March 10th, 2009 at 08:17pm
Under Ezine-Publishing
Are you doing the bounce?
No, it’s not a new hip-hop dance.
A bounce, or bounce-back, is an e-mail that is returned to you because it cannot be delivered for some reason. You’ve probably gotten bounces on your own personal e-mail program, when you send an e-mail and then receive a response saying it was undeliverable.
These get to be more of a headache, however, when you publish an e-zine. Sending e-mail to more people means more bounce-backs. And too many bounce-backs can cause your mailings to be blocked with certain Internet service providers, meaning many of your e-mails won’t reach your readers.
What You Need to Know
There are two kinds of e-mail bounces:
A hard bounce is an e-mail message that has been returned to you because the recipient’s address is invalid. A hard bounce might occur because the domain name doesn’t exist, the recipient is unknown, or there’s some type of network problem on the recipient’s end.
A soft bounce is an e-mail message that gets as far as the recipient’s mail server, but is bounced back before it reaches the recipient. One of the most common causes for a soft bounce is a full mailbox. This will happen A LOT with your subscribers who use free e-mail services like Yahoo and HotMail, because they allow for very little e-mail storage.
What You Need to Do
Ask your current list service how they handle your bounces.
Some of them have a hands-off policy and don’t do anything. If so, ask them how you can go in yourself and see how many names are bouncing and who they are. Then you can decide to keep them on your list or delete them.
One factor to consider here is your listserve’s retry policy. That is, how many times do they try to send out your e-zine to the soft-bounce people? Some only try once, others try several times, waiting a few hours in between.
Sometimes you’ll also see a few e-mail addresses that are obviously misspelled (e.g. nancy123@aolcom — note the missing dot) and you can fix them yourself manually.
If your listserve is hands-off, you’ll want to go in and look at your bounce situation at least once a month to check things out and delete names if necessary.
The other extreme is list services that automatically delete people after only one hard bounce, which isn’t good because it could be caused by a temporary problem like a network outage. If this is your listserve’s policy, find out if you can change it.
Then some list services take the middle road by automatically deleting anyone who has had a certain number of bounces in a row. Ideally you want them to wait longer on soft bounces to make sure that the problem isn’t resolved over the next few issues you send out.
You can often instruct the listserve to unsubscribe soft bounces after a specific time, say, five bounces over a two-week period.
Whatever your case, be sure you get a handle on your bounces this month!
(c) 2003 Alexandria K. Brown
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alexandria K. Brown, The E-zine Queen, is author of the award-winning manual, Boost Business With Your Own E-zine. To learn more about her book and sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit her site at http://EzineQueenTutorial.com/
Author: Alexandria K. Brown
Keywords: email publishing, html templates, ezine marketing, ezine tips, ezinequeen
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By admin
March 10th, 2009 at 08:17pm
Under Ezine-Publishing
If you publish an e-mail newsletter, or e-zine, you’ll need to sign on with a list service (or listserve) to manage your subscriber list. There are many types of listserves out there, so here are some guidelines to help you choose one that’s right for you.
Do they use MULTI-PART MIME technology?
You’ll need this if you want to publish an HTML newsletter. Otherwise youll have to send out multiple versions for users who can read HTML, users who can’t read HTML, and users on AOL.
Do they offer some type of ORIENTATION OR TUTORIAL?
If you’re new to the game and/or technologically challenged then you’ll appreciate any type of help they offer for new clients.
What’s their CUSTOMER SERVICE like?
Are they prompt to get back to you via e-mail? Can you call them if you have a problem? Are they available more than standard business hours? What about weekends? Contact them and see how long they take to get back to you - if it’s longer than 24 hours, definitely keep looking.
Do they NOTIFY list owners if there’s a PROBLEM with their service?
If so, how, and how quickly?
Do they have CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS to share with you?
Or even better, client references? Contact some of these folks to see how their experiences have been.
Do other BUSINESSES LIKE YOURS use their service?
If most of their clients are large corporations, small businesses like yours may not get the attention they deserve.
Is their interface EASY TO USE?
Meaning is it easy for you to setup and launch each issue of your e-zine. They should offer a demo or let you access the ‘mission control’ area that you’ll be using to test it out.
Can you MANUALLY ADD AND REMOVE people to and from your list if you want to?
Sometimes youll need to do this, so you’ll want the answer to be yes - especially if you’re moving over a list you’ve already collected.
Can you access SUBSCRIBER REPORTS?
How and how often? You’ll want to know on a regular basis how many subscribes and unsubscribes you’ve had since the last issue.
What appears in the FROM field when subscribers get your e-zine?
You want it to be YOUR name if possible. Some spam filters screen out e-mail that does not appear to come from an individual person.
What appears in the TO field when a subscriber gets your e-zine?
You want it to be the persons name if possible. Along the same lines, some spam filters screen out e-mail that does not appear to be addressed to the individual person.
Who has ACCESS to their servers and your list?
Anytime you hand over your customer list, you’re taking a risk. You don’t want your service or anyone else using your list for spamming purposes.
What happens if some addresses are UNDELIVERABLE?
These are also called bounces or bounce-backs. You don’t want them to automatically remove names for soft bounces, which are due to temporary conditions like full mailboxes.
How do users SUBSCRIBE AND UNSUBSCRIBE?
Do they have to visit a Web page or can they do it via e-mail (best if both options are available). Is the process single or double opt-in? (Double is better for more security the user has to respond to a confirmation e-mail before shes added to your list.) Is the process kept simple?
Can you customize your LIST SERVER DOCUMENTS?
This means messages like your subscriber welcome and goodbye messages. (You’ll definitely want to be able to do this, since the prewritten messages many list services use are horribly cold and confusing.)
Can your e-zine give PERSONALIZED GREETINGS AND MESSAGES?
Not necessary, but a very nice feature. For example, if your e-zine came to me, it would start off with something like, Hello Alexandria!
How often do they BACK UP their servers?
It should be at least once every day. Also ask if you can download your lists to back them up on your own, as a backup to their backup!
Can you send a TEST MESSAGE out to yourself or another person before you send out each issue for real?
You’ll definitely want this because its the best way to see how your e-zine looks on the recipients end, do a proofread, and check all your hyperlinks.
Can you see stats on your CLICK-THROUGH rates?
If you publish in HTML, you should be able to see how many people and even exactly who opens your messages.
Can they AUTOMATICALLY ARCHIVE your issues if you’d like them to?
Some services will archive your e-zines at their site, others can configure it so they’re archived at your own site (which is better).
Are they currently BLOCKED anywhere on the Web?
If so, it may mean they’ve been reported for allowing spammers to use their network. You don’t want to work with any list service that’s been blocked anywhere, because it means that your e-zine won’t reach all of your readers.
(c) 2002 Alexandria K. Brown
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alexandria K. Brown, The E-zine Queen, is author of the award-winning manual, Boost Business With Your Own E-zine. To learn more about her book and sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit her site at http://EzineQueenTutorial.com/
Author: Alexandria K. Brown
Keywords: email publishing, html templates, ezine marketing, ezine tips, ezinequeen
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By admin
March 10th, 2009 at 08:17pm
Under Ezine-Publishing
We all know that an e-zine wont attract and keep subscribers without offering insightful, practical content. If you only drone on and on about how wonderful you and your services/products are, your readers wont stick around for long.
But lets think about WHY you began your e-zine in the first place. It was likely to use it as a vehicle to promote you and your services/products, right?
You have every right to toot your own horn in your e-zine, as long as you dont drown out the useful content your readers are looking for. You work hard on your e-zine, so lets make your e-zine work foryou!
Here are 7 simple ideas on how to accomplish this:
Make sure your MAIN ARTICLE always provides information that your readers will find valuable.
By having a main article as the foundation of your issue, readers will feel they got what they came for helpful information. Try a list of top 10 tips, a how-to article, a list of resources, a review of a trend in the industry that sort of thing.
So remember, if your e-zine is tonights meal, your main article should be the entree. Any promotional info should be your side dishes!
Begin each issue with an EDITORS NOTE or PUBLISHERS NOTE.
I began doing this during the fall of 2001, and have found its the perfect place to let readers know about whats happening with me and my business, give them a taste of my personality, and announce any upcoming events or workshops. Because this is a personal message from you to them, and because its NOT your main content, you have more leeway in being direct and self-promotional.
In your article, throw in LINKS to related articles youve written or been featured in, when appropriate.
Your readers will appreciate the additional information and resources, and its one more chance for you to demonstrate your expertise and credibility.
Directly after your article, give a quick PROMO BLURB, mentioning your e-books, reports, or workshops, if you offer them.
Why right after the article and before anything else? If someone reads your article and says to themselves, Gee, that was great information! Theyll be ready to hear what else you have to share on that subject.
A great lead-in for your blurb is: Did You Like Todays Article? If you did, youll LOVE my [e-book, report, upcoming workshop, etc….
In each issue, offer a TESTIMONIAL from one of your clients or customers.
I saw another e-zine publisher doing this last year and thought, What a great idea! Shes giving her readers further reason to try her services.
I now also do this by featuring a short testimonial in each issue from someone who has bought my book and loves it.
Tell us what YOURE all about!
At the end of your ezine, take at least 10 lines and give a concise description of YOU and what you have to offer your readers.
For example, heres what I put at the bottom of every E-zine Queen newsletter:
Marketing writer and consultant Alexandria K. Brown, The E-zine Queen, is author of Boost Business With Your Own E-zine: 283 Secrets to Planning, Writing, Publishing, and Promoting an E-Mail Newsletter That Gets Results.
Its a step-by-step manual that walks you through the entire process. Its available, along with The E-zine Queen Resource Report (more than 219 e-zine promotion resources!), at http://www.ezinequeen.com/Power by History of the Computer | Computer safety tips
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By admin
March 10th, 2009 at 08:17pm
Under Ezine-Publishing
One morning this past fall, I was going through my e-mail inbox, relentlessly deleting junk mail. As you’re likely well aware, many spam messages are made to look like they’re from a real person.
One name briefly caught my eye: Jeff Bezos. But because I was in furious deletion mode, I didn’t recognize it. Also, it had a salesy subject line: New Apparel Store Now Open. So I hit the delete key.
A few minutes later, it occurred to me that I knew that name — Jeff Bezos is the CEO of Amazon.com. I rescued the message from my delete folder and opened it. Turns out it was an announcement to all Amazon Associates (affiliates) about the opening of Amazon’s new online apparel store.
What was wrong with this promotion? (Which was unusual for Amazon, by the way.)
This e-mail should have been sent FROM an address that included the name Amazon in it, because as an Amazon affiliate, I’d never before received an e-mail that was from a personal name. Also, the subject line made no indication the message was from Amazon. So it was a prime target for that delete key!
So … whom should YOUR e-zine be from? You, or your company name?
The answer depends on whom your readers are familiar with and whom they’re expecting to hear from.
SOLO PROFESSIONALS
If you are a solo professional and work on your own (e.g. coach, consultant, freelancer, practitioner), then your clients and prospects are familiar with YOU. You ARE your brand. So make sure YOUR name is in the FROM field of your e-zine when it’s sent out.
BRANDS and LARGER COMPANIES
If you’re the marketing person at a larger company who’s sending out the e-zine, make sure the FROM field of the e-mail message has your COMPANY NAME.
Like in my Amazon example, your customers/clients are familiar with your company’s name and not you personally.
Another example: Say your name is Suzy Q and you’re the marketing manager at Clinique’s corporate office. If you send out your e-zine from Suzy Q, many of your recipients may delete your message without blinking, since they’ll have no idea who you are.
However they WILL instantly recognize your e-zine if it comes from Clinique and also includes a related subject line.
Now, if you’re a solo professional who’s trying to build a brand name that’s not your own personal name, you should do this as well. For example, my e-zines are from E-zine Queen.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE CONTENT?
Whether you represent yourself or a larger company, it’s still best to make your e-zine FEEL like it’s from an individual when it comes to the content itself.
So think about who you want this person to be — it may be you, it may be someone else in your company. Having the content be written from a real person will make your e-zine a more personal (and therefore effective) communication.
(c) 2002 Alexandria K. Brown
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alexandria K. Brown, The E-zine Queen, is author of the award-winning manual, Boost Business With Your Own E-zine. To learn more about her book and sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit her site at http://EzineQueenTutorial.com/
Author: Alexandria K. Brown
Keywords: email publishing, html templates, ezine marketing, ezine tips, ezinequeen
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By admin
March 10th, 2009 at 08:17pm
Under Ezine-Publishing
While many new e-zine publishers are anxious about developing good content for their e-zines, many of them seem to have more trouble simply deciding on a schedule and sticking to it!
It’s smart to tame the schedule beast right from the start. Here are a few tips to help you.
Realistically consider how much time you want to spend on your e-zine.
For your beginning stages, plan on at least five hours to develop each issue if you’re developing your own content. This includes time for researching, writing, formatting, proofreading, and publishing. And this estimate is for an e-zine featuring only one article. If you’re going to feature more than one article, plan on making more time, or publish articles by guest authors.
Start with a conservative schedule.
When you’re planning your e-zine, you’ll probably be so excited and brimming with ideas that you want to publish as frequently as possible. Stop! Your enthusiasm is admirable, but start off monthly for now. You can always increase the frequency later, when you’re sure you can handle it.
I excitedly began my first e-zine several years ago as a weekly gig, then immediately dropped back to monthly once I caught myself moaning and groaning whenever I was scheduled to write it. Now that I have support staff, I’ve increased my schedule to biweekly (every two weeks).
Even if you can stand it, don’t publish daily.
Yep, that’s right. You want to be on your prospects’ minds, but not in their faces every day. We all get SO much e-mail as it is! Even if you write a phenomenal missive, it’s best to leave your readers wanting a bit more.
I was recently on the list of a very good daily e-zine, but I just couldn’t keep up with reading it every day. I felt extremely guilty watching the issues build up unread in my e-mail inbox, so I finally canceled my subscription. If you want your e-zine to be joyfully anticipated and well read, I recommend publishing no more than once or twice a week.
Pick the best day for your readers … and you
Many sales experts say that people are most receptive to hearing from marketers on Tuesdays. So why not have your e-zine arrive in your readers’ e-mail inboxes then? Other good days are Wednesdays and Thursdays, according to other sales pros. However, I ignore all this and publish on Fridays, simply because it’s my favorite day. ; )
Once you’ve set your schedule, stick to it!
Setting a schedule suggests to your readers that you’re organized and can meet deadlines. No matter how busy you are, sending out your e-zine at random looks flaky and unprofessional.
Now, we’re all human and take vacations, get sick, and get plain busy. So what do you do when you just CAN’T get that new issue out? Do a rerun. Choose a past issue from more than six months ago that you got great feedback on. Republish it with a little intro that says something like, Hey folks, right now I’m sipping drinks on the beach in Bali, so by popular request, here’s a rerun of one of our best articles. We’ll be back next week with fresh, insightful content! Of course, only say something like that if you are actually on vacation people do understand that you take time off.
Otherwise, never share that you’re behind schedule or too busy to write your next issue that would tell your readers that they come last on your list. If you must, stretch the truth a bit, and say you’re at a conference, traveling, etc.
Try to have one or two issues completed in advance that can be sent out at a moment’s notice.
This is great for those times when an emergency strikes or you’re too swamped to write a new issue. The next time you get a few ideas at once (and don’t they seem to come in multiples?), get psyched up and whip out a few at once. You can always edit them later just get the ideas out of your head and onto your screen.
(E-zine Queen Secret Tip: Need a little extra inspiration? Try whipping up a fresh margarita works for me, every time! Just be sure to do an extra proofread later on. ; ))
For a low-maintenance e-zine, tip well!
Who says you need to write in-depth articles? Everyone’s time is short, so readers LOVE quick tips. Tips are easy to put together when you’re close to deadline, also meaning you’ll be more likely to stay on schedule. So if you’re tight on time, publish simple monthly or weekly tips instead of detailed articles.
(c) 2000-2003 Alexandria K. Brown. All rights reserved.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alexandria K. Brown, The E-zine Queen, is author of the award-winning manual, Boost Business With Your Own E-zine. To learn more about her book and sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit her site at http://EzineQueenTutorial.com/
Author: Alexandria K. Brown
Keywords: email publishing, html templates, ezine marketing, ezine tips, ezinequeen
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By admin
March 10th, 2009 at 08:17pm
Under Ezine-Publishing
A few years ago, when I first started seeing HTML e-zines in my inbox, I admit I was jealous. They were attractive, attention getting, snazzy. They made my text e-zines look boring.
But my mind fought the idea of upgrading my own. My readers appreciate my e-zine for its content, I told myself. They don’t need some slick design to get their attention. They just want my information, straight up. Publishing in HTML won’t make a difference.
I was wrong.
Well, I was right that my readers receive my e-zine for its content. After all, that’s why they subscribed for my concise, how-to articles.
But I was mistaken that a better presentation wouldn’t make a difference.
After much deliberation, I decided to give HTML a whirl. I had my e-zine professionally designed in HTML, featuring my logo, colors, and photo.
First off, let’s all agree that it’s ridiculously easy to publish in text. That’s a good thing.
If you’re just beginning your e-zine and are a bit overwhelmed, text is a great place to start. You can then focus on developing great content and publishing on a regular basis, without worrying about HTML design and coding snafus.
Text also gives you complete freedom and flexibility you can add new sections and delete others any time you feel like it, without having to redesign your entire e-zine.
But let’s face it: There are hundreds of thousands of text e-zines out there that all look the same. I subscribe to 30+ text e-zines, and they all seem to lump together in my e-mail inbox.
The ones that catch my eye and make me read on they’re HTML.
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By admin
March 10th, 2009 at 08:17pm
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While I run my business completely online, I really enjoy attending in-person events and seminars here in Los Angeles and around the country. I’m sure you find these events valuable too. The problem most of us have with networking, however, is following up with the people we meet.
An easy way to follow-up powerfully and automatically is to turn these folks into e-zine subscribers. This ensures that you’ll have the chance to repeatedly teach them how great your products/services are while building their trust in you.
But how do you capture people in person? Remember, you can NEVER sign someone up unless they specifically ask you to be signed up it’s unethical.
So you need to encourage people you meet in person to join your list, and make it easy for them. And I have three successful strategies to share with you.
Advertise Your E-zine on Your Business Card (or Brochure)
Nothing gets passed around at a networking event more than the good old business card. But what’s on the BACK of your cards?
Nothing?
Well, from now on you’re going to use that valuable real estate. Next time you print new cards, use the flip side! Create a brief message that promotes your e-zine and gives information on how to subscribe. When someone you meet looks at your business card again when she’s back at the office, she’ll be much more likely to subscribe when she sees the reminder on your card.
As an example, here’s what I have on the back of my new cards:
Promote your business with an e-zine! Sign up for FREE biweekly tips at www.EzineQueen.com.
BONUS: This strategy also gets these people to visit your Web site, which they may not have done otherwise.
If you aren’t ready to print new cards for a while, use your computer to print your message onto labels, and affix them to the backs of your cards. Cheap and easy!
Follow Up With Each Person You Meet Via E-Mail
After each event I go to, I aim to follow up with every person I met with via e-mail within three days. In that e-mail, I remind the person that she can sign up for my FREE tips at my Web site. Here’s an example of a note I sent out recently:
Dear Margaret,
It was a pleasure to chat with you at [EVENT NAME HERE last Thursday. I’d like to learn more about your business and how we can help each other. Perhaps we can meet for coffee next week?
In the meantime, you may enjoy my FREE weekly e-zine Straight Shooter Marketing that gives tips on how to market yourself online. I write it for small business owners just like you! You can learn more and sign up at www.EzineQueen.com
Take care and let’s stay in touch.
Best, Alexandria K. Brown, ‘The E-zine Queen’
Once again, this strategy also gets these people to visit your Web site, which they may not have done otherwise. (Very cool, yes?)
Are you the Speaker? Pass Around a Signup Sheet or Collect Cards
Whenever I’m the featured speaker at an event, I make sure to give the audience members an easy way to sign up for my e-zine. I either pass around a signup sheet to collect their names and e-mail addresses, OR I collect business cards when I draw a winner for a free book.
If you use the business card method, tell the audience to write an E for e-zine on their card this lets you know they want to be signed up for your newsletter. Some speakers do the opposite, and tell the audience that if they do NOT want to be subscribed to their e-zine, to put a NO on their card, but I’m more comfortable with the former method.
Remember, Your List Is Your Goldmine!
People you meet in person will be very valuable subscribers, because they’ve already met you. And we’re all more likely to buy from others whom we know, like, and trust.
Your in-person meeting will start that process, and your e-zine will follow-through for you, automatically!
(c) 2003 Alexandria K. Brown
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alexandria K. Brown, The E-zine Queen, is author of the award-winning manual, Boost Business With Your Own E-zine. To learn more about her book and sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit her site at http://EzineQueenTutorial.com/
Author: Alexandria K. Brown
Keywords: email publishing, html templates, ezine marketing, ezine tips, ezinequeen
Power by History of the Computer | Computer safety tips
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By admin
March 10th, 2009 at 08:17pm
Under Ezine-Publishing
Have you been publishing an e-mail newsletter for at least six months but still aren’t seeing real results (read: revenue) from it? Don’t fret you may just need a tune up. Here are five ways to kick your e-zine income into gear this year:
TOOT YOUR OWN HORN MORE
The adage goes, If you don’t blow your own horn, someone else will use it as a spittoon. If your focus is providing your readers with useful information that enriches their lives and businesses, bravo! That SHOULD be your focus. But now I want you to look out for yourself as well: Take at least 25 percent of your e-zine space and make it all about YOU.
Give promos for your services, products, books, workshops, etc. List raving testimonials from clients and customers who LOVE you. Weave your business success stories into your articles and tips. Share something funny about your weekend that makes me feel closer to knowing you personally. (For more self-promotion tips, see my article at http://www.ezinequeen.com/7ways.htm)
MAKE ME AN OFFER I CAN’T REFUSE
Let’s suppose I’m one of your subscribers. Even if I realize you offer wonderful products and services, I may need a kick in the pants to make a move. To entice me, offer me a special, l1mited-time deal. Examples: three months’ of consultation for the price of two, a 20% discount on your latest book or newest service, or one of your usual offers with a few exciting bonuses thrown in. Make the offer obsolete within a few days or by next week. By putting a time limit on it, I’ll be more apt to act now instead of later.
Don’t overlook how powerful this tactic can be. Some of my most profitable weeks have resulted from running a limited time, special pr0motion of this type in my e-zine.
PACKAGE IT AT A LOWER PRICE POINT
This is a super strategy for service professionals such as consultants and coaches. As your subscriber, I know the way to get the BEST service from you would be to hire you one-on-one, but perhaps I can’t afford that right now. BUT consider that I may likely be interested in lower-priced options such as group coaching, teleclasses, online seminars, or a manual/e-book.
This is exactly how I became an e-book author. When I started my first e-zine, my main business was writing for corporate communications. After I gained a few thousand subscribers, I realized that my readers were mostly small business owners and entrepreneurs. So I began creating products and services geared toward them. And now I profit more from those each month than from my corporate work.
PROMOTE A PRODUCT/SERVICE THAT COMPLEMENTS YOURS
Do your readers and clients often ask you about a certain topic that’s related to but not exactly what you offer? Then resell a resource that you heartily recommend and would put your reputation behind.
For example, while my specialty is e-zines, I get many questions about creating and selling information products online. So I continually research credible resources on this topic to share with my readers. Many of the creators of these products offer a handsome commission on any sales I refer to them. (I do this myself by paying out up to 25% commission on any referred sale. http://www.ezinequeen.com/affiliate.htm)
NEVER recommend any service or product to your readers that you haven’t personally tried and wouldn’t back 100 percent. Otherwise you’ll blow the trust that you’ve worked so hard to build up in your readership.
SELL AD SPACE AS IT SUITS YOU
E-zine ads won’t make you wealthy, but they can make for some handy extra csh. (I call it my margarita money.) Most e-zines offer one sponsor ad at the top and several classified ads at the bottom. Sponsor ads typically cost three to five times more than the classified ad, but you’ll see the ranges vary greatly.
Start by offering ad specials to your own readers. Then also list your e-zine in the many e-zine advertising directories on the Web. These services help match advertisers with appropriate publishers just like you. (Need help? My manual gives step-by-step instructions on how to accept and profit from ads in your e-zine.)
Remember that you have every right to be selective about the type of ads you accept. While your readers know these ads don’t represent YOUR business, their quality will indirectly influence their perception of you.
REMEMBER THE *SILENT* BENEFITS OF YOUR E-ZINE
Keep in mind that even if you aren’t getting direct business from your e-zine at this time, it’s still delivering many benefits that may be less obvious. Your e-zine is helping to establish you as an expert in your field. It’s giving you massive online exposure. You’re gaining further credibility with your current clients and customers. And it’s forcing you to package your knowledge into concise articles on a regular basis, which you can recycle for many other marketing uses.
(c) 2000-2003 Alexandria K. Brown. All rights reserved.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alexandria K. Brown, The E-zine Queen, is author of the award-winning manual, Boost Business With Your Own E-zine. To learn more about her book and sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit her site at http://EzineQueenTutorial.com/
Author: Alexandria K. Brown
Keywords: email publishing, html templates, ezine marketing, ezine tips, ezinequeen
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By admin
March 10th, 2009 at 08:17pm
Under Ezine-Publishing
While sending out a text e-zine may seem like a piece of cake, there’s more to it than you may think. *Good formatting* is the name of the game. Here’s a handy checklist I use to make sure each of my issues is in great shape BEFORE I send it out. Please be my guest and use it for yourself!
Are all lines 65 characters or less?
More than that and your missive may come through looking messy to many subscribers. End each line with a hard return by pressing the enter key.
Have you made sure there’s no auto-formatting, such as bolding, italics, or underlining?
These features don’t translate well in e-mail and can come out looking mighty strange on the other end. Instead, emphasize words or phrases with *asterisks,* quotation marks, or ALL CAPS … sparingly.
Are all sections neatly separated?
Use underscores (), asterisks (******), another nifty symbol ($$$$$, %%%%, @@@@), or a combination thereof () to help define each area and help your readers skim your issue more easily.
Do all Web links include ‘http://’ before them?
Some e-mail programs won’t automatically hyperlink a URL in your text without this prefix. So don’t take a chance make it easy for your readers to click and link, especially to YOUR site!
Do all e-mail links include mailto: before them?
Same idea here: Some e-mail programs won’t automatically hyperlink an e-mail address in your text without it. Be sure to leave no space between the colon and the first character of the address.
Is your masthead at the very top?
The masthead, or nameplate, typically features your e-zine name, your name, your e-mail address, your Web address, and the correct date, volume number, and issue number. Make it the FIRST thing your readers see.
Have you reminded your readers right away that this is a *subscription* publication?
Don’t let them forget that they *asked* to receive this! Something like this right under your masthead will do: You’ve received this e-zine because you subscribed to it! If you wish to unsubscribe, please scroll to the end for more information.
If you have a table of contents (TOC), do its listings match this issue’s articles and features?
For example, if your TOC says your second feature in this issue is an article on Web site marketing, make sure it’s right!
Have you included a copyright notice?
At the end of your content, before your contact info, post ‘(c)’ immediately followed by the year and your name or your company’s name. You should know that a copyright notice does not protect your ideas instead, it protects the way you express them.
Are the correct advertisements in place?
Keep track of all your ad swaps and purchases in one main document to make this easy to look up each time. I use an Excel spreadsheet, which works great for me.
Do you give clear subscribe and unsubscribe instructions at the bottom?
Include subscribe instructions, because your e-zine will likely get passed on to others who’d like to sign up. The unsubscribe instructions are just BECAUSE it’s plain courtesy, and the law of the land. : )
Does your subject line include both the name of your e-zine and the issue topic?
By seeing your e-zine title, your recipients will know the e-mail is not spam. And by seeing the issue topic, they will know what’s in store for this issue. Example: Sara’s Cash Flow Tips: Increase Your Income Today!
Have you sent a test of the issue to yourself or an associate?
Make sure it comes through reading well and looking great! (Check for any strange symbols that magically appear, odd breaks in the copy, inactive links, etc.) And this is a GREAT time to give it a final proofread.
(c) 2000-2003 Alexandria K. Brown. All rights reserved.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alexandria K. Brown, The E-zine Queen, is author of the award-winning manual, Boost Business With Your Own E-zine. To learn more about her book and sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit her site at http://EzineQueenTutorial.com/
Author: Alexandria K. Brown
Keywords: email publishing, html templates, ezine marketing, ezine tips, ezinequeen
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By admin
March 10th, 2009 at 08:17pm
Under Ezine-Publishing
The future of email Newsletter - Llando Ford 07.28.2004 What are you doing with the Spam you receive? I’m sure you are not happy receiving it just like none between us.
You have installed already a good Spam filter or you let your ISP to select your Spam and you receive it already into your Spam mail folder where from you can delete it easily.
But you as entrepreneur should carefully observe your feelings doing this activity because I’m sure You have got your own newsletter or if don’t, you intend to start one in the near future.
Well at sending out your newsletter you have to count with the fact that (especially if you are using a bulk mail software) your email will land eventually in the Spam folder of your subscriber.
He will retrieve the emails in his Spam mail folder too because he is subscribed to several newsletters and he is waiting for your info but only if he is convinced that this info is of high value for his interest niche.
How actual studies are showing contrary to what some people may think newsletters still have a great future.
Since not every small marketer can allow for himself to use the direct to desktop technology and very few costumers want to be bothered with flashing graphics on their desktops the majority of delivered news will still remain the good old email newsletter.
So it seems you as owner of a newsletter are a winner because you will post your newsletter in the future too, but it becomes more important than ever to deliver a relevant content.
Surveys are showing that people do not read anything what seems to be waste of time.
Your newsletter must bring useful, up to date information on your market niche without to become boring at all.
What are this niche markets?
Everything what is not of general interest, and the information about it is instant deliverable.
There are no limitations. You can write about Your interests which could be gardening, pets, body building, search engine optimization, everything you love, or you feel passionate about. This because if you love your topic you will never run out of subjects, you will never loose your passion for it and your prospects will always receive with your rows the power of your enthusiasm which starts from your love. for the given topic.
But you should avoid to start newsletters about a topic you don’t love at all or do not feel any passion about it because that will give you much more headaches as money.
For a better understanding of this subject and not at last to keep this article short I suggest you to check out What Gary Halbert America’s #1 sale copy writer says about creating a product. Here is the link go there http://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com/ it is completely FREE and read the newsletter titled How to get a product to sell if you don’t have one already and how to get it for nothing
You can find another great collection of ideas if you go to http://marketingadvices.com/newebooks.html and check out the ebook Creative Product Creation.
So as final conclusion: If you still don’t have your own newsletter or want to start one more be careful what you choose to be your topic. Finally you want people to read your newsletter want to build a huge list and want to think in very long terms by publishing your newsletter.
Llando Ford Started The M.A.Newsletter in late 2003 with the goal to report about the latest Internet marketing news. On his website http://marketingadvices.com you will find a collection of marketing courses (some of them FREE), from the most reputed marketing gurus.
To subscribe to The Marketing Advices Newsletter and get instantly your Free bonus Gary Shawkey’s If I can Anybody can and Gary Shawkey’s Secrets send an email to: marketingadvices@getresponse.com?subject=SUBSCRIBE&cc=llando@marketingadvices.com
Author: Llnado Ford
Keywords: marketing, e-mail marketing, ezines, ezine, E-zine, articles, writing articles, internet news, marke
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