge, thoughts and opinions into a logical sequence or order.

Depending on content and subject matter, the Internet is probably all you need for most research purposes.

For more complex content you have to use other sources such as

• Libraries,
• Interviews with experts
• Public and private archives.

Make notes during your research, and catalogue the content into structured order as you find it.

Step #3 - Write Mode

The objective in this step is to put all your material onto the page without stopping to edit, format or in any other way manipulate the writing.

This is a pure "Brain Dump", a non critical outpouring of your material onto the page.

For short articles the "Brain Dump" can happen in one sitting. For longer articles, break down the material into manageable chapters or sections which you can then process using the write, edit and polish method.

This is perhaps the most difficult step to perform because we constantly try to improve things as we write. However, going back and forth as you write interrupts your creative flow and makes the whole process more difficult.

Such improvements come in the next two steps. For now concentrate on getting the content out.

Step #4 - Edit Mode

In this stage you can now format the article, spell check, order, and replace or modify the content. Organise your paragraphs and get the layout and presentation correct.

This is where you proofread and check your grammar, turning the raw material from step 3 into a product resembling the finished article.

Editing probably takes more time than any other stage in writing.

Be prepared to spend time going over the material to get it just right.

Step #5 - Polish Mode

At this point, your article is free of spelling mistakes, it is formatted correctly, the content is ordered and it flows in a logical sequence.

However, it needs polishing to improve its "readability".

The way to do this is to take it and read it out loud.

The objective is to discover the "flow" or "tone and rhythm"

Flow is like an elephant - difficult to describe, but easy to recognise. Just as you listen to music or a poem and identify rhythm, you should "listen" for the rhythm of your written work as you read it out loud.

Using one word instead of another or changing the order of words can make a huge difference in the "tone and rhythm" of an entire sentence or paragraph. In turn, this affects the readability of the entire article.

This is what makes the difference between words people read and words people feel they HAVE to read.

Your aim is to write content using "flow" from words, tone, and rhythm that make people feel they have to read everything you write.

Think of it as compelling writing.

Step #6 - Submit For Publication

Once your article is ready you must submit it to as many publishers as will put it on "paper" for their readers.

This is the heart of the article publicity generating machine.

You can submit articles manually or automate the process to an extent using software such a ezine announcer.

The process is the same in either case.

• Find the publishers by using directories on the Internet
• Send them the written piece with a short cover asking them to publish
• Ensure your resource box with appropriate contact details is prominent at the bottom of the published piece.

Remember you cannot over submit your writing - get it published as often and as widely as you can.

Step #7 - Start Again

Even though a written and published article will give you f'ree publicity, you must publish frequently and to an equally high standard in order to build a reputation as an author or expert in your field.

Start selecting a new topic and doing the research for your next article even as your current one is hitting the publishers' pages.

---

Use these 7 steps and writing will become something you enjoy rather than a chore.

---

Charles Kangethe of http://www.simplyeasier.com/ is a leading new wave Netpreneur and a published author from England. The "Simply Easier" brand name is your guarantee of high value, quality Marketing Products, services and Resources.

About The Author

Charles Kangethe has been involved in direct response marketing since 1982. He now lives in Suffolk County and spends his time working on new Online Marketing campaigns, with particular focus on helping new netpreneurs at http://www.simplyeasier.com/

10 Tips For Promoting Through Ezine Articles

by: Michael Southon

What's the most powerful marketing technique on the Web? Search Engine positioning? Perhaps. But did you know that some of the most successful web marketers don't bother much with the Search Engines?

They put most of their effort into another technique that's just as powerful and is much more under their control.

They write Ezine Articles.

There are tens of thousands of Ezines being published every month, with a collective audience of millions.

And the editors of most of those Ezines are all looking for quality content for their newsletters.

If you master this technique you can get your name and your website URL in front of 100,000 or even a million readers.

Right now there's a shortage of good Ezine Articles.

So, if you write well and you know how to do research on the Internet, there's a huge market waiting for you.

But there are some tips for writing and publishing Ezine Articles. Here they are:

(A) Writing Your Ezine Articles:

(1) Pick a topic that you know something about (however little) and then go to the Search Engines and find as many websites as you can that deal with that subject.

As well as collecting information for your article, make a note of any URLs that offer free resources dealing with the topic of your article. Include those URLs in your article.

(2) Once you've done the basic research, write the title of your article in the middle of a blank page and circle it. Then jot down your information in lines that radiate out from your title, like the spokes of a wheel. This technique is called 'Mind Mapping' and it's a very effective way of organizing your ideas.

You can find more information on Mind Mapping at:

http://www.mind-map.com/

(3) An increasing number of Ezine Publishers will not accept articles that are promoting a product you sell. So, keep your article free of affiliate links; avoid mentioning any products or services for which you receive a commission.

(4) At the end of your article, attach a 5- or 6-line 'Resource Box' that includes your website URL and/or your email address.

(5) When you have finished your article, do NOT send it off straight away. Let it lie fallow for 2 or 3 days and then come back and read it again. You'll be amazed at the improvements you can make. Those final improvements are what makes the difference between an article that gets published and one that doesn't.

(B) Publishing Your Ezine Articles:

(6) There are two ways of getting your articles published: 'Individual Submissions' and 'General Distribution'.

'General Distribution' will get your article in front of many more readers, per unit of effort expended, than 'Individual Submission', and I suggest you use this method before making Individual Submissions.

There are basically two kinds of 'General Distribution': Announcement Lists and websites.

Here are some Article Announcement Lists:

article_announce-subscribe@egroups.com free-content-subscribe@onelist.com publishinyours-subscribe@onelist.com articles_archives-subscribe@egroups.com

Here are some Websites that provide Free Content to Ezine Publishers:

• http://216.147.104.180/articles/submit.shtml
• http://www.ezinearticles.com/
• http://www.ideamarketers.com/
• http://www.isyndicate.com/ http://www.mediapeak.com/
• http://www.MakingProfit.com/articles/
• http://www.web-source.net/articlesub.htm

(7) Once you've used these 'General Distribution' techniques, then submit your article to individual Ezines.

However, before making individual submissions, find out (a) if the Ezine Publisher accepts article submissions, (b) what the Publisher's guidelines are for article submissions.

My free Ezine Directory gives you this information, 'The Free Directory of Ezines':

http://www.netmastersolutions.com/

I have also produced an eBook called 'Get Published! The Directory of Ezines that accept Article Submissions' and you can download it free at:

http://www.netmastersolutions.com/getpub.html

(8) Format your article to 65 characters per line and make sure it contains no spelling mistakes. With the availability of spell-checkers there's really no excuse for spelling mistakes. If your article does contain spelling mistakes, many Publishers will just discard your article.

(9) Don't submit articles to the same Ezine Publisher more than once a month.

(10) Address the Ezine Publisher personally, and make sure that the message accompanying your article is very courteous - you're asking the Publisher to read your article and give you some of her valuable time and she probably gets dozens of article submissions a week.

Every success to you!

(c) 2000, by Michael Southon

About The Author

Michael Southon has been writing for the Internet for over 3 years. He has shown hundreds of webmasters how to use this simple technique to get massive free publicity and dramatically increase traffic and sales. Click here to find out more: http://www.ezine-writer.com/

10 Tips for Successful Ezine Advertising

by: Michael Southon

If you're like most people starting out on the Internet,you've been along this well-worn path:

You try free classified ad sites and get bombarded with spam by people trying to sell you stuff.

You try banner exchange programs and get a handful of click-throughs.

You finally get into the top twenty results in the Search Engines, and then a week later your site has dropped back to number 150.

The Internet may the largest market in human history, but how on earth do you reach those millions of people?

Well, the answer is ezine advertising.

Its the surest way on the Web of reaching your target audience.

Ezines (short for 'electronic magazines') are email newsletters that are sent out regularly to subscribers, like the one you're reading. They're sometimes called 'opt-in' lists because everyone who receives an ezine has chosen to do so.

And that's why ezine advertising gets results. People read ezines and they'll read your ad. And if you've matched the ezine to the product you're selling, you've reached your target audience.

Have a look at the ads in your favorite ezine - why are they there? Because they get results.

There are currently around 90,000 ezines being published every month. So whatever you're selling, there's more than likely an ezine that will take your ad straight to the audience you want to reach.

Ezine advertising is not only effective, its cheap as well. A 5-line ad in an ezine that goes to 3000 people will cost you between $5 and $20 per issue.

As a general rule, you'll always get back at least the cost of the ad, and usually much more. So there's very little risk.

But there are some tips for successful ezine advertising. Here they are:

1. The first and most important rule in ezine advertising is: "Track your Ads!". You might place your ad in 5 different ezines and get a hundred responses, but if you don't track your ads, you won't know which ezines were pulling responses and which weren't.

To advertise effectively in ezines, you must learn from experience - its a process of trial and error. Eventually, you'll end up with a handful of ezines that you know are bringing you a high response rate. After that, just keep placing your ads in those ezines and you'll have a guaranteed stream of customers.

But how do you track your ads?

The simplest method is to place a key or a code at the end of your email address. If your ad was in this ezine (for example), this is the email address you'd place with the ad:

yourname@yourdomain.com?subject=freezine

Then, when you get a reply with 'freezine' in the subject field, you'll know which ezine it came from.

For a URL, it's the same principle:

http://www.yourdomain.com/?freezine

However, if you're going to code your URLs, you'll need a sophisticated webstats program to track the coded URLs. Here are a couple of free ones:

http://www.hitbox.com./ http://www.openwebscope.com./

Here's another way to code your URLs : for every ezine ad, create a duplicate of your homepage and name the page after the ezine that your ad will appear in. So, if the ad is appearing in Ezine A, this is the URL you'd place in that ad:

http://www.yourdomain.com/EzineA

Again, you'll need to use a good web stats program to track the hits to your coded URLs.

2. The second rule is to target your audience. It may seem obvious but some advertisers overlook this. If you're selling a web-marketing course, don't advertise in an ezine that deals with stock options; they probably won't be interested.

Use the 'subject categories' in any ezine directory to find ezines that relate to the product you're selling. You can find a list of 60 ezine directories in 'The Free Directory of Ezines' at:

http://www.netmastersolutions.com/more-directories.html

3. Once you've chosen a number of ezines that target your audience, subscribe to them and examine the ads closely. If you see an ad that keeps repeating issue after issue, you can be pretty sure that its getting results. You've found a good ezine to advertise in.

4. Check to see how many ads are in the ezine. You don't want your ad lost in an ezine farm at the bottom of the newsletter. You probably won't get much response from an ad in an ezine that has 15 or 20 ads per issue. Readers of those ezines have become hardened to the ads and have learnt to skip them.

5. Check to see if the ezine publisher has a policy of never running ads for two similar products in the same issue - your ad will be much more effective if its the only one of its kind in that particular issue.

6. Small ezines vs. Big ezines: bigger is not always better. The big ezines with 1000's of subscribers tend to have more ads than the small ezines. Also, small ezines with only a few hundred subscribers often have a much more targeted audience than the big ezines.

7. Repeat your ads. Research shows that off the Web, an ad has to be seen about 21 times before someone acts on it; on the Internet its about 9 times. If your budget allows, try and have your ad repeated at least three times in a particular ezine. Most ezines offer discount packages for bulk advertising.

8. Email address vs. URL. Opinions are divided on this; some people prefer to give an email address, others prefer to give a URL. The advantage of giving an email address is that it gives you the opportunity to send a powerful sales letter to the person who responded to your ad. Its also much easier to track your ads with an email address than a URL.

9. Offer something free in your ad copy. It'll often tip the balance between a response and no response.

10. Keep your ads short, even if you're not using the number of words you're allowed. Short ads are more likely to be read. Keep your sentences short too; they pack much more power. Use the word 'You'. Don't describe your product but tell the reader what your product can do for them.

(c) 2000, by Michael Southon

About The Author

Michael Southon has been writing for the Internet for over 3 years. He has shown hundreds of webmasters how to use this simple technique to get massive free publicity and dramatically increase traffic and sales. Click here to find out more: http://www.ezine-writer.com/

13 Ways To A Build A List Of Readers Of Your Ezine

by: Joop Liefaard

If you have an ezine or online newsletter you want to send it to potential customers. In order to send it you need a list of people who want to receive it. This article is about how you build a list of subscribers to your ezine.

There are many ways to approach people and ask them to join your list. Because that is what it is all about.

Building your list

What is already available?

Maybe your business exists for some time and you have already customers. Add them to your list. If you have salesmen or -women in your staff (in case part of your business is off-line), ask them about their contacts as well. Check business cards and business correspondence (bills, invoices etc.).

A form on your web site.

Place a form on your web site where visitors can subscribe to your ezine. You can find the html code for a form on the internet and often your web host company offers forms for free.

Ezine directories

Ezine directories are a great place for you to promote your ezine. There are ezine categories for any kind of business. Before you submit your ezine you have to make a description of it. The description has to be short and compelling and reflect what your ezine is about. Search in an ezine directory for ezines like yours and read the descriptions. This gives you an idea about how the description should be.

Here is a list of directories where you can submit your ezine. There are more. You can find them in any search engine.

• www.bestezines.com
• www.ezineaction.com
• www.ezine-dir.com
• www.ezinesplus.com
• www.ezine-universe.com
• www.ezinelocator.com
• www.ezinesearch.com
• www.ezine-swap.com
• www.newsletteraccess.com/
• www.promotefree.com/
• new-list.com
• www.newsletter-directory.com/
• Zinos
• Ezines Hub
• EzineLinks.com
• www.ezinedepot.net
• Electric Pen

Online advertising

Place ads online to promote your ezine.

Announcement Lists

Announcements Lists are email lists where publishers can announce their ezine. Every list has some rules you have to follow before announcing, like name of the ezine, circulation, a short description, age category, where to subscribe etc. You also have to subscribe to the group before you can post.

Here are url's of some announcement lists:

• 1 List Advertising
• 100Sightings
• 2000 Publications
• A1Promo
• Add Your List
• All My Lists
• List Your List
• List Announcement
• eAnnounce
• List Advertise
• Get More Subs
• Get More Subs (Topica)
• Promote List
• List Builder
• Promote your List

Offline advertising

Place ads about your ezine in magazines, journals etc., that are related to your business and promote your ezine or online newsletter there. If you sell products about dog food, you may advertise your ezine in magazines and trade journals about dogs. You can also place a small ad in the pets section of your local newspaper and the pet store.

Flyers

Distribute flyers at busy traffic points in your city or at markets, related to your business.

Business card

Mention your ezine and the subscribe email address on your business card.

Free Ads

Offer space for free ads. This attracts subscribers. If you consider doing this, don't forget to include this option in the description of your ezine. When potential subscribers search the directories they can see that you offer space for free ads.

Signatures files

Include at the end of your outgoing emails a short message about your ezine. Mention in the sig file where they can find your ezine and how they can subscribe. Don't forget to include the sig file also in your replies to emails.

Ad Swaps

Offer colleague publishers space for an ad in which he promotes his eziner. In return you can advertise your own ezine in his. Make for this purpose a compelling ad. The description of your ezine can be a guide for this. Here are some nice places for an ad swap:

• The Free Directory of Ezines
• Internetmarketing-success.com
• List Directory
• Ezineswap.com
• Shann's Ezine
• Money Minute Ezine
• SwapResources .com
• Binky's Ad Swap Club
• BizPromo.com
• HomeBasedProfit.Com
• KCD Webdesign and Hosting

Ad Co-ops

An ad co-op means that you place ads that are delivered to you by an intermediate. A person who offers ad space on the net. You place the ads he acquires and in return you can add the email address of the person who advertises to your list.

Ad co-ops contribute a great deal in building your list and you will see a rapid grow but the subscribers are not always the subscribers you want. The importance is often exaggerated

Recommendation

Ask your subscribers to recommend your ezine to family, friends, acquaintances, colleagues, business relations etc. You can e.g. put a small form in your ezine where subscribers can enter the email address of friends, family etc.

In closing

As you see... there are many ways to promote your ezine and build a list. When you do a brainstorm session you may even find more.

About The Author

Joop Liefaard uses his experience as a human resources manager to help home business owners to better organize themselves and their enterprises. Visit his website at http://www.compazz.com/ for information about home business opportunities and resources.
articles@compazz.com

Achieve Success With Your Own Money - Making Newsletter

by: Dirk Wagner

To be successful with a newsletter, you have to specialize and make it your own. Your best bet will be with new information on a subject not already covered by an established newsletter, or at least your interpretation of existing subject matter.

Regardless of the frustrations involved in launching your own newsletter, never forget this truth: There are people from all walks of life, in all parts of the world, many of them with no writing ability whatsoever, who are making incredible profits with their newsletter.

Your first step should be to subscribe to many different newsletters. Analyze and study how the others are doing it. Learn how the successful newsletter publishers are doing it, and how they are making money. Adapt their success methods to your own newsletter, and add your own flare to it.

Plan your newsletter before launching it. Come up with a plan of action, daily, weekly, bi-weekly, etc. Make a plan to distribute it, using subscription services and lead sources.

Most newsletter publishers do all the work themselves, and are impatient to get that first issue online. As a result, they neglect to devote the proper amount of time to market research and distribution. Don't start your newsletter with out first having accomplished this task!

Market research is simply determining who you will be marketing your newsletter to, and who will be interested in buying your products and services, and reading your newsletter. You have to determine what it is they want from your newsletter.

Your market research must give you unbiased answers about your newsletter's capabilities of fulfilling your prospective buyer's need for information; The questions of why they need your information, and how they will use it should be answered. Make sure you have the answers to these questions, publish your newsletter as a vehicle of fulfillment to these needs, and you're on your way!

You're going to loose prospects unless your newsletter has a real point of difference that can be easily perceived by your prospective buyer. If you are using someone else’s newsletter and just adding your own affiliate links, don’t be surprised when you prospects start dropping out.

The design and graphics of your newsletter, plus your unique content will help with keeping your prospects from opting out.

The name of your newsletter should also help to set it apart from similar newsletters, and describe what your basic premise is all about. A good name reinforces your advertising. Choose a name that defines what your newsletter is all about.

Try to make your newsletter's name brand able and memorable - one that flows automatically. Don't pick a name that's so vague it could apply to almost anything. The name should identify your newsletter and its subject quickly and positively. You should also brand it with your domain name if at all possible.

When you send out your newsletter, make sure that you use a name variable with your autoresponder. People like to see and feel that they are the only one that you are sending your newsletter to. You create trust and a feeling in the reader that they are special.

You may want to add a picture of yourself, so your prospects have an idea of whom is sending them this valuable information. The use of pictures will set your publication apart from the others and give it an individual image, which is precisely what you want.

The decision as to whether to carry paid advertising, and if so, how much, is another policy decision that should be made while your newsletter is still in the planning stages. Some purists feel that advertising corrupts the image of the newsletter and may influence editorial policy. Most people accept advertising as a part of everyday life, and don't care one way or the other.

The only problem with accepting advertising in your newsletter would appear to be that as your subscription list grows, so may the number of advertisers. At this point, the basic premise or philosophy of the newsletter often changes from news and practical information to one of an advertiser's showcase. So think this out clearly before you decide what you want the reader to experience with your newsletter.

Promoting your newsletter, finding prospective buyers and converting these prospects into loyal subscribers, will be the most difficult task of your entire undertaking. It takes detailed planning, persistence and patience.

Make sure you send a welcome letter when a new prospect signs up and tell the reader how they are going to benefit from your newsletter, and then keep emphasizing right on through your "PS", the many benefits they will gain from staying on your subscriber list. . Give the reader a solid list of benefits with examples of what you have, or you intend to include, in your newsletter.

You have to make your prospect feel that "this is the insider's secret" to the success they want to achieve. Present it to your subscriber as their own personal key to success.

Prepare yourself for the fact that not everyone that signs up for your newsletter will buy your product or service. That is all part of the internet marketing business. However, you should not be discouraged, keep trying to get as many subscribers as possible and always be available to answer any questions your subscriber may have. Good luck with your newsletter.

Copyright 2004 Dirk Wagner

About The Author

My name is Dirk Wagner. I was born in Cologne, Germany in 1970. I graduated from high school in 1990. Since 6 years I´m working in computer business and about 2 years specially in internet marketing. My mentor Stone Evans teached me to get success.

Dirk Wagner is CEO and owner of http://team4success.biz/ and the free, easy to install #1 home business toolbar with automated updates.A website dedicated to helping the home-based business entrepreneur start and succeed with there very own home-based business.

An Article

by: Margaret McAlister

People love to hear stories. They'll identify with what you have to say much more easily if you tell them an anecdote that relates to your subject matter.

The danger in using this method is that you can lose your way. Interminable, zig-zagging stories are just as boring in print as they are in real life! Keep your story under control, and it will speak to your reader.

THE RECIPE

1. Choose your subject

2. Tell your story

3. Identify the problem

4. Offer a solution

5. Draw a conclusion or call to action

6. Give your article a catchy title

7. Decide on the length. (Most ezines like articles of around 500 - 800 words.)

THE FINISHED ARTICLE

Title: From Chaos To Contentment: The Pocket Organizer

Like most people, I'm fighting a constant battle to stay organized. I have a range of clients both online and offline and projects due at different times. I'm surrounded by to-do lists, stacks of print-outs, address books, phone lists and folders. Finding something quickly is more of a challenge every day.

I was beginning to despair of ever clearing the decks - or even seeing a glimpse of the deck! Then I stumbled across a solution. Browsing around an electronics store looking for a label-maker, I walked past a display of Palm products. The Palm Zire 71 caught my eye immediately (okay, I'm a sucker for a nice-looking piece of electronic gadgetry). There it was, in an attractive blue casing with a bright, colorful screen... begging me to play!

So I played.

After ten minutes I was hooked. Yeah, I know... all of you Palm devotees are yawning and muttering: "Where has she been the last few years?" - but hey, I had one of the early Palm Pilots. The screen was hard to read and the graffiti option didn't work too well. I went back to notebooks and a rolodex.

This one was totally different. It won me in no time at all. I wandered out of the store to "think about it" - and was back within fifteen minutes handing over my credit card.

How ever did I manage without it? Now I have - all in one pocket-size organizer - a date book that stretches *decades* forward and back from today's date, an address book with customizable lists, an expense record, a calculator, a memo pad, a note pad, a to-do list, a world clock... and this little beauty even has a built-in camera. (With an expansion card it could also be an MP3 player.) I've tossed six different items out of my handbag and replaced them with just the Palm. Bliss. (Oh, and did I mention I can sit it in the accompanying cradle and back up everything to my computer?)

Don't worry, this is not an advertisement for Palm products! I'm sure there are other organizers that do all this and more. (You can now get phones that do it all, come to think of it.) The point is, since I don't work in the corporate environment, I just hadn't realized what timesavers these all-in-one products can be. Now, wherever I go I have an incredible amount of information at my fingertips. I don't sort through various folders and files in search of contact information. Heck, I don't even have to carry family snaps around in my wallet - they're all stored in the Palm!

The lesson? There are several. One: personal organizers are not just for so-called "business professionals". They can streamline anyone's life. Two: If you're losing time (and patience) because you're not organized, take the time to sit down and see what can be done. Look for a method that is easy to use and combines a number of functions. Three: browsing through electronic gadgetry is not only fun - it pays off!

=== Analysis Of The Completed Article ===

The Subject: Personal organization

The Story: How a pocket-sized organizer changed my life

The Problem: Too many diverse and unwieldy systems to store information

The Solution: A pocket-sized electronic organizer

Call to Action: Analyze your needs - choose an easy, effective method to get organized

A Catchy Title: "From Chaos to Contentment: The Pocket Organizer". The alliteration of "Chaos" and "Contentment" sounds good; the first part of the title summarizes the rewards, and the inclusion of "The Pocket Organizer" signals the subject matter.

Word Length: The finished article is 511 words: a good length for most ezines (yours or someone else's). You need to be strict with yourself here. If your article is too long, CUT IT!

Copyright 2004 Margaret McAlister

About The Author

Marg McAlister's tips on writing are to the point and popular. To write great web copy, sales letters and articles, don't miss her ezine: the Web Writing Tipsheet! You'll find this and other top advice at http://www.writing-for-success-online.com/