Marketing Your Ezine

Networking Online

The internet is a wonderful place to meet new people, make friends, develop relationships, and help others. Most successful ezine publishers have perfected the art of networking online. Networking - also called schmoozing - involves interacting with people online, using bulletin boards, chat sessions and personal email to develop relationships.

Electronic Bulletin Boards

In an attempt to develop online communities, many websites today offer bulletin boards. Visitors to these sites can post messages on the boards - questions, comments, opinions, requests. Almost anything goes, as long as it is related to the topic of the site. Some of these boards get heavy traffic. Many are moderated - that is, some human being reviews the messages posted periodically, and removes those that are not in keeping with the board's policies.

Network everywhere online - bulletin boards, chat rooms, discussion lists.

An effective way to promote awareness of your ezine and to get new subscribers to join up is to be active on bulletin boards in your niche. You need to follow a definite plan to achieve this.

First, identify bulletin boards related to your subject area. Then visit them and read the messages posted there. See how others respond, the overall tone and style of postings. When you find a question or comment to which you can reply sensibly, go ahead and post your message. Remember, your post needs to be helpful and informative to readers. Blatant self-promotional messages on bulletin boards tend to be removed by the moderator, and most regular visitors will frown on them. So make your message informative, educational and helpful.

Ok, but how is this going to net you new ezine subscribers? This is where you can leverage your signature file, as I've described in a separate article. If they find your message useful, people will want to know who you are. They'll read your signature file. And of course, since you have conveniently provided details of your ezine along with this, they'll want to sign up to see what more you will offer them. Bingo! You've again converted a "one-time casual surfer" into a regular contact.

From personal experience I know this system works. I've often signed on for ezines from bulletin boards postings which I found helpful.  

E-mail Discussion Lists and Newsgroups

The number of discussion groups and forums that exist today on the internet is mind-boggling. Name any topic and there's a list or forum about it. There are many excellent directories that categorize these groups. Here are some useful ones:

Be helpful and informative. Let the message sell you.

• Topica
• DejaNews
• Liszt
• Robin's Nest

Just as with bulletin boards, you'll have to adopt a step-by-step approach. First, identify the lists and newsgroups in your interest area and join them. Here are some tips:

• Prioritize. Join only a few lists at a time. If you try and subscribe to all lists at once, you'll literally drown in email!

• Choose moderated discussion lists. The reason is that a human moderator will screen all posts and delete the less relevant ones, resulting in lesser "noise". Result: subscribers are more likely to read all messages.

• Wait before posting. How long? Atleast one week. Use this period to familiarize yourself with the nature of the group, the personalities, the degree of self-promotion and advertising permitted, the topics that interest subscribers. So when you write your message, most members will read your post.

• Avoid blatant self-promotion. The content of your message should be useful, and attract the attention of the group. Your signature file should do the selling/promotion. Don't forget to include information about subscribing to your ezine in the sig file.

• Be courteous, polite and professional. Don't flame people who might critique your message, or indulge in email wars. These will tarnish your image.

Personal Email

People might send you email asking for information, giving you feedback and suggestions about your website, praising or criticising your website or ezine, or simply to thank you for providing the knowledge you do. All of these people are potential subscribers to your ezine.

Use sig files for passively marketing your ezine.

Reply to every single email message you get at the earliest opportunity. You could use a standard outline, to which you could add a personal sentence or two that pertains to that individual. Answer questions that you can. Direct people to useful resources. Thank them for suggestions or comments.

And at the end of each message, include your signature file with details on registering for your ezine. If your message is helpful, most recepients will sign-up for your ezine.

Chat Sessions

I've personally not had much success using chat rooms to promote my ezine. But then, that's perhaps because I haven't spent much time on this avenue. Schmoozing in chat rooms helps develop relationships, and these can later bring in new subscribers by word-of-mouth testimonials. This is more likely when the chat session is about a particular topic or subject in which you can project yourself as an expert.

Mining your own ezine list

Here's another very useful tip to grow your ezine list. Ask your subscribers to recommend your ezine to others!

Avoid blatant self-promotion.

Simple, isn't it? Yet most ezine publishers forget to use this easy method to get new subscribers.

In every issue of my ezine, I request readers to forward a copy to their friends, relatives or online acquaintances whom they feel would find it useful. If each one sends a copy to just ONE other person, your ezine has effectively doubled its circulation. And if your ezine is of high quality, many of these new readers will sign on for their own copy!

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